Preventing Obesity by Design (POD) Pilot was aimed at reversing the trend toward childhood obesity by improving outdoor environmental diversity of childcare centers, which research suggests can increase children’s level of physical activity, increase time spent outdoors by children and teachers, and increase children’s awareness of vegetables, fruit, and nuts as healthy foods. POD considers design of outdoor environments in early childhood as a preventive health intervention.

POD was driven by evidence that young children learn most effectively (good nutritional habits for example) through hands-on experience, and evidence that being outdoors is critical to children’s physical development (outdoor environments are predictors of physical activity; green environments in particular support attention functioning).

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