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January 4th, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda WEDNESDAY, Jan. 4 (HealthDay News) — Remember those tall, shiny,
metal, sliding boards? They seemed dauntingly steep, but you took the
plunge and whizzed downward. Next, you tackled the monkey bars, climbing
higher and higher and hanging by your knees at the pinnacle.
Playgrounds are a lot different for today’s preschoolers. Low sliding
boards, safer plastic climbers and fence-protected platforms are meant to
prevent injury. But a preliminary study suggests an unintended result:
unenthused, less active kids.
Platforms lead to nowhere, climbers are short and slides are slow. The
equipment is easily mastered and kids soon lose interest, daycare
providers told researchers in a series of focus groups.
And with increasingly sedentary kids and a worsening childhood obesity
epidemic, the study authors said it’s time to start balancing safety
concerns with the need for vigorous, stimulating play.
Led by Dr. Kristen Copeland, an assistant professor of pediatrics at
Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, the study involved 49 local
daycare providers, many highly experienced, at 34 child-care centers.
These included inner city, suburban, Head Start and Montessori,
church-affiliated, YMCA, worksite- or university-affiliated and
corporate/for-profit facilities. Focus groups took place between August
2006 and June 2007.
In the study, appearing online Jan. 4 and in the February issue of
Pediatrics, providers described barriers to healthy exercise: state
licensing codes and financial constraints that restrict equipment choices,
injury concerns and pressures to put class learning above playtime,
whether coming from parents or local kindergarten-readiness
initiatives.
“We were surprised to hear that parents — both low-income and
upper-income — were focusing on traditional ‘academics’ (letters,
numbers, colors) instead of outdoor play, even for children as young as 3
years old,” Copeland said. “Children learn on the playground — they learn
about nature, weather and the seasons, motion, concepts of distance and
speed, and cause and effect. They learn how to negotiate and talk with
their peers. And they learn fundamental gross motor skills, like how to
throw and catch a ball, and how to skip.”
And it’s also a case of sluggish bodies make sluggish minds. “Research
has shown that children can concentrate and learn better after brief
periods of vigorous activity,” Copeland noted.
Angela Mickalide, director of research and programs for Safe Kids
Worldwide, called the new study “thought-provoking,” but said it lacked
epidemiologic information on injuries that do occur from playground
equipment. “A kid with a traumatic brain injury or fracture is going to be
even less active,” she noted.
Nearly 220,000 kids aged 14 and under were treated in emergency
departments for playground-equipment injuries in 2009, according to a Safe
Kids fact sheet. And in children aged 4 and under, most traumatic brain
injuries happen on the playground.
Mickalide said that among the most dangerous for young children are
“old playgrounds with slides at inclines greater than 45 degrees, climbers
that are 8 or 10 feet off the ground, and monkey bars much higher than
kids should be on, but without a soft surface underneath.”
Safety measures like decreasing equipment height and using protective
surfaces like shredded rubber and wood chips in “fall zones” have markedly
reduced injury risk, as have state laws requiring conformance to safety
guidelines, according to Safe Kids.
It’s not always equipment design at issue. Other factors can include
“inappropriate behavior on the playground,” Mickalide said. “Not playing
on soft surfaces. Allowing kids to play on equipment meant for older
children. Playing on equipment that gets too hot, or is splintered or
damaged. Kids who aren’t actively supervised.”
When it comes to equipment, less is often more, both experts agreed,
and children can get as much out of doing jumping jacks or tossing a ball.
“Running and playing games are both healthy and fun,” Copeland said.
More information
The National Program for Playground Safety offers tips for parents as
well as standards for playground equipment.
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