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The changing relationship between rainfall and children's physical activity in spring and summer: a longitudinal

Flo Harrison1, Esther M F van Sluijs2, Kirsten Corder3

  • 1Norwich Medical School & UKCRC Centre for Diet and Activity Research, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK. flo.harrison@uea.ac.uk.

The International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity
|April 19, 2015
PubMed

Insights

Rainfall significantly reduces physical activity (PA) in primary school children, but not older students. Activity declines most on dry days as children age, highlighting the need for weather-resilient activity interventions.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric health
  • Environmental influences on behavior
  • Physical activity research

Background:

  • Seasonal patterns in children's physical activity (PA) are influenced by weather and day length.
  • Limited understanding exists on how age impacts the relationship between weather and children's PA.
  • This study investigates rainfall's effect on PA in a longitudinal cohort of UK children.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To examine the relationship between rainfall and physical activity levels in children at different ages.
  • To determine how weather conditions, specifically rainfall, influence moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and sedentary time.
  • To identify age-specific patterns in PA responses to rainfall.

Main Methods:

  • Longitudinal study of 283 children (SPEEDY study) from ages 9-10 to 13-14 years.
  • Objective PA measurement using accelerometers over three summer periods.
  • Analysis of daily weather data and its correlation with PA (MVPA, VPA, cpm) and sedentary time using multilevel models.

Main Results:

  • Physical activity (PA) declined with increased rainfall in 9-10 and 10-11 year olds.
  • Significant reductions in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) were observed on wet days compared to dry days.
  • No significant trend in MVPA related to rainfall was found in 13-14 year olds; PA decline was steepest on dry days between ages 9-10 and 13-14.

Conclusions:

  • Increased rainfall is linked to decreased PA in primary school children, but not secondary school children.
  • Physical activity decline is most pronounced on dry days as children transition from primary to secondary school.
  • Interventions promoting activity on wet days are crucial for primary schools; fostering resilient behaviors is key for all ages.
Abstract

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