Department of Landscape Architecture, College of Landscape Architecture, Zhejiang Agriculture and Forestry University, Hangzhou 311300, China.
Department of Landscape Architecture, College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Dec 1;19(23):16087. doi: 10.3390/ijerph192316087.
In the process of urbanization, children are becoming increasingly estranged from nature. The phenomenon has received widespread attention in developed countries because of its many negative effects on children's health and pro-nature behaviors. However, the existing studies lack the exploration of this issue in developing countries, especially with regard to China. In order to understand the characteristics of neighborhood natural activities and their influencing factors among children in China, we conducted a systematic questionnaire survey of 900 children (10-12 years old from Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province, Eastern China) about their natural activities in the neighborhood. Children were asked to provide basic information on their neighborhood natural activities situation (frequency, duration and location), nature connectedness and environmental knowledge. The results showed that the frequency of children's neighborhood natural activities in rural areas was less than that of children in urban areas, but the naturalness of the neighborhood natural activity sites of rural children was higher than that of urban children. Boys spent more time engaging in neighborhood natural activities than girls. Only children outlasted non-only children in terms of the duration of neighborhood natural activities. Regarding Influencing Factors, children's nature connectedness and environmental knowledge significantly and positively predicted the frequency and location of children's natural activities in the neighborhood, which indicates a new approach to the promotion of children's neighborhood natural activities. Overall, how to encourage children to engage in natural activities in the neighborhood is a complex issue that needs to be studied in more regions and with more samples.
在城市化进程中，儿童与自然的关系日益疏远。由于其对儿童健康和亲近自然行为的诸多负面影响，这一现象在发达国家受到广泛关注。然而，现有研究缺乏对发展中国家（尤其是中国）这一问题的探索。为了了解中国儿童在邻里环境中的自然活动特征及其影响因素，我们对浙江省杭州市 900 名（年龄为 10-12 岁）儿童进行了邻里自然活动的系统问卷调查。要求儿童提供有关其邻里自然活动情况（频率、持续时间和地点）、与自然的联系和环境知识的基本信息。结果表明，农村儿童邻里自然活动的频率低于城市儿童，但农村儿童邻里自然活动场所的自然性高于城市儿童。男孩参与邻里自然活动的时间多于女孩。只有儿童在邻里自然活动的持续时间上超过了非独生子女。就影响因素而言，儿童与自然的联系和环境知识显著正向预测了儿童邻里自然活动的频率和地点，这为促进儿童邻里自然活动提供了新的途径。总的来说，如何鼓励儿童在邻里环境中参与自然活动是一个复杂的问题，需要在更多地区和更多样本中进行研究。
