Spending time outdoors, among other factors, is associated with higher levels of physical activity in preschool children

Physical activity provides important health benefits to children. Unfortunately, not much is known about the prevalence of preschool children's physical activity levels and the factors that most influence physical activity in this age group. In this paper, T. Hinkley and colleagues review 24 studies published between 1980 and 2007 that investigated factors related to physical activity levels in preschool children. The authors examined a total of 39 different variables, such as gender and time spent outdoors, and coded the results to identify consistency/inconsistency across studies. In the end, Hinkley and colleagues found support for the following findings: 1) boys are more active than girls, 2) a child's age and body mass index are not related to physical activity, 3) children who have parents that participate in physical activity with them are more active than children who have parents that do not participate with them in physical activity, and 4) children who spend more time outdoors are more active than children who spend less time outdoors. The authors also found that psychological, cognitive, emotional, and behavioral variables have not been studied enough to yield conclusive results with regard to their association to physical activity levels in preschool children. Hinkley and colleagues review the strengths and weaknesses of studies to date, compare their results to those found for older children and adolescents, and highlight future research needs in order to better understand the many factors that influence preschool children's physical activity.