Conference Agenda
Overview and details of the sessions of this conference. Please select a date or location to show only sessions at that day or location. Please select a single session for detailed view (with abstracts and downloads if available).
|
Daily Overview |
| Session | |
|
WR2_2_4: Pitch oral & Promoting Physical Activity and Health in Sports Clubs group Meeting Location: White room 2 Session Chair: Susanna Geidne | |
    | |
3:40pm - 3:43pm
The associations between children’s nature exposure and device-measured physical activity 1: Folkhälsan Research Center, Finland; 2: Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Finland; 3: Department of Public Health, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, Finland; 4: Institute of Applied Health Sciences, University of Aberdeen, United Kingdom; 5: Department of Food and Nutrition, University of Helsinki, Finland; 6: University of Tampere, Faculty of Social Sciences, Finland; 7: Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, Finland; 8: Department of Public Health, University of Helsinki, Finland Purpose Nature exposure enhances children’s physical activity (PA), but less is known of how different aspects of nature visits are associated with children’s PA. We examined the associations between the frequency and duration of nature visits, nature activities, and children’s light PA, moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) and total PA on weekdays, weekends and across the whole week. Methods Data were collected from 8−12-year-old children (N=540; analytic sample n=404, mean age 11.0 [SD 1.2]; 55% girls) and their parents in the DAGIS Salo study in Finland (2023–2024). Children’s PA was measured with accelerometers (hip-worn ActiGraph for 7 days). Nature visit frequency, duration of a typical visit, and type of nature activities (e.g., playing, birdwatching, skiing) were child-reported. The associations were examined using multiple linear regression models adjusted for age, sex, highest parental education in the family (parent-reported), and level of urbanity. Results 50% of children visited nature at least weekly, and the majority (62%) reported 15–60 minutes as a typical duration. The most common nature activities were playing, cycling and walking. More frequent nature visits were associated with higher weekly MVPA (B=0.7; 95%CI 0.003-1.37) and total PA (B=1.4; 95%CI 0.08–2.7). No associations were found between other aspects of nature visits and PA levels across the week. Conclusions In the association between children’s nature exposure and PA, nature visit frequency was related to weekly PA while other aspects of nature visits were not. Results highlight the importance of providing accessible nature environments that children can visit regularly throughout the week. | |
