Promoting Children's Active Play in Nature via Primary Care.

Area of Science:

• Pediatric primary care
• Public health interventions
• Childhood physical activity

Background:

• Promoting children's active play in nature is crucial for development.
• Primary care settings offer opportunities to encourage healthy lifestyles.
• Existing interventions may lack feasibility in clinical settings.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, and utility of Project Nature (PN).
• To assess PN's effectiveness in promoting children's active play in nature.
• To gather perspectives from parents and clinic staff on the PN intervention.

Main Methods:

• Project Nature (PN) was implemented in six primary care clinics.
• Intervention included clinician guidance, nature-based toys, and family resources.
• Quantitative parent surveys (control and intervention groups) and qualitative staff interviews were conducted.

Main Results:

• Higher proportion of parents reported clinician encouragement for outdoor time post-PN (85% vs 54%).
• Families reported high satisfaction with PN intervention components.
• Clinic staff found PN feasible and facilitating conversations about active outdoor play.

Conclusions:

• Project Nature (PN) is a feasible and acceptable approach for promoting children's active play in nature.
• Primary care clinics can effectively deliver PN to support family physical activity.
• Results support further evaluation of PN's impact on physical activity and nature engagement.