A new study by scholars at the Seattle Children’s Research Institute finds that preschool girls are less likely than preschool boys to play outside with their parents. The study of nearly 9,000 children found that nearly half of all preschoolers don’t play outside every day in their final year before entering school. And girls were 16 percent less likely to play outside. There were no differences in the rate of outside play based on the perceived safety of the neighborhood or on the amount of time spent in front of a computer or television.
The authors of the study warn that a trend of increased sedentary behavior among youngsters can lead to problems such as obesity.
The study was published in the Archives of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine.