Prävalenz der Schulwegmobilität und des Spielens im Freien bei Kindergartenkindern in der Schweiz

Abstract

Outdoor play and the daily way to school are considered as essential fields of experience for children to satisfy their motor needs, to gain increasing mobility and to establish social contacts. Although the kindergarten age is a central socialisation context in the active exploration of the environment, there have so far been only a few empirical findings on such activities of young children in Switzerland. Within the framework of a cross-sectional survey in the context of the MOBAK study, we therefore investigated how often 4-6 year olds (N = 1350, M = 5.7 years, SD = 0.57, 51.5% boys) practise these aspects of physical activity in their everyday life and wheter this outdoor play and active commuting differs depending on selected socio-demographic and regional characteristics. Overall, 67.0% of the children were physically active on their daily way to kindergarten and 59.0% played outdoors (almost) every day. The analysis shows that children from German-speaking regions, from urban communities and from parents who are active in sports were more likely to be physically active on their way to school. In addition, the frequency of outdoor play was also positively associated with the parents' level of sporting activity. The findings indicate that regional differences in mobility can already be detected at kindergarten age and that parents’ role model behaviour is also important for children's mobility and playing outdoors.