Outdoor study: Swiss children are spending less and less time outdoors
Children today spend less time outdoors than they used to. This is the conclusion of a new Swiss survey. It is also interesting to note that children of high-earning parents do fewer outdoor activities.
Have you already aired your head today? Is it raining? It doesn't matter! There's no denying how good fresh air is. Parents are also well aware of this, as a survey published on Tuesday by the Swiss market research institute Link shows: Children who spend a lot of time outdoors are more in touch with nature and more resilient, they sleep better, spend less time in front of screens and are generally happier, according to the parents surveyed.
And yet the amount of time children spend outdoors is decreasing, as the study also revealed. Two thirds of fathers and mothers believe that they spent more time outdoors as children than their own offspring. The remaining third said they spent about the same amount of time outside as their children do today, certainly not less.
Link conducted the survey on behalf of Namuk, a Swiss outdoor clothing supplier for children. The market research company surveyed 1046 parents in Switzerland with children aged 0 to 15 in November and December 2023. 77 per cent of them live in the city, 23 per cent in the countryside.
128 minutes outside - but is that true?
After all, outdoor time today is 128 minutes, or a good two hours a day. That's not even that little. However, the question is also whether something is perhaps being fibbed about or embellished here.
The majority of parents surveyed stated that their own children spend an average of 30 minutes longer outside per day than the children of "the others". "This could be interpreted as an indication that their own children's outdoor time is perceived as too short and corrected upwards accordingly," Namuk points out in a press release. Other "limiting factors" - such as the weather or the (in)sportiness of the children - would also indicate that there is an implicit desire for the children to spend more time outdoors.
Parents take responsibility
An interesting finding: the higher the parents' level of education and income, the less time their children spend outdoors. We can only speculate about the reasons for this. It is possible that the children spend more time on indoor hobbies in return. Or that parents have less free time for outdoor activities with their children, depending on their job.
When asked what influences their children's outdoor activities, parents also take responsibility for themselves: 91 per cent are convinced that their own efforts have a significant influence. This underlines the dilemma in which many parents and guardians find themselves today, writes Namuk: although parents are aware of the importance of outdoor activities and should set a good example, there is still a problem when it comes to implementation.
Namuk CEO Franz Bittmann appeals to parents to take their children out into the fresh air more often. "Go outside with your children. Always. Even if it's hailing cats!"
Cover photo: Shutterstock/Ground Picture
Mom of Anna and Elsa, aperitif expert, group fitness fanatic, aspiring dancer and gossip lover. Often a multitasker and a person who wants it all, sometimes a chocolate chef and queen of the couch.