Breaking News: Child's Play Is Healthy

I ran across a study today that simultaneously put me to sleep and made me say, "I thought we already knew that."

Physical environmental characteristics and individual interests as correlates of physical activity in Norwegian secondary schools: the Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children study

 Conclusion: The findings support the use of an ecological approach and multilevel analyses in the investigation of correlates of physical activity that allows for a broader understanding of the influence of and interaction between factors at multiple levels on physical activity behaviour. In the promotion of physical activity in lower secondary schools, the study suggests that programmes should include a focus on environmental facilitation and incorporate strategies to increase students' interests for school physical activity.

I think my parents could have told them that (and presumably have saved them some money on doing the study in the first place).  Except they just called it "playing outdoors" back then.  I was amazed at how complicated that concept can be made to sound.  When I was a kid, I remember my parents needing to drag me in from my "focus on environmental facilitation."  Hide and seek by streetlight was a good one.  The bushes in the neighbor's yard that turned into an inhospitable jungle to be used for mock battles seemed to fit the bill.  Hours on end in the lake at the cottage seemed right.  Target practice with my BB gun, dodgeball, tag and all the other classics were just part of life.

I'm not sure if it is just urban legend, but I've heard rumors that there are schools that have gone so far as to ban dodgeball.  It's not safe.  Instead we prefer to "focus on environmental facilitation and incorporate strategies to increase students' interests for school physical activity."  Wow.  Well, maybe I didn't read the conclusion properly.  They did seem to make it as difficult to interpret as possible.