Citation

Goodman A, Paskins J, Mackett R. J. Phys. Act. Health 2012; 9(8): 1105-1116.

Affiliation

Dept of Epidemiology and Population Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2012, Human Kinetics Publishers)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

22826506

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Children in primary school are more physically active in the spring/summer. Little is known about the relative contributions of day length and weather, however, or about the underlying behavioral mediators. METHODS: 325 British children aged 8-11 wore accelerometers as an objective measure of physical activity, measured in terms of mean activity counts. Children simultaneously completed diaries in which we identified episodes of out-of-home play, structured sports and active travel. Our main exposure measures were day length, temperature, rainfall, cloud cover and wind speed. RESULTS: Overall physical activity was higher on long days (≥14 hours daylight), but there was no difference between short (<9.5 hours) and medium days (10.2- 12.6 hours). The effect of long day length was largest between 17:00 and 20:00, and persisted after adjusting for rainfall, cloud cover and wind. Up to half this effect was explained by a greater duration and intensity of out-of-home play on long days; structured sports and active travel were less affected by day length. CONCLUSIONS: At least above a certain threshold, longer afternoon/evening daylight may have a causal role in increasing child physical activity. This strengthens the public health arguments for daylight saving measures such as those currently under consideration in Britain.

Language: en