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Issue 14
Are They in the Woods?
by Hannah Aleshnick
There is growing concern about the amount of time kids spend—or don’t spend—outside. Some recent studies have found children and teens spending more time indoors on sedentary entertainment such as watching television or spending time online. Parents, educators, and others are concerned that a sedentary indoors life is leading to physically unhealthy children who aren’t learning to connect with the natural world. Natural resource managers, policymakers, and those who love the outdoors are concerned that this lack of connection will affect how forests and other natural resources are valued by future generations.
There have been very few scientific studies on the outdoor activities of children and youth. The few that have been published are relatively small, surveying less than 500 individuals. In 2007, to address an important gap in information about kids and the outdoors, Ken Cordell, pioneering research scientist, and Carter Betz, outdoor recreation planner, both at the SRS Athens, GA, unit, and Gary Green, assistant professor at the University of Georgia in Athens, started the National Kids Survey.
“The purpose of this ongoing survey is to produce nationwide scientific data on a wide variety of outdoor activities in order to more accurately assess the current state of youth in the outdoors,” says Cordell. “Our intention was to build a national baseline of data about kids’ time and activities outdoors so we could take a more rigorous look at trends.”
Conducted in conjunction with the National Survey on Recreation and the Environment, the kids study is a general population, random-digitdialed household telephone survey. To avoid the appearance of exploiting children as research subjects (an ongoing conundrum in the world of research ethics), a proxy household member 20 years or older—such as a parent, guardian, grandparent, or older sibling—is interviewed about the activities of children in the household who are between 6 and 15 years old. Teens 16 to 19 years of age are interviewed directly. Data continues to be collected and is analyzed yearly. The sample size as of April 2009 was 1,201 individuals.
The kids survey report is made up of three parts. The first part simply records the amount of time youth spend outside, regardless of the activity, on a typical day during the week, over the weekend, and whether the interviewee felt the child spent less, about the same, or more time outdoors than they did a year previously.
Part 2 of the survey report compares time spent in outdoor activities by age, gender, race, and household income. Part 3 looks at the types of activities children participate in while spending time outside.
Reason for Concern?
Results so far show that only about 15 percent of the youth surveyed spend less time outside than they did a year previously, while nearly 40 percent spend more time out-ofdoors. About 61 percent spend two or more hours outside on weekdays, 77 percent on weekends. Genderwise, males of all ages are more likely to spend more time outdoors than females. The two oldest female groups are likely to spend the most time on indoor activities.
According to the survey, the primary reasons some children and teens don’t spend as much time outside as they did a year ago include homework, school, weather, jobs, limited parental supervision, a busy schedule, no facilities nearby, family circumstances, and an increased interest in music and art.
For parents, teachers, natural resource managers, policymakers, and others, the question of what kids actually do outside is important. The results from the third part of the survey were perhaps not all that surprising. Passive, close-to-home activities are four of the top five most popular. Such activities include playing and just hanging out; biking, jogging, walking, or skateboarding; and listening to music, watching movies, or using electronic devices outdoors.
“Knowing what kids like to do outdoors can help enormously in outreach and outdoor program development,” says Cordell.
For more information:
Ken Cordell at 706–559–4263 or kcordell@fs.fed.us
Recommended reading:
Cordell, H.K.; Betz, C.J.; Green, G.T. 2009. National kids survey part I: how much time do kids spend outdoors? Internet Research Information Series, National Resources, Recreation and Tourism. warnell.forestry.uga.edu/nrrt/ nsre/IRISRec/IRISRec9rpt.pdf.
Cordell, H.K.; Betz, C.J.; Green, G.T. 2009. National kids survey part II: do the demographics of kids affect the time they spend outdoors? Internet Research Information Series, National Resources, Recreation and Tourism. warnell.forestry.uga.edu/ nrrt/nsre/IRISRec/IRISRec10rpt.pdf.
Cordell, H.K.; Betz, C.J.; Green, G.T. 2009. National kids survey part III: what do kids do outdoors? Internet Research Information Series, National Resources, Recreation and Tourism. warnell.forestry.uga.edu/ nrrt/nsre/IRISRec/IRISRec11rpt.pdf.
