Tilburg University, Faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Department Tranzo, Tilburg, The Netherlands.
Am J Prev Med. 2010 Sep;39(3):212-9. doi: 10.1016/j.amepre.2010.05.008.
Outdoor play is a cheap and natural way for children to be physically active.
This study aims to identify physical as well as social correlates of outdoor play in the home and neighborhood environment among children of different age groups.
Cross-sectional data were derived from 6470 parents of children from 42 primary schools in four Dutch cities by means of questionnaires (2007-2008). Multivariate sequential Poisson GEE analyses were conducted (2010) to quantify the correlation between physical and social home and neighborhood characteristics and outdoor play among boys and girls aged 4-6 years, 7-9 years, and 10-12 years.
This study showed that next to proximal (home) environmental characteristics such as parental education (RR=0.93-0.97); the importance parents pay to outdoor play (RR=1.32-1.75); and the presence of electronic devices in the child's own room (RR=1.04-1.15), several neighborhood characteristics were significantly associated with children's outdoor play. Neighborhood social cohesion was related to outdoor play in five of six subgroups (RR=1.01-1.02), whereas physical neighborhood characteristics (e.g., green neighborhood type, presence of water, diversity of routes) were associated with outdoor play in specific subgroups only.
Neighborhood social cohesion was related to outdoor play among children of different age and gender, which makes it a promising point of action for policy development. Policies aimed at improving physical neighborhood characteristics in relation to outdoor play should take into account age and gender of the target population.
户外活动是儿童进行身体活动的一种廉价且自然的方式。
本研究旨在确定不同年龄组儿童在家庭和邻里环境中户外活动的身体和社会相关性。
通过问卷调查（2007-2008 年）从四个荷兰城市的 42 所小学的 6470 名儿童家长中获得了横断面数据。（2010 年）进行了多变量序贯泊松 GEE 分析，以量化家庭和邻里环境的物理和社会特征与 4-6 岁、7-9 岁和 10-12 岁男孩和女孩户外活动之间的相关性。
本研究表明，除了近端（家庭）环境特征（如父母教育程度（RR=0.93-0.97）；父母对户外活动的重视程度（RR=1.32-1.75）；儿童自己房间内电子设备的存在（RR=1.04-1.15））外，几个邻里特征与儿童户外活动显著相关。邻里社会凝聚力与六个亚组中的五个（RR=1.01-1.02）与户外活动相关，而邻里物理特征（如绿色邻里类型、存在水、路线多样性）仅与特定亚组的户外活动相关。
邻里社会凝聚力与不同年龄和性别的儿童户外活动有关，这使其成为政策制定的一个有希望的切入点。旨在改善与户外活动相关的邻里物理特征的政策应考虑目标人群的年龄和性别。
