No surprise here: Half of preschoolers don’t spend time playing outside with a parent every day, according to a recent survey.
The survey of nearly 9,000 parents found that less than half of moms and only a quarter of dads reported taking their child for a walk or playing with them in the yard at least once a day. It’s sad, but unfortunately, not at all surprising. Children these days don’t spend nearly enough time outdoors, as parents are busier than ever and children are often more interested in spending their days playing with new technology.
“It does make sense that for many parents, especially for parents who work outside the home… it’s not so easy to have outdoor playtime with your children every day,” said Dr. Pooja Tandon, a pediatrician who worked on the new study from the University of Washington in Seattle.
But outdoor play has been tied to a number of benefits for children, and they aren’t always getting that in childcare or at preschool now that gym class and recess is being cut from budgets left and right. According to the National Associate for Sport and Physical Education, young kids need at least an hour of physical activity per day for longterm health benefits, like decreasing the risk of childhood obesity. Preschoolers should have even more playtime, getting at least a few hours of unstructured playtime.
Safety was not a concern for most parents in the study, which found that nine out of ten parents said they felt their neighborhood was safe enough for the kids to play outside. The study also found that girls and non-white kids were less likely to go outside with a parent, as were kids whose moms spent more time working outside the home.
However, there is some good news. Children with playmates were more likely to go outside daily – which is a good strategy for busy parents with friends who live nearby. If you’re pressed for time, playdates are a great way for kids to still have that much-needed playtime, without having to clear your schedule every day.
No matter what, encourage your children to play and be active; it influences their activity more than you know, setting them up for a lifetime of healthy physical fitness. “Parents encouraging their children to be physically active and parents recognizing the importance of and valuing physical activity are really key factors that influence kids’ physical activity,” said Benham Deal. “That’s true across the age spectrum.”
