title: Frequency of parent-supervised outdoor play of US preschool-aged children.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To characterize preschoolers’ daily parent-supervised outdoor play frequency and associated factors.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study–Birth Cohort.
  
  
  METHODS
  Nationally representative US sample.
  
  
  METHODS
  Preschool-aged children.
  
  
  METHODS
  Parent-reported outdoor play frequency.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The sample size of 8950 represented approximately 4 million children. Sixty percent of mothers worked outside the home, 79% exercised 0 to 3 days per week, and 93% perceived their neighborhood to be safe. Forty-four percent of mothers and 24% of fathers reported taking their child outside to play at least once per day. Fifty-one percent of children were reported to go outside to play at least once per day with either parent. Fifty-eight percent of children who were not in child care went outside daily. A child’s odds of going outside daily were associated with sex (odds ratio [OR] for girls, 0.85;95% CI, 0.75-0.95), having more regular playmates (OR for ≥ 3 playmates, 2.03; 95% CI, 1.72-2.38), mother’s race/ethnicity (OR for Asian, 0.51, 95% CI, 0.43-0.61; black,0.59, 95% CI, 0.49-0.70; Hispanic, 0.80, 95% CI, 0.67-0.95), mother’s employment (OR for full time, 0.70; 95%CI, 0.62-0.81), and parent’s exercise frequency of 4 days or more per week (OR, 1.50; 95% CI, 1.28-1.75). We did not find significant association of outdoor play with child’s time spent watching television, household income, mother’s marital status, or parent’s perceptions of neighborhood safety.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  About half the preschoolers in this sample did not have even 1 parent-supervised outdoor play opportunity per day. Efforts to increase active outdoor play should especially target children who are girls and nonwhite. Outdoor play opportunities at child care are critical for children of parents who work outside the home.
authors.affiliation: Center for Child Health, Behavior, and Development, Seattle, WA 98145, USA. pooja@uw.edu
authors.forename: Pooja S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Tandon
authors.forename: Chuan
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Dimitri A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Christakis
mesh_terms: D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D010290:Parents; D010988:Play and Playthings; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014481:United States