What Keeps Kids Inside

Well, I knew fear and competition from electronics were keeping kids indoors; but I never suspected flip-flops, mulch, and no coats as culprits! But that's exactly what a new study has found...

Because I want to do this study justice (it's really important that we give this issue some thought), I'm going to simply reprint the entire press release here. I'd love to get your thoughts on this!

CINCINNATI, April 30 /PRNewswire/ -- At a time when over half of US
children (aged 3-6) are in child care centers, and growing concern over
childhood obesity has led physicians to focus on whether children are
getting enough physical activity, a new study of outdoor physical activity
at child care centers, conducted by researchers at Cincinnati Children's
Hospital Medical Center, has identified some surprising reasons why the
kids may be staying inside. The study, will be presented May 5 at the
annual meeting of the Pediatric Academic Societies in Honolulu, Hawaii.

    "It's things we never expected, from flip flops, mulch near the
playground, children who come to child care without a coat on chilly days,
to teachers talking or texting on cell phones while they were supposed to
be supervising the children," according to Kristen Copeland, M.D., lead
author of the study which was funded by the National Heart, Lung and Blood
Institute. She noted that because there are so many benefits of physical
activity for children -- from prevention of obesity, to better
concentration and development of gross motor skills -- it's important to
know what barriers to physical activity may exist at child-care centers.

    "With so many American preschool-aged children in child care centers,
and previous reports that the amount of physical activity children get
varies widely across different centers, we wanted to explore what some of
the barriers to physical activity at these centers might be," said Dr.
Copeland, a physician scientist and Assistant Professor of Pediatrics in
the Division of General and Community Pediatrics at Cincinnati Children's.
According to the most recent statistics 74% of US children aged 3-6 years
are in some form of non-parental child care. 56% percent of 3-6 year old
children spend time in centers, including child care centers and
preschools. Her team began by exploring child-care center staff members'
perceptions of barriers to children's physical activity. They conducted
focus groups with 49 staff members from 34 child-care centers in the
Cincinnati area (including Montessori, Head Start and centers in the inner
city and suburban areas) as the first of several studies on this subject.

    "We found several previously unreported barriers that meant kids had to
stay inside, including inappropriate footwear such as flip flops and
inappropriate clothing for the weather," said Dr. Copeland. In some child
care centers, if one child in the group shows up without a coat on a chilly
day, she noted, that means the whole group has to stay inside. Even more
surprising to the researchers was the fact that the child-care staff
members said some parents appear to intentionally keep their children's
coats (or send children without coats) so they'd have to stay inside, which
staff attributed to parents' concerns about the child getting injured or
dirty, or a having a cold that may be exacerbated by cold weather.

    Teachers said they also felt pressure from some parents who were more
concerned with children spending time on cognitive skills, such as reading
and writing, than on the gross motor and socio-emotional skills (such as
kicking a ball or negotiating with another child for a turn on the slide)
that are best learned on the playground.

    Then there was the mulch factor. "The staff members who participated in
the groups were really concerned about mulch in the play area," said Dr.
Copeland. "Many said that the kids eat the mulch, or use it as weapons, or
it gets caught in their shoes. It also requires constant upkeep. It's
certainly not something that we had anticipated as an issue, but judging by
the amount of and intensity of the discussions among child care teachers,
it really is."

    Dr. Copeland said the child-care center staff recognized that they
themselves could sometimes serve as a barrier to children's physical
activity. "We heard reports of teachers talking or texting on cell phones
instead of interacting with the children while on the playground," said Dr.
Copeland. She continued, "We found that a staff member who doesn't like
going outside -- maybe she's not a cold-weather person, or she thinks it's
too much work to bundle up and unbundle the children on a cold day -- could
act as a gatekeeper to the playground." In some cases, staff reported that
their own issues with being overweight prevented them from encouraging
children's physical activity.

    "This initial qualitative research has identified a number of issues
that we will be exploring in subsequent studies," noted Dr.Copeland.
"Clearly this is a complex issue -- but finding out what the barriers are
is the first step in addressing the problem and getting more kids involved
in more much-needed physical activity."

