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Environmental barriers to children's summer outdoor play
Author(s) -
Worobey John,
Lelah Lydia,
Gaugler Randy
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.27.1_supplement.1068.5
Subject(s) - physical activity , environmental health , psychology , hot weather , summer camp , geography , medicine , meteorology , developmental psychology , physical therapy
Although the health benefits of physical activity are well documented, it appears that even children may exhibit levels of physical activity that are insufficient to prevent or reduce excess weight gain. In light of the current child obesity epidemic, our objective was to survey children to identify the main reasons they might give for not engaging in outdoor play in the summer, ostensibly a time when school is out and weather is most favorable. For this study, 300 children (age 6–14) were surveyed at four county/4‐H fairs and asked to indicate how important various factors (e.g., heat, traffic, mosquitoes) were in preventing them from playing outside. The reasons ranked highest were bad weather, bullies/gangs, fear of strangers, no street lights, and it being too hot. These results are somewhat consistent with studies that indicate neighborhood safety as a concern (Carver et al., 2008), but add weather conditions as a factor to be considered when seeking to promote outdoor activity. Allowing access to unused school gyms might be a useful strategy for facilitating large motor activity in summer months. This project was supported by a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Active Living Grant to JW.