A recent study from the University of Tennessee,  shows that children play longer in natural settings, with elements like logs and flowers, compared to traditional playgrounds. The study, which examined changes in physical activity levels and patterns in young children exposed to both traditional and natural playgrounds, is among the first of its kind in the United States, according to Dawn Coe, assistant professor in the Department of Kinesiology, Recreation, and Sport Studies. “Natural playgrounds have been popping up around the country but there was nothing conclusive on if they work,” she said. “Now, we know.” For the study, Coe observed children at UT’s Early Learning Center. She began in June 2011 by observing the children while the center still had traditional wood and plastic equipment. She logged how often they used the slides and other apparatus, studied the intensity of their activity, and how much time they spent in a porch area to get shade from the sun. The Early Learning Center staff then began renovations of the playground and over several months added a gazebo and slides that were built into a hill. They planted dwarf trees, built a creek, and landscaped it with rocks and flowers. They also added logs and tree stumps. They turned it into what Coe called a “natural playscape.” Coe, working with Cary Springer, a statistician with the Office of Information Technology, returned for follow-up observations this year and found significant differences between usage of the traditional and natural playground. The children more than doubled the time they spent playing, from jumping off the logs to watering the plants around the creek. They were engaging in more aerobic and bone- and muscle-strengthening activities. “This utilized motor skills, too,” Coe said. She also found that the children were less sedentary and used the porch area less after the renovation. Coe is preparing a manuscript of the study to submit for publication. “Natural playscapes appear to be a viable alternative to traditional playgrounds for school and community settings,” Coe said. “Future studies should look at these changes long-term as well as the nature of the children’s play.”

The following article was published in the National Parks & Recreation magazine.

A growing number of physicians and pediatricians are looking to parks as natural partners in the fight against chronic disease and obesity.  These physicians are recognizing the exceptional health benefits of using parks and trails to improve one’s health.  Many have embraced the concept of “Park Prescriptions,” that is an actual prescription from a doctor to direct patients to engage in a specific amount of daily physical activity, which can be achieved by walking in parks or on public trails. Additionally, some doctors are putting skin in the game by coming out to parks and showing by their own example that walking and spending time outdoors is great for one’s health.

Parks and public lands have long been associated with higher physical activity levels, but are now also associated with greater feelings of revitalization, energy, and perceptions of improved health.  Prescribing parks as a solution for improving health offers affordable, accessible health benefits to people of all ages, abilities and incomes, and it can produce outstanding results in promoting healthy behaviors and preventing chronic disease conditions.

The Children in Nature Partnership, a working group of parks professionals composed of representatives of the National Park Service, the National Association of State Park Directors, and the National Recreation and Park Association, have been looking at ways that parks can do more to tangibly improve the health of children and adults.  A number of local, state, and national parks have begun to partner with pediatricians and physicians in innovative ways to design trail systems to promote health outcomes, prescribe walking or biking as a way to get daily physical activity, and to create better examples of ways to promote regular physical activity to achieve improved health, fitness, and appreciation for our nation’s natural and cultural heritage.