The Effects of Supervision and Activity Status on Physical Activity Participation with Activity Zoned Playgrounds in Elementary-Aged Children

Objective: We compared changes in physical activity (PA) in active and inactive youth during school recess with supervised and unsupervised activity zoned playgrounds (AZP).

Methods: We analyzed PA of 143 third‐ fourth‐ and fifth‐graders from 2 elementary institutions using ActigraphGT3X accelerometers for 4 weeks. We collected baseline data for one week prior to activity zoning. Afterwards, the playgrounds were divided into 6 activity zones for 2 weeks, with activity zones supervised at only one institution. Activity zones were removed, and PA data were collected for one‐week post intervention.

Results: We saw few differences in PA engagement between the supervision conditions throughout the duration of AZP implementation such that moderate and vigorous PA decreased with supervision (ps < .05). Initial activity status influenced PA engagement with AZP implementation. AZPs significantly reduced vigorous PA engagement in active kids with subsequent increases in light PA engagement, whereas PA engagement remained relatively unchanged among inactive children.

Conclusion: Supervising AZP may be detrimental to PA engagement during recess; however, this could be dependent on the reliability of employed supervisors. Additionally, considerable attention is needed with activity development that will appease students of differing activity statuses and prevent decreases in higher intensity PA engagement.