TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2012//
TI  - Day length and weather effects on children's physical activity and participation in play, sports, and active travel
JO  - Journal of physical activity and health
A1  - Goodman, Anna
A1  - Paskins, James
A1  - Mackett, Roger
SP  - 1105
EP  - 1116
VL  - 9
IS  - 8
N2  - 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.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 1543-3080
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/
ID  - ref1
ER  -