Use of a spatiotemporal approach for understanding preschoolers’ playground activity

The effects of warm weather on children's outdoor heat stress and physical activity in a preschool yard in Gothenburg, Sweden

Hot weather conditions can have negative impacts on the thermal comfort and physical activity of vulnerable groups such as children. The aim of this study is to analyze the effects of warm weather on 5-year-old children's thermal comfort and physical activity in a preschool yard in Gothenburg, Sweden. In situ measurements were conducted for 1-1.5 h in the early afternoon on 8 days in May, June, and August of 2022. The thermal comfort and physical activity was estimated with GPS-tracks, heart rate monitors, and step counts and compared to observed weather conditions. Results show that physical activity decreases under warmer weather conditions, depicted by a decrease in distance moved, step counts, and highest registered pulse. Moreover, on warm days, the children avoid sunlit areas. For 50% or more of the time spent in sunlit areas, the children are exposed to cautious levels of heat. In shaded areas, on the other hand, the children are less exposed, with five out of 8 days having 50% or more of the time at neutral levels. The study demonstrates the importance of access to shaded areas in preschool yards where children can continue their active play while simultaneously maintaining a safe thermal status.

Using linked accelerometer and GPS data for characterizing children's schoolyard physical activity: An overview of hot spot analytic decisions with reporting guidelines

Hot spot analysis of linked accelerometer and Global Positioning System data is often used to identify areas of high/low activity in the schoolyard. We illustrate the potential impact of a suite of methodological decisions (i) accelerometer metric; (ii) monitor epoch; (iii) number of recess periods/days and level of aggregation; (iv) sample size; (v) distance band; (vi) spatial versus spatiotemporal weighting scheme; and (vii) time band. Accelerometer metrics resulted in different clustering patterns. Longer epochs resulted in a less detailed picture of schoolyard behavior. Level of data aggregation impacted cluster patterns due to inter-period and inter-day differences, but clusters were consistent with increasing sample size. Use of spatiotemporal weight matrices resulted in better separation of hot and cold spots and revealed potentially important temporal clustering patterns. Increasing distance or time band resulted in reallocation of small clusters to larger clusters. Hot spot analysis decisions should be clearly reported in future studies.

Stop motion: using high resolution spatiotemporal data to estimate and locate stationary and movement behaviour in an office workplace

Prolonged periods of stationary behaviour, a common occurrence in many office workplaces, are linked with a range of physical disorders. Investigating the physical context of this behaviour may be a key to developing effective interventions. This study aimed to estimate and locate the stationary and movement behaviours of office workers (n = 10) by segmenting spatiotemporal data collected over 5 days in an office work-based setting. The segmentation method achieved a balanced accuracy ≥85.5% for observation classification and ≥90% for bout classification when compared to reference data. The results show the workers spent the majority of their time stationary (Mean = 86.4%) and had on average, 28.4 stationary and 25.9 moving bouts per hour. While these findings accord with other studies, the segmented data was also visualised, revealing that the workers were stationary for periods ≥5 min at multiple locations and these locations changed across time. Practitioner Summary: This study applied a data segmentation method to classify stationary and moving behaviours from spatiotemporal data collected in an office workplace. The segmented data revealed not only what behaviours occurred but also their location, duration, and time. Segmenting spatiotemporal data may add valuable physical context to aid workplace research.

The school playground environment as a driver of primary school children's physical activity behaviour: A direct observation case study

The school playground can promote PA for large numbers of children. This study identifies areas of the playground that children visited at break-times, the decisions according to gender and the influence of contextual and environmental variables on PA levels. The playground of a culturally diverse primary school was observed during morning break-times and lunchtimes. Counts of sedentary, LPA, and MVPA episodes, and the contexts in which they occurred were recorded using the system for observing play and leisure in youth (SOPLAY). Ball sports areas had higher counts of boys (mean ± SD; 9.9 ± 4.8) compared to girls (2.0 ± 3.5); areas promoting climbing and social interaction had higher counts of girls (7.9 ± 7.2) compared to boys (3.5 ± 2.9). The proportion of MVPA episodes during break-times was 34% ± 26%. Areas of the playground with organised activities had 2.70 (95%CI: 1.87 to 3.91) times higher MVPA counts than areas "not organised". Areas with "supervision" were associated with higher MVPA counts (1.34; 1.18 to 1.53) compared with "not supervised" areas. Organisation and supervision might influence PA choices and PA levels of children in the primary school playground. Further investigation is required to explore different playgrounds settings, and context and gender preferences.