Associations between Parent-Child Nature Visits and Sleep, Physical Activity and Weight Status among Finnish 3-6-Year-Olds

Nature may offer an affordable environment for families with children to engage in physical activity and recreational activities. Nature exposure has shown favorable associations with children´s health and development, such as good physical fitness, better mental well-being, and inverse association with behavioral problems. Previous studies have shown some associations between nature visits or green space exposure and children´s sleep, physical activity (PA) and weight status. However, studies including preschool children are still scarce.

The aim of our study was to examine the associations between the frequency of parent-child nature visits and sleep, sleep consistency, moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), and weight status among Finnish preschool children aged 3 to 6 years. We also examined whether there were differences in the associations between genders. This study is part of a research project called Empowered by Nature. For this sub study we used data from the cross-sectional DAGIS study (Increased Health and Wellbeing in Preschools) conducted in 2015 to 2016.

The study included 864 children aged 3 to 6 years and their parents from Southern and Western Finland. We measured children´s sleep duration and sleep consistency, children´s MVPA outside preschool time, children´s weight status and the frequency of parent-child nature visits. We asked the frequency of parent-child nature visits from parents by one question: “How often does your child go to the nature/forest with at least one of the adults in the family?”.

The results showed that more frequent parent-child nature visits were associated with longer sleep duration in children. Girls who visited nature more frequently with a parent were more likely to have good sleep consistency than girls who visited nature rarely. The association was found only for girls. More frequent visits to nature were associated with more MVPA outside preschool time. However, we found no associations between nature visits and children´s overweight or obesity.

To conclude, the results showed that more frequent parent-child nature visits were associated with higher amounts of MVPA outside preschool time, longer sleep duration at night and among girls, good sleep consistency. No associations were found with children´s overweight or obesity. This study highlights the importance of nature visits for children´s health behaviors. To enable and increase family’s nature visits in both urban and rural residential areas, accessible nature areas should be available within close distance from home. In addition, nature visit promoting projects should focus on reducing possible barriers for visiting nature. In our previously published sub study in the Empowered by Nature project, we showed that significant barriers for families to not visit nature frequently are e.g. lack of time, challenges with logistics, and where to go and what to do.

Original article:

Associations between Parent-Child Nature Visits and Sleep, Physical Activity and Weight Status among Finnish 3-6-Year-Olds. Kokkonen JM, Vepsäläinen H, Abdollahi A, Paasio H, Ranta S, Erkkola M, Roos E, Ray C. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Nov 25;18(23):12426. doi: 10.3390/ijerph182312426. PMID: 3488615