Children’s and Adolescents’ Use of Nature During the COVID-19 Pandemic in a Very Green Country

Vegard Gundersen (), Zander Venter, Line Camilla Wold, Berit Junker-Köhler and Sofie Kjendlie Selvaag
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Vegard Gundersen: Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, 2624 Lillehammer, Norway
Zander Venter: Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, 0855 Oslo, Norway
Line Camilla Wold: Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, 2624 Lillehammer, Norway
Berit Junker-Köhler: Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, 2624 Lillehammer, Norway
Sofie Kjendlie Selvaag: Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, 2624 Lillehammer, Norway

IJERPH, 2024, vol. 21, issue 11, 1-16

Abstract: Play, physical activity, and social interaction with other children in nature are important for healthy and social development in childhood and adolescence. The extent to which lockdown policies during the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the way children engaged in outdoor activities remains unclear, especially in a country with free access to abundant nature during the pandemic. We performed a national survey of parents ( n = 1002) in Norway in January 2021 to uncover changes in outdoor play for children (6–12 years, n = 396) and adolescents (13–19 years, n = 606) compared with the situation before the lockdown on 12 March 2020. Ten months after the start of the COVID-19 lockdown, 38% of the parents reported that their children played and spent time outside ‘less than usual’ in their neighborhood, compared with 15% who reported ‘more than usual’ time spent outside. Parents indicated that the children’s play activities were highly organized and institutionalized, and when the activities ceased, their children had less motivation to spend time outdoors and tended to engage more in screen-based activities indoors. We conclude that while children and adolescents had many opportunities to be outdoors in natural settings during the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, they did so much less than before the lockdown.

Keywords: childhood; nature contact; natural environment; neighborhood; outdoor play; urban forest (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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