Outdoor Play: 50 Statistics and Quick Facts

Kids need time outside to play. Just how essential is time in nature? What difference does outdoor play make? Today’s post is a collection of statistics and facts about outdoor play, health, and child development. 

Please note that some of the studies were quite small or observational, so take some of these statistics with a grain of salt.*

If nothing else, lists like this are a nice thought exercise, to see if these ideas feel true for our families or communities.

Also, these facts and stats are a great starting point for more research and activities. 

Perhaps most importantly, there’s a general theme to most of the research big and small: outdoor play is good for kids’ health. Of course, there are exceptions when the air is polluted, especially for kids with asthma and allergies.

Otherwise, playing outside is a pretty remarkable part of a healthy childhood.

*For example, there’s the statistic about kids needing to go to the hospital more for falling out of beds than for falling out of trees. (See #5 under the “Risks” section). It’s sort of stating the obvious, isn’t it? Most kids spend more time in beds than in trees, right? That being said, maybe some such statistics are a reminder that even staying home in bed isn’t without risk.

Outdoor Play & Health Statistics

1. If the world’s population were more active, nearly 5 million deaths per year could be prevented (1).
2. The more time children spend outside, the less likely it is they’ll need to wear glasses for nearsightedness. (More details can be found in this post).
3. More “greenness” (parks, gardens, natural vegetation) exposure was associated with lower risks of insulin resistance in teenagers. This was thought to be related to less air pollution (2).
4. High levels of outdoor play reduced preschoolers’ risk of obesity by 42% (3).
5. Greenness and vegetation diversity influenced a child’s risk for asthma. More different types of vegetation lowered asthma risk by 6.7% (4).
6. Time in nature improved sleep for adults (5).
7. Children who exercised while viewing greenery had lower systolic blood pressure compared to those who did not view green scenery (6).
8. Kids’ immune systems improved after more frequent exposure to a forest floor (7). Read all the details here.
9. In rural children who were overweight (ages 8-14 years), more residential park space  was associated with a decrease in Body Mass Index (BMI) (8).
10. Simply having access to the outdoors can lower risks of obesity and depression (9).

Physical Activity Facts and the Outdoors

1. Less than 20% of the world’s adolescents are physically active enough (1).
2. Roughly 50% of preschoolers met physical activity recommendations in a 2015 study (10).
3. Each day, toddlers 1-2 years of age should spend 3 hours in a variety of physical activities at any intensity (1).
4. Children aged 3-4 should spend 3 hours each day in various physical activities, 60 minutes of which should be moderate to vigorous (1).
5. Children and adolescents aged 5-17 years should average 60 minutes daily of moderate-vigorous physical activity, incorporating strengthening activities 3 days a week (1).
6. To achieve a minute of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, a young child needed to spend 9.1 min indoors vs. 3.8 min outdoors (11).
7. When preschoolers play freely inside, they’re typically not physically active enough to meet health guidelines (12).
8. When outdoors, most preschoolers are physically active for bouts less than 20 seconds long (12).
9. More vigorous physical activity in kids happens in parks and open spaces compared to indoors (13).
10. A child is six times more likely to play a video game on a typical day than to ride a bike (14).
11. When outdoors, preschoolers are two times as active compared to indoors in child care settings (11).
12. Every additional 10 min outdoors each day was associated with a 2.9 min increase in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (11).
13. When outdoor play equipment was in good condition and available, preschoolers were more active compared to kids who did not have “upgraded” equipment (58 minutes compared to 42 minutes per day) (15).
14. When their child was at a childcare facility outside the home, over 50% of parents said they did not know how many minutes their child spent outside (16).
15.  43% of parents reported that they did not know their childcare center’s outdoor play policies (16).
16.  Nearly half of preschoolers lack one outdoor play session (supervised by a parent) each day (17).
17. The amount of screen time correlates with body fat measurements in children (18).
18. 90% of kids want more play in their lives (19).

Outdoor Play and Mental Health Facts & Statistics

1. 30 minutes of recess, especially in green spaces, improves children’s academic performance (21).
2. Teens in a natural setting (outdoors) recover more quickly from stress and mental fatigue compared to being indoors (20).
3. If a teen is outdoors recovering from stress, being with a friend improves the positive “outdoors effect” even more (20).
4. Playing outside was positively associated with improved social skills in preschoolers (compared to television viewing) (23).
5. Increasing residential green space was associated with a 38% lower risk of hyperactivity problems in children (24).
6. ADHD symptoms are reduced in a green outdoor setting (25).
7. Girls with views of green nature from their homes had better impulse control than children with “barren views.” (This was in an urban area and the difference was not noted in boys). (26).
8. Children who attended schools closer to nature had less school behavior problems (27).
9. Preschoolers who participated in a nature program for 10 weeks reported lower stress (28).
10. Children in classrooms with view of green landscapes performed better on attention tests (20).
11. Students had better recovery from stressful experiences if their classroom had views of greenery outside (20).
12. Children who played in a forest did better in motor skills testing than children who played on a standard playground (29).
13. Children played more creatively in areas with more trees and grass compared to areas with less vegetation (in an urban environment) (30).
14.  Children with ADHD were able to focus better after a 20 minute walk in a park (compared to other environments) (31).

Risks and Health Concerns of Outdoor Play: Facts and Statistics

1. Just over 47% of emergency room visits for exertional heat-related concerns were for people age 19 or younger (32).
2. With appropriate measures, exertional heat-related illness is usually preventable in children (32).
3. 75% of exertional heat-related injuries were due to playing sports or exercising. Yardwork was a distant second at 11% and mostly in older adults (32).
4. While weather affects physical activity outside, it varies around the world.  For example, Northern Europeans and people from Melbourne, Australia are more active overall and were able to stay more active in inclement weather, compared to  those in the United States and Western Europe. (This study emphasized rain and wind as opposed to excess heat) (33).
5.  In the United Kingdom, children are more likely to be taken to the hospital for falling out of their bed than out of trees (34).
6. Almost 50% of parents surveyed in the United Kingdom cited “fear of strangers” as the reason for preventing their children to play (35).
7. In the United States, Metropolitan New York City has the most exposure to toxic air pollution at schools (36).
8. Non-White children are more likely to attend schools with high risk for air pollution that can affect brain development (36).
9. Eating broccoli sprouts may help people “detox” some air pollutants (37). This post has more ideas for limiting risks of air pollution in kids.

Sources

1. World Health Organization Physical Activity Fact Sheet. November 2020.
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3. Ansari, A., Pettit, K., & Gershoff, E. (2015). Combating Obesity in Head Start: Outdoor Play and Change in Children’s Body Mass Index. Journal of developmental and behavioral pediatrics : JDBP, 36(8), 605–612.
4. Donovan, G.H., Gatziolis, D., Longley, I. et al. Vegetation diversity protects against childhood asthma: results from a large New Zealand birth cohort. Nature Plants 4, 358–364 (2018). 
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Maya M. Mahmood, D.O., FAAP is a board-certified pediatrician and mom. She is passionate about parents having evidence-based information to help their families be healthier.

Photo by Robert Collins on Unsplash