Peer-reviewed article
Associations between early childhood experiences in outdoor play, risky play and screen time, and children's developmental health outcomes in kindergarten in British Columbia.
Rachel Ramsden, Randip Gill, Mariana Brussoni ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study examined how children's screen time, outdoor play, and risky play experiences before kindergarten relate to their developmental health. Data from nearly 5,000 children in British Columbia showed that more risky play was associated with lower developmental vulnerability, while increased screen time was linked to higher vulnerability. Outdoor play was generally not associated with overall developmental vulnerability but did help in specific areas like physical health and communication skills.
Key points
- 32.9% of children entering kindergarten showed vulnerability in one or more developmental domains
- Increased opportunities for risky play reduced developmental vulnerability (aOR: 0.92)
- More screen time in early years increased developmental vulnerability (aOR: 1.38)
- Outdoor play was associated with reduced vulnerability in physical health and communication skills domains
- Study recommends limiting screen time and providing thrilling outdoor risky play opportunities in early years
Limitations
The study relies on caregiver reports of early experiences and teacher assessments of developmental outcomes, which may be subject to recall bias and reporting differences. The cross-sectional nature of the analysis cannot establish causation, only associations between early experiences and kindergarten outcomes.
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: Early exposures are increasingly recognized as influential in shaping children's long-term development. This study examines how children's early screen time, outdoor play, and risky play experiences relate to developmental vulnerability in kindergarten. METHODS: This longitudinal study linked data from children (n = 4968; 51.1% male, 48.9% female) entering kindergarten in British Columbia in 2023 and 2024. Data from the Childhood Experiences Questionnaire (CHEQ) were linked with the Early Development Instrument (EDI). The CHEQ captured children's exposure to screen time, outdoor play and risky play in the six months prior to kindergarten entry as reported by caregivers, while the EDI assessed children's developmental health across five domains (physical, social, emotional, language and cognition, and communication skills) during kindergarten, as reported by teachers. Multivariate logistic regression was used to assess the relationship between exposure variables (outdoor play, risky play and screen time) and children's developmental vulnerability. RESULTS: In total, 32.9% (n = 1635) of children were vulnerable on one or more domains of the EDI. Increased opportunities for risky play were associated with reduced vulnerability (aOR: 0.92, 95% CI: 0.87-0.98), while more screen time in the early years was associated with increased vulnerability (aOR: 1.38, 95% CI: 1.26-1.50). Outdoor play was not associated with overall developmental vulnerability; however, it was associated with reduced vulnerability in the physical health and well-being, and communication skills and general knowledge domains. CONCLUSION: Collectively, these longitudinal results highlight the need to limit screen time and provide thrilling outdoor risky play opportunities in the early years to help reduce developmental vulnerability in kindergarten.
Findings the Hub has extracted
Each claim below is labelled by its type of design and links back to this report.
Problem
Developmental vulnerability in children entering kindergarten related to early childhood experiences
- Intervention
- Early childhood experiences including outdoor play, risky play, and screen time exposure
- Population
- 4,968 children (51.1% male, 48.9% female) entering kindergarten in British Columbia in 2023-2024
Key finding
Increased risky play opportunities associated with reduced vulnerability (aOR: 0.92, 95% CI: 0.87-0.98)