Funding outcome

Less than ten percent of children in Canada meet the recommended physical activity guidelines of 60 minutes per day of moderate to vigorous activity. Being sedentary puts children at greater risk for cardiovascular disease, obesity and other chronic, health-limiting conditions as adults. Beyond the physical development, the emotional, social and psychological benefits of play and sport in childhood are well documented. However, we find that participation in sport and free play among children in Canada is declining, and previous research suggests that parental fear of injury may be a factor. Public health and recreation professionals want to identify and remove the barriers to a physically active childhood, in order to support children in developing a love of physical activity to carry them through to healthier and more active adulthood. In early childhood (age 12 and under), parents largely control children's extracurricular activities, including which kinds of organized sports children might play and how much time they have to play freely. While serious child injury during play is rare, we believe that the perceived risk of injury is causing parents to limit their child's physical activity through decisions about organized sport enrollment and about how and when children are permitted to engage in unstructured free play. This research will combine the information arising from an analysis of two decades of hospital emergency room visit data with the outcomes of an on-line survey of parental attitudes about injury and risk to facilitate a series of in-depth conversations with parents. From this research, we will have better understanding of how parents both understand and make decisions that manage the perceived risk of injury in both organized sport and free play and how this impacts their support of physical activity for their child. A more comprehensive understanding of parental perception of injury risk will help those working in public health, health policy, and in recreation and sport organizations at the national and local levels to better contextualize and manage parental perception of injury risk as a barrier to physical activity in childhood.