    The PAS meeting, sponsored by the American Academy of Pediatrics, the
American Pediatric Society, the Society for Pediatric Research and the
Ambulatory Pediatric Association, is the largest international meeting to
focus on research in child health.

    Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, one of the leading
pediatric research institutions in the nation, is dedicated to changing the
outcome for children throughout the world. Cincinnati Children's ranks
second among all pediatric institutions in the United States in grants from
the National Institutes of Health. It has an established tradition of
research excellence, with discoveries including the Sabin oral polio
vaccine, the surfactant preparation that saves the lives of thousands of
premature infants each year, and a rotavirus vaccine that saves the lives
of hundreds of thousands of infants around the world each year. Current
strategic directions include the translation of basic laboratory research
into the development of novel therapeutics for the treatment of disease,
and furthering the development of personalized and predictive medicine.
Additional information can be found at http://www.cincinnatichildrens.org.

Comments

[Ellen]

I don't have as much time to comment on this as I would like... but it is just funny to me the "excuses" people can come up with to stay inside! I don't believe that even before my training I am currently taking part of to be an Early Childhood Educator, I would have ever felt that time outside to run and play was not important or vital to children. It is astounding to me to think that a professional caregiver would be talking or texting on the phone rather than playing with and observing the children in his or her care. And the children eating the mulch?? I'm sorry, but my daughter has had her share of dirt and has tried to eat a few small pebbles before... all children do it at some point and it's up to the caregiver/parent to teach and train the children what is and is not safe. -Am I being crazy here?? I don't know... up here in the frigid North, I guess the cold winters are just a fact of life. :) Children are always provided for in some way. During my time at the elementary school for my field placement, the teachers work together to provide for major needs for the children. There was a student who outgrew his snowpants during the winter and his parents were apparently not in any position to purchase new or just were not involved enough to realize the need, I don't know... what I did see is that my mentor teacher posted the need and within 2 days, a pair was provided for him. Children do not stay inside during the winter up here just because it's "cold out"... (granted, when it's 20 below we don't go out... common sense IS required.) --This all seems like common sense to me, but maybe it's not to everyone... maybe more people need to be "informed" - even the other childcare professionals...??? More people need to read your blog! I tell everyone I know about it. Children need to be outside to play... if you have to make modifications to your play area, then so be it. If you have to pool your resources to help properly clothe a child, then do what you can. If you have to leave the cell phone inside -- PLEASE DO.

[Rae Pica]

Ellen, I love your enthusiasm! And, no, you're definitely not being crazy.

I'm glad to hear that the kids in your area still went outside despite the cold. I did a presentation to the elementary school faculty in my town this winter and was stunned to learn the children hadn't been outside in 3 weeks! The reason? There was ice on the playground! I pointed out to them that in Anchorage, the children go outside unless it's colder than 20-below and that they're quite healthy!

And I agree with you that professional caregivers shouldn't be doing anything but playing with or observing the children. The fact that they're not may be one of the reasons people in the field struggle to be seen as professionals.

[Kira]

I hate indoor recess. At my daughter's school here in Maryland, where it rarely gets into the single digits, the children do not go outside if it is below freezing. Instead, they stay inside and - wait for it - watch movies. I wish I were kidding. This year I had to fight for more time at recess (a battle I won!), so maybe next year I'll take on the absurdity of indoor recess.

[Ellen]

Kudos to "Kira" for fighting for recess! I am a little surprised that they let students view movies when they are inside... The few times we had "indoor recess" due to heavy rain we played games with the children and/or they played w/ blocks, board games, math manipulatives, or animal figurines, etc. The children were still quite active!

Since you're not that far from me, I was surprised that the kids stayed in for recess too! Winter is a fact of life up here... you can't avoid it... just need to make the best of it.

[Rae Pica]

You go, Kira! One battle at a time; that's how a "war" is fought.