Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Outdoor Playground Equipment Can Cut Down on Obesity

Outdoor play structures ought to encourage kids to get moving. With the obesity problem in US
children, it’s especially important for outdoor playground equipment to stimulate kids to exert
themselves. The US Center for Disease Control and Prevention estimates the incidence of child
obesity at 16%. This is astronomical! Obesity shortens the life span of children, decreases their
quality of life, and significantly increases the probability that they’ll be obese in adulthood.
Outdoor play structures can help.
Outdoor playground equipment can only deal with the problem if it is accessible and properly
designed to stimulate physical activity. Personally, I feel the fun of outdoor play structures
should come from the physical challenge, but a lot of outdoor playground equipment manufacturers
are now moving towards electronic components. I can’t help but think that outdoor play
structures should carry different play values than the passive appreciation of electronic
elements. Kids need physical stimulation to burn fat, and if a piece of outdoor playground
equipment doesn’t offer that physical challenge, it seems to me it’s not doing its job as an
outdoor play structure.
Innovative outdoor playground equipment designs need to entice children to move, especially since
some outdoor playground equipment has become less fun with the preoccupation with safety.
Electronic components may be fun for some kids, but they don’t necessarily stimulate them to be
active. Creative outdoor play structures do. Rotating climbing nets, for instance, inspire kids
to spin and climb. As outdoor play structures, bouncing mats get their cardiovascular systems
going. And of course, kids love the freedom of propelling themselves on outdoor playground
swings.

While outdoor play structures need to accommodate the obesity problem, they also need to
accommodate obese children. ElephantPlay swings offer a wide swing set seat so that kids of a
larger girth can play, too. And kids can spin on the outside of ElephantPlay rotating climbing
nets no matter what their size.
It’s sad to see some children not fully appreciating their childhood. Outdoor playground
equipment should inject that appreciation back into the lives of overweight kids and slim kids
alike. That’s why the potential for physical stimulation should be a high priority in designing
outdoor play structures.
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