Frequency of parent-supervised outdoor play of US preschool-aged children

摘要

Objective: To characterize preschoolers' daily parent-supervised outdoor play frequency and associated factors. Design: Cross-sectional using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort. Setting: Nationally representative US sample. Participants: Preschool-aged children. Main Outcome Measure: Parent-reported outdoor play frequency. Results: The sample size of 8950 represented approximately 4 million children. Sixty percent of mothers worked outside the home, 79% exercised 0 to 3 days per week, and 93% perceived their neighborhood to be safe. Forty-four percent of mothers and 24% of fathers reported taking their child outside to play at least once per day. Fifty-one percent of children were reported to go outside to play at least once per day with either parent. Fifty-eight percent of children who were not in child care went outside daily. A child's odds of going outside daily were associated with sex (odds ratio [OR] for girls, 0.85; 95% CI, 0.75-0.95), having more regular playmates (OR for ≥3 playmates, 2.03; 95% CI, 1.72-2.38), mother's race/ethnicity (OR for Asian, 0.51, 95% CI, 0.43-0.61; black, 0.59, 95% CI, 0.49-0.70; Hispanic, 0.80, 95% CI, 0.67-0.95), mother's employment (OR for full time, 0.70; 95% CI, 0.62-0.81), and parent's exercise frequency of 4 days or more per week (OR, 1.50; 95% CI, 1.28-1.75). We did not find significant association of outdoor play with child's time spent watching television, household income, mother's marital status, or parent's perceptions of neighborhood safety. Conclusions: About half the preschoolers in this sample did not have even 1 parent-supervised outdoor play opportunity per day. Efforts to increase active outdoor play should especially target children who are girls and non-white. Outdoor play opportunities at child care are critical for children of parents who work outside the home.