Play is a crucial part of childhood and a right enshrined in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Active play, and outdoor play in particular, is important in helping children maintain healthy weight.
Evidence supports the role of play in overcoming inequalities.
- What are health inequalities?
- Policy context
- What is play?
- Evidence of the impact of play
- How do inequalities impact on children's play?
- Identifying those at risk
What are health inequalities?
The WHO defines health inequalities as "differences in health status or in the distribution of health determinants between different population groups."
For a general discussion of health inequalities and the early years, please see Inequalities in the early years.
Policy context
A child's right to play is enshrined in Article 31 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (external link):
"Every child has the right to relax, play and take part in a wide range of cultural and artistic activities."
Activity in this area is consistent with commitments and priorities detailed in the Early Years Framework and the National Parenting Strategy, Equally Well, Achieving our Potential, a range of NHS Scotland's Quality Indicators and is relevant to Scotland's national practice model for child-centred services - Getting it Right for Every Child (all external links).
What is play?
"Play is a process that is freely chosen, personally directed and intrinsically motivated."
"The impluse to play is innate. Play is a biological and psychological necessity, and is fundamental to the healthy development and well being of individuals and communities." Playwork Principles Scrutiny Group, Cardiff 2005.
Evidence on the impact of play
Play is an essential part of children's physical, cognitive and social development.
NHS Health Scotland have developed a Briefing on Play. This briefing paper aims to increase understanding and provides evidence about the benefits of play in children’s development. It covers the following:
• What is play
• Why play is important
• Barriers to play
• The play environment
• Promoting play
Increased physical activity in preschool children is associated with improved physical health status. There is some evidence to suggest that as they grow up, active children and young people are also less likely to smoke, or to use alcohol, get drunk or take illegal drugs (The Power of Play: An evidence Base (external link)).
See also, information on the benefits of active play in the sections on physical activity and child healthy weight.
How do inequalities impact on children's play?
Almost 1 in 6 children in Scotland have no access to safe places for outdoor play with children living in deprived areas being more affected than those in the least deprived areas (Findings of the Scottish Play Commission: Raising the bar (external link)).
Meanwhile, an analysis of play areas in Glasgow in 2005 found that outdoor play areas in the most deprived neighbourhoods were of poorer quality than in the least deprived areas (Ellaway, A et at (2007) Nowhere to play?).
Disabled children from benefit dependent families, looked after children and children of asylum seekers are also more likely to experience restricted play opportunities (The Power of Play: An evidence base (external link)).
At 22 months, children from less advantaged backgrounds spent less time looking at books or being read to, reciting rhymes or singing, running or playing outdoors, painting or drawing, or recognising colours, shapes or numbers (Growing Up in Scotland: What do we know about play? (external link)).
Identifying those at risk
Because those at risk can be difficult to identify, it's important to link with other professionals who may know more about the family and their circumstances, e.g. carers, GPs, social workers, health visitors, teahers and voluntary sector agencies.
A range of risk factors should be considered, including where the child lives in terms of socioeconomic status and whether or not they live in a deprived area, whether or not they are a looked-after child, parental health and wellbeing, disability and ethnicity.
For a fuller discussion of inequalities, see Inequalities in the early years.
