The outdoor environment in nursery schools as a factor to prevent obesity, stress, poor gross motor skills and lesions caused by sunshine
Patrik Grahn (project leader)
Summary of results with list of publications from Landscape Planning, SLU.
Email: patrik.grahn@lpal.slu.se
Go out and play – but where?
Today, more than 70% of children between 1 and 5 go to nursery school in Sweden. Many spend most of their waking hours there on weekdays. At the same time, research shows that many children are greatly overweight due to a faulty diet and also a life style that is too sedentary. The value of outdoor activities in nature and green environments is of great significance for exercise, recuperation from stress and concentration capacity. When we engage in physical activity in natural environments, we do not need to use the brain's sorting and decision making systems.
An easily accessible, interesting and undulating nursery school playground with a lot of bushes and trees should induce children to play a lot outdoors and to move about more. The occurrence of concentration disturbances, hyperactive behaviour and obesity can to some extent be counteracted by offering children better outdoor environments with access to shade so as to reduce the risk of harmful sunburn which may cause skin cancer later in life.
Boldemann, C., Blennow, M., Dal, D., Mårtensson, F., Raustorp, A., Yuen, K & Wester, U. 2006. Impact of preschool environment upon children's physical activity and sun exposure. Preventive Medicine, 42: 301-308
Mårtensson F, Boldemann C, Blennow M, Englund, J-E, Söderström M, Grahn P. 2008. Outdoor environmental assessment of attention promoting settings for pre-school children. Health & Place, accepted.
Grahn, 2007. Barnet och naturen 55-104 i Utomhuspedagogik som kunskapskälla. Studentlitteratur.
Public environments which support activity and health
Susanne Iwarsson (project leader)
Summary of results with list of publications from Lund University.
Email: siw@arb.lu.se
A lot of obstacles are removed in Swedish municipalities to make the local community more accessible. However, effective measures at societal level necessitate consideration of the needs of all citizens at the same time, which sometimes leads to conflicts. By basing environmental assessments on laws and recommendations, it is possible to have constructive discussion and to develop environments which support activity and health. Previous research has shown that there are several methodological difficulties which must be considered in order to arrive at a reliable assessment of public environments – one of these involves the large areas that are changed as people move about on them.
Scientifically tested methodology has been developed for the housing environment, and pilot studies have been made for the assessment of public environments. The overarching objective of this project was therefore to develop existing methodology for assessments of the accessibility of the physical outdoor environment. The profiles of functional limitations and accessibility problems which were identified can be used in further development of the instruments, but also as part of The project is of great relevance in view of an increasingly ageing population. Successful and effective accessibility measures demand deep theoretical and methodological knowledge of the relationship between people and the environment, and in the project several important steps have been taken.
Responsible for this page: Kerstin Franklin