Demographic, social, and environmental factors predicting Danish children’s greenspace use

Abstract

Evidence suggest that greenspace use can be associated with children’s physical, mental, social health and well-being. Accordingly, contemporary children’s declining greenspace use prompts a need to understand the factors that affect frequency of use. Aiming to determine to what extent demographic, environmental and social factors predict greenspace use for 6−15-year-old children in Denmark a national survey was distributed. Responses from 3171 parents showed that 49.5 % of the children used greenspace almost every day during the summer season. Multivariate binary logistic regression analysis showed that the number of types of greenspace within walking or cycling distance from home was a strong predictor for daily use. Parental concern and encouragement also predicted use, but less so. Child age and geography were the only demographic predictors for using greenspace almost every day. Findings from the present study suggests that providing opportunity for choosing between various types of greenspace within walking or cycling distance might be an effective way to stimulate children’s use of greenspace.