Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33736668›Full record

SynthesisThe international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity2021

Systematic review of the correlates of outdoor play and time among children aged 3-12 years.

Eun-Young Lee, Ajaypal Bains, Stephen Hunter, Alyssa Ament, Javier Brazo-Sayavera, Valerie Carson, Shawn Hakimi, Wendy Y Huang, Ian Janssen, Mikyung Lee and 3 more

Abstract readSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 55 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
55citing papers in PubMed, 7 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

55 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
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  6. Play, Learn, and Teach Outdoors-Network (PLaTO-Net): terminology, taxonomy, and ontology.The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2022
    Pooled it
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  8. The state of play among youth in South Korea.Journal of exercise science and fitness · 2026
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  15. Recess and after-hours behavior patterns associated with community schoolyard transformations.The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2026
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

13 authors.

Eun-Young LeeSchool of Kinesiology and Health Studies, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, Canada. eunyoung.lee@queensu.ca.ORCID 0000-0001-9580-8974
Ajaypal BainsSchool of Kinesiology and Health Studies, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, Canada.
Stephen HunterFaculty of Kinesiology, Sport, and Recreation, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.
Alyssa AmentSchool of Kinesiology and Health Studies, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, Canada.
Javier Brazo-SayaveraCentro Universitario Regional Noreste, Universidad de la República, Rivera, Uruguay.
Valerie CarsonFaculty of Kinesiology, Sport, and Recreation, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.
Shawn HakimiSchool of Kinesiology and Health Studies, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, Canada.
Wendy Y HuangCentre for Health and Exercise Science Research, Department of Sport, Physical Education and Health, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, China.
Ian JanssenSchool of Kinesiology and Health Studies, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, Canada.
Mikyung LeeSchool of Kinesiology and Health Studies, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, Canada.
Heejun LimSchool of Kinesiology and Health Studies, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, Canada.
Diego Augusto Santos SilvaSports Centre, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Florianopolis, Brazil.
Mark S TremblayHealthy Active Lifestyle and Obesity (HALO) research group, Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute, Ottawa, Canada.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundDue to the myriad of benefits of children's outdoor play and time, there is increasing concern over its decline. This systematic review synthesized evidence on the correlates of outdoor play and outdoor time among children aged 3-12 years.

methodsA total of 12 electronic databases in five different languages (Chinese, English, Korean, Spanish, Portuguese) were searched between October 28, 2019 and July 27, 2020. Covidence software was used for screening and Microsoft Excel with a predesigned coding form was used for data extraction. Evidence was synthesized and correlates were categorized using the socioecological model framework.

resultsBased on 107 studies representing 188,498 participants and 422 childcare centers from 29 countries, 85 studies examined potential correlates of outdoor play while 23 studies examined that of outdoor time (one examined both). The duration of outdoor play and outdoor time ranged between 60 and 165 min/d and 42-240 min/d, respectively. Out of 287 (outdoor play) and 61 (outdoor time) potential correlates examined, 111 correlates for outdoor play and 33 correlates for outdoor time were identified as significant correlates. Thirty-three variables were identified as key/common correlates of outdoor play/time, including eight correlates at the individual level (e.g., sex/gender, race/ethnicity, physical activity), 10 correlates at the parental level (e.g., parental attitude/support/behavior, parenting practice), nine at the microsystem level (e.g., proximal home/social environment such as residence type, peer influence), three at the macrosystem/community level (e.g., availability of space children can play), and three at the physical ecology/pressure for macrosystem change level (e.g., seasonality, rurality). No key correlates were found at the institutional level.

conclusionsIndividual, parental, and proximal physical (home) and social environments appear to play a role in children's outdoor play and time. Ecological factors (i.e., seasonality, rurality) also appear to be related to outdoor play/time. Evidence was either inconsistent or lacking at institutional and macrosystem/community levels. Standardizing terminology and measures of outdoor play/time is warranted. Future work should investigate the interactions and processes of multiple variables across different levels of socioecological modelling to better understand the mechanisms through which outdoor play/time opportunities can be optimized for children while paying special attention to varying conditions in which children are born, live, and play.

Indexed as

EnvironmentPlay and PlaythingsAttitude to HealthChildChild Day Care CentersChild, PreschoolExerciseFemaleHumansMaleParentingParentsSocial EnvironmentTime FactorsFamilyOutdoorParentPhysical activitySocio-ecological modelling

Identifiers

PMID33736668
PMCPMC7972019

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.