jismart2024041: A Narrative Review of Play Space Enhancing Preschool Children’s Physical Activity

Abstract

According to WHO, more than 80% of the world's adolescents are insufficiently physically active, which leads to increased adiposity, cardiometabolic health problems, poor health, and worse pro-social behavior in children. The BMI values of 1394 children collected in this study also indicated that more than 20% of children were in an overweight and obesity situation. Therefore, this article aims to provide a narrative review to support the WHO's recommenda- tion that preschoolers should be provided with supportive and safe spaces and facilities that they can actively utilize to enhance physical activity. By sorting out the relationship between physical activity and play space from four aspects, a narrative review with four progressive steps proposed to promote physical activity in preschoolers. The analysis showed that research on the support of children's play spaces for physical activity is necessary. Moreover, proactive interventions in children's behavior through space are also an essential tool for the scientific promotion of physical activity enhancement. Based on multidisciplinary theoretical research in the fields of physical education, child development psychology, and preschool education, making play spaces functional to promote physical activity is an essential way for architecture to collaborate with other disciplines to achieve its goals. The goal of promoting children's physical activity proposed in this paper needs to be urgently realized.