Study Blames Parents for Lack of Kids’ Outdoor Play
After studying data on nearly 9,000 preschoolers, researchers concluded that 49 percent of those children don’t go outside with their parents to play on a daily basis, the Washington Post reported.
In the study, which was published in the Archives of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine, researchers found “only 44 percent of mothers and 24 percent of fathers reported taking their child out to play or for a walk daily,” the Post said. “Girls were less likely to be taken outside to play than boys; children of non-white parents were less likely than children of white parents to be taken outside to play.”
Researchers noted that most of the mothers were working parents and that “80 percent of the preschoolers were in day care of some kind,” while saying that preschoolers “need at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity daily.”
How often do you take your kids outside to play?
05.01.12
Why is it that the researchers didn't consider that these preschoolers could have gotten plenty of vigorous physical activity and outdoor play time at day care each day?
05.01.12
So, if most of the mothers in the study were working parents and 80 percent of the preschoolers were in day care, can't we assume that these children should have gotten plenty of outside play time at day care each day?
05.01.12
I take my kids out every single day, rain or shine. This should be a no brainer, but it's FAR from normal in my area. Not only is it getting rare, I get dirty looks and people judge me for making sure we get our time. It's a disturbing trend.