Creating a Healthy Landscape

The Backyard Playground

Childhood obesity in the United States is rising fast enough to be called an epidemic. Now, nearly one in six children is obese. More than 70 percent of obese children grow up to be obese, putting them at significantly greater risk of health risks like type two diabetes and heart disease.

Worried that your children will be part of the wave of childhood obesity and diabetes? Part of the solution to the obesity crisis can be found at the playground; or rather in using the playground. Healthy landscapes like playgrounds and swimming pools that are available to children all year round are powerful antidotes for childhood obesity.

Not everyone can have a backyard pool, since supervision of the swimming pool and the expense of a swimming pool are often out of reach. Try changing the landscape by creating a good playground instead. Combinations of forts, swings, slides, and playhouses are available nationwide from both large and small manufacturers. Home-improvement stores carry plans and components for build-it-yourself sets. The play area can blend with the backyard landscape or stand out as unique environment. Consider too, a well made play structure in the backyard also can increase the value of the home.

Playground items can be made of various materials- wood, metal, or plastic. All can work well, depending on the climate. Equipment should have a properly treated surface to insure durability. Metals should be coated or galvanized to deter rust and corrosion; wood products --in addition to being well sanded to reduce splintering--should be treated to head off wood rot. Insist on knowing whether any material used in treating the wood or coating the metal might cause illness if eaten, inhaled or absorbed through the skin.

  Inspect the equipment being considered---

  Is the equipment strong enough to support your own weight? How about the combined weights of several children?

  Check for hardware, like open "S" hooks or protruding bolt ends, which can be hazardous.

  Check for spaces that could trap children, such as openings in guardrails or between ladder rungs; these spaces should measure less than 3.5 inches or more than 9 inches.

  Make sure platforms and ramps have guardrails to prevent falls.

  Check for sharp points or edges in equipment

  Remember to install and maintain a shock-absorbing surface around the play equipment.

  Use at least 9 inches of wood chips, mulch, or shredded rubber for play equipment up to 7 feet high.

  If sand or pea gravel is used, install at least a 9-inch layer for play equipment up to 5 feet high, o r use surfacing mats made of safety-tested rubber or rubber-like materials.

  Install protective surfacing at least 6 feet in all directions from play equipment.

Most popular with the kids are the playhouse with a fenced-in "fort," swing set, covered sandbox and slide. One of the newest additions to the playground is a rock-climbing wall, a sturdy wooden panel that is set at a sharp angle to the ground and rises to an upper level of a fort or play platform. Brightly colored artificial rocks made of resin reinforced by steel pins within punctuate these walls, so kids don't slip when they put their weight on the rocks. Other additions to playground landscaping include:

· Play telescopes and toy phones

· Standard, toddler and tire swings

· Monkey bars

· Suspension bridges

· Ramps

· Rope ladders and nets

· Wave, full- and half-tube slides

· Gymnast rings, parallel bars and balance beams

· Sliding poles

· Climbing ropes

· A trapeze

Also relatively new on the scene are cargo nets, squares of rope bound together to form a movable ladder or a safety net. In some cases the nets are used as fall-safe liners placed beneath high-climbing equipment. In other cases, the nets provide access from one playhouse level to another in place of ladders.

Children often start out on the baby swing. As kids grow, their interests and abilities change rapidly. The best play equipment is designed with that in mind. With the proper add-ons, the playground will keep children busy and happy from age 2 through 13. You start with a basic set can be expanded with new pieces as kids grow. Items can be ordered a la carte to match budget, child's age and yard space.

Climbing and stretching certainly help build children's muscles, while outdoor play also encourages them to develop their imaginations. And playgrounds that combine activities geared to a wide level of abilities and interests also can foster a child's sense of accomplishment and independence over time.

Or what about letting the kids design and help build part of their own play area. It educates them as they assemble it and fosters a sense of respect for its worth, as well. Children often proudly take care of something they have helped to build themselves.