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What is the Relationship between Risky Outdoor Play and Health in Children? A Systematic Review Brussoni, Mariana; Gibbons, Rebecca; Gray, Casey; Ishikawa, Takuro; Sandseter, Ellen Beate Hansen; Bienenstock, Adam; Chabot, Guylaine; Fuselli, Pamela; Herrington, Susan; Janssen, Ian; Pickett, William; Power, Marlene; Stanger, Nick; Sampson, Margaret; Tremblay, Mark S.

Abstract

Risky outdoor play has been associated with promoting children’s health and development, but also with injury and death. Risky outdoor play has diminished over time, concurrent with increasing concerns regarding child safety and emphasis on injury prevention. We sought to conduct a systematic review to examine the relationship between risky outdoor play and health in children, in order to inform the debate regarding its benefits and harms. We identified and evaluated 21 relevant papers for quality using the GRADE framework. Included articles addressed the effect on health indicators and behaviours from three types of risky play, as well as risky play supportive environments. The systematic review revealed overall positive effects of risky outdoor play on a variety of health indicators and behaviours, most commonly physical activity, but also social health and behaviours, injuries, and aggression. The review indicated the need for additional “good quality” studies; however, we note that even in the face of the generally exclusionary systematic review process, our findings support the promotion of risky outdoor play for healthy child development. These positive results with the marked reduction in risky outdoor play opportunities in recent generations indicate the need to encourage action to support children’s risky outdoor play opportunities. Policy and practice precedents and recommendations for action are discussed.

Item Metadata

Title
What is the Relationship between Risky Outdoor Play and Health in Children? A Systematic Review
Creator
Brussoni, Mariana; Gibbons, Rebecca; Gray, Casey; Ishikawa, Takuro; Sandseter, Ellen Beate Hansen; Bienenstock, Adam; Chabot, Guylaine; Fuselli, Pamela; Herrington, Susan; Janssen, Ian; Pickett, William; Power, Marlene; Stanger, Nick; Sampson, Margaret; Tremblay, Mark S.
Contributor
Child and Family Research Institute; Children's Hospital (Vancouver, B.C.). Research Institute; B.C. Injury Research and Prevention Unit
Publisher
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute
Date Issued
2015-06-08
Description
Risky outdoor play has been associated with promoting children’s health and development, but also with injury and death. Risky outdoor play has diminished over time, concurrent with increasing concerns regarding child safety and emphasis on injury prevention. We sought to conduct a systematic review to examine the relationship between risky outdoor play and health in children, in order to inform the debate regarding its benefits and harms. We identified and evaluated 21 relevant papers for quality using the GRADE framework. Included articles addressed the effect on health indicators and behaviours from three types of risky play, as well as risky play supportive environments. The systematic review revealed overall positive effects of risky outdoor play on a variety of health indicators and behaviours, most commonly physical activity, but also social health and behaviours, injuries, and aggression. The review indicated the need for additional “good quality” studies; however, we note that even in the face of the generally exclusionary systematic review process, our findings support the promotion of risky outdoor play for healthy child development. These positive results with the marked reduction in risky outdoor play opportunities in recent generations indicate the need to encourage action to support children’s risky outdoor play opportunities. Policy and practice precedents and recommendations for action are discussed.
Subject
Risk taking; Physical activity; Supervision; Injury; Independent mobility; Playground; Children and youth (0-19); Outdoor/risky play
Genre
Article
Type
Text
Language
eng
Date Available
2019-04-17
Provider
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
Rights
CC BY 4.0
DOI
10.14288/1.0378272
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/2429/69770
Affiliation
Applied Science, Faculty of; Medicine, Faculty of; Non UBC; Architecture and Landscape Architecture (SALA), School of; Pediatrics, Department of; Population and Public Health (SPPH), School of
Citation
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 12 (6): 6423-6454 (2015)
Publisher DOI
10.3390/ijerph120606423
Peer Review Status
Reviewed
Scholarly Level
Faculty; Researcher
Rights URI
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Aggregated Source Repository
DSpace

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CC BY 4.0