TY - JOUR
T1 - 2025 position statement on active outdoor play
T2 - process and methodology
AU - de Lannoy, Louise
AU - Lee, Eun Young
AU - Ryu, Suryeon
AU - Lopes, Olivia
AU - S. Cheruvathur, Joshua
AU - Thankarajah, Anujah
AU - Adjei Boadi, Dina
AU - de Barros, Isabel
AU - Duncan, Scott
AU - James, Maeghan E.
AU - Mygind, Lærke
AU - Monro Miller, Robyn
AU - Vanderloo, Leigh M.
AU - Wang, Po Yu
AU - Heather, Laura
AU - Tremblay, Mark S.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2025.
PY - 2025/9/25
Y1 - 2025/9/25
N2 - BACKGROUND: The 2015 Position Statement on Active Outdoor Play highlighted the benefits of active outdoor play for child health and development and had significant impact on public policy, law, philanthropy, and research in Canada and internationally. To celebrate its 10th anniversary, we led an update to the Position Statement that is global in scope and inclusive of all human age groups. The goal of this manuscript is to outline the process and methodology involved in developing the 2025 Position Statement on Active Outdoor Play.METHODS: The process involved several key steps: (1) establishing an international leadership group; (2) forming an international steering committee; (3) conducting an environmental scan of historical key events in active outdoor play; (4) using text-mining and linked network analyses to identify core research themes and map relationships among outdoor play organizations; (5) developing a conceptual framework through a consensus-building process; and, (6) using this conceptual framework to guide the completion of a series of reviews used to inform the 2025 Position Statement.RESULTS: The environmental scan identified 136 key events that provided historical context for the evolution of active outdoor play. Text-mining and linked network analyses revealed 10 core research themes and mapped relationships among key organizations and individuals in the field. Informed by these themes and concepts, a draft conceptual framework was developed and circulated to the > 130-person steering committee for review and consensus. The final version of the conceptual framework encompassed 9 key themes, which guided the focus of 18 reviews used to inform the scope and content of the 2025 Position Statement on Active Outdoor Play.CONCLUSIONS: A three-year-long process involving an international leadership group and >130 person steering committee led to the development of an environmental scan, text-mining and linked network analysis, and a conceptual framework including 9 key themes with bidirectional relationships with active outdoor play that guided the development of 18 reviews. Collectively, this work served to inform the updated Position Statement on Active Outdoor Play, which aims to encourage humans of all ages to play, learn, teach, grow, and thrive outdoors and serve as caring stewards of the land, water, air, plants, animals, and each other.SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12966-025-01806-8.
AB - BACKGROUND: The 2015 Position Statement on Active Outdoor Play highlighted the benefits of active outdoor play for child health and development and had significant impact on public policy, law, philanthropy, and research in Canada and internationally. To celebrate its 10th anniversary, we led an update to the Position Statement that is global in scope and inclusive of all human age groups. The goal of this manuscript is to outline the process and methodology involved in developing the 2025 Position Statement on Active Outdoor Play.METHODS: The process involved several key steps: (1) establishing an international leadership group; (2) forming an international steering committee; (3) conducting an environmental scan of historical key events in active outdoor play; (4) using text-mining and linked network analyses to identify core research themes and map relationships among outdoor play organizations; (5) developing a conceptual framework through a consensus-building process; and, (6) using this conceptual framework to guide the completion of a series of reviews used to inform the 2025 Position Statement.RESULTS: The environmental scan identified 136 key events that provided historical context for the evolution of active outdoor play. Text-mining and linked network analyses revealed 10 core research themes and mapped relationships among key organizations and individuals in the field. Informed by these themes and concepts, a draft conceptual framework was developed and circulated to the > 130-person steering committee for review and consensus. The final version of the conceptual framework encompassed 9 key themes, which guided the focus of 18 reviews used to inform the scope and content of the 2025 Position Statement on Active Outdoor Play.CONCLUSIONS: A three-year-long process involving an international leadership group and >130 person steering committee led to the development of an environmental scan, text-mining and linked network analysis, and a conceptual framework including 9 key themes with bidirectional relationships with active outdoor play that guided the development of 18 reviews. Collectively, this work served to inform the updated Position Statement on Active Outdoor Play, which aims to encourage humans of all ages to play, learn, teach, grow, and thrive outdoors and serve as caring stewards of the land, water, air, plants, animals, and each other.SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12966-025-01806-8.
KW - Active outdoor play
KW - Community connections
KW - Education and learning
KW - Health and wellbeing
KW - Human rights and policy
KW - Movement behaviors
KW - Nature and environment
KW - One health
KW - Social capital
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105017184895
U2 - 10.1186/s12966-025-01806-8
DO - 10.1186/s12966-025-01806-8
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 40999371
AN - SCOPUS:105017184895
SN - 1479-5868
VL - 22
JO - International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity
JF - International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity
IS - 1
M1 - 118
ER -