Overview

• University of Exeter researchers analyzed Born in Bradford data from 2,568 children aged 7–12, publishing the findings in Wellbeing, Space & Society.
• Thirty-four percent of children did not play outdoors on school days and 20% did not on weekends.
• More frequent outdoor play was associated with better parent-reported social-emotional competency, measured using the total difficulties score.
• Patterns varied by ethnicity, with British-heritage children playing outside more on school days and South Asian-heritage children more on weekends.
• Benefits were greater for children in less deprived communities, and the authors call for safer streets, walkable spaces and community engagement; the work was funded by the Medical Research Council.