Claudia I. Maddren, Gursimran Dhamrait, Mounir Ghogho, Alejandra Jáuregui, Elina Engberg, Sanne L.C. Veldman, Dyah Anantalia Widyastari, Asmaa El Hamdouchi, Chalchisa Abdeta, Ankhmaa Byambaa, Mohamed-Souhaiel Chelly, Michael Chia, Fazlollah Ghofranipour, Anna Kontsevaya, Himangi Lubree, Tawonga Mwase-Vuma, Jackline Nusurupia, Amonje Moses Oluchiri, Aoko Oluwayomi, Kuston Sultoni, Wei-Peng Teo, Ali Turab, Edin Užičanin, Najmeh Hamzavi Zarghani, Anthony D. Okely
Background: Environmental factors influence children’s development. However, their impact on outdoor play among children from international settings remains understudied. This study examined associations between parent perceptions of environmental factors and outdoor play among an international sample of preschool-aged children. Methods: Data were sourced from the pilot phases of the SUNRISE International Study of Movement Behaviors in the Early Years. Parents completed a questionnaire about their child’s outdoor play and environmental factors that influenced their child’s participation in outdoor play in the past 3 days. Results: 1855 children from 19 countries (16 low- and middle-income countries) were examined. Heat (-25.6; 95% CI, -44.6 to -6.6), cold (-26.9; 95% CI, -45.9 to -8.4), and rain (-24.8; 95% CI, -43.3 to -6.6) were negatively associated with weekday outdoor play. Cold (-41.2; 95% CI, -62.4 to -20.0) and social instability (-40.7; 95% CI, -61.5 to -20.3) were negatively associated with weekend outdoor play. Playing at friend’s or relative’s homes (29.5 [95% CI, 18.6 to 40.5]; 37.9 [25.6 to 50.4]), greenspaces (23.1 [95% CI, 9.6 to 36.6]; 30.4 [95% CI, 15.1 to 45.8]), and on the street (41.4 [95% CI, 26.9 to 55.7]; 34.9 [95% CI, 18.2 to 51.3]) were associated with weekday and weekend day outdoor play, respectively. Playing on the family’s property was also associated with weekend day outdoor play (25.5 [95% CI, 18.2 to 51.3]). Conclusions: The environmental context is important to consider when developing interventions to promote outdoor play in young children across diverse international settings. Future research from representative populations is needed to confirm these findings. © 2025 Human Kinetics, Inc.
Early Start, School of Social Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, Australia; School of Social Sciences, Faculty of Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, Australia; School of Population and Global Health, University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia; TICLab, International University of Rabat, Sale, Morocco; Department of Physical Activity and Healthy Lifestyles, Center for Health and Nutrition Research, Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública, Cuernavaca, Mexico; Folkhälsan Research Center, Helsinki, Finland; Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland; Mulier Institute, Utrecht, Netherlands; Institute for Population and Social Research, Mahidol University, Salaya, Thailand; Unité de Nutrition et Alimentation, CNESTEN, Kenitra, Morocco; Early Start, School of Education, Faculty of Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, Australia; Sport Performance, Health & Society, Higher Institute of Sport and Physical Education of Ksar Saîd, University of Manouba, Manouba, Tunisia; Physical Education and Sport Science Department, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore; Department of Health Education and Health Promotion, Faculty of Medical Science, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran; National Medical Research Center for Therapy and Preventive Medicine, Moscow, Russian Federation; Vadu Rural Health Program, KEM Hospital Pune Research Center, Pune, India; Centre for Social Research, University of Malawi, Zomba, Malawi; Tanzania Food and Nutrition Center, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania; Department of Psychological Sciences and Health, Strathclyde University, Glasgow, United Kingdom; Wellness for Greatness, Nairobi, Kenya; Human Kinetics and Health Education, University of Lagos, Akoka, Nigeria; Faculty of Sport and Health Education, Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia, Bandung, Indonesia; Precision Health Consultants (PHC Global), Karachi, Pakistan; Faculty of Physical Education and Sports, University of Tuzla, Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina; Department of Sport, Food and Natural Sciences, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Sogndal, Norway
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