Effects of COVID-19 lockdown restrictions on parents’ attitudes towards green space and time spent outside by children in Cambridgeshire and North London, United Kingdom

1. In the United Kingdom, children are spending less time outdoors and are more disconnected from nature than previous generations. However, interaction with nature at a young age can benefit wellbeing and long-term support for conservation. Green space accessibility in the UK varies between rural and urban areas and is lower for children than for adults. It is possible that COVID-19 lockdown restrictions may have influenced these differences.

2. In this study, we assessed parents’ attitudes towards green space, as well as whether the COVID-19 lockdown restrictions had affected their attitudes or the amount of time spent outside by their children, via an online survey for parents of primary school-aged children in Cambridgeshire and North London, UK (n = 171). We assessed whether responses were affected by local environment (rural, suburban or urban), school type (state-funded or fee-paying) or garden access (with or without private garden access).

3. Parents’ attitudes towards green space were significantly different between local environments: 76.9% of rural parents reported being happy with the amount of green space to which their children had access, in contrast with only 40.5% of urban parents.

4. COVID-19 lockdown restrictions also affected parents’ attitudes to the importance of green space, and this differed between local environments: 75.7% of urban parents said their views had changed during lockdown, in contrast with 35.9% of rural parents. The change in amount of time spent outside by children during lockdown was also significantly different between local environments: most urban children spent more time inside during lockdown, whilst most rural children spent more time outside.

5. Neither parents’ attitudes towards green space nor the amount of time spent outside by their children varied with school type or garden access.

6. Our results suggest that lockdown restrictions exacerbated pre-existing differences in access to nature between urban and rural children in our sampled population. We suggest that the current increased public and political awareness of the value of green space should be capitalised on to increase provision and access to green space and to reduce inequalities in accessibility and awareness of nature between children from different backgrounds.

1. 在英国，相较于前几代儿童，当代孩童的户外时长更短，与自然的联结也更为疏离。但幼年时期与自然互动，有益于个体身心健康，并能长期助力自然保护事业。英国的绿地可达性在城乡区域间存在显著差异，且儿童的绿地可达性低于成人。新冠疫情（COVID-19）封锁管控政策或对这类差异产生了影响。
2. 本研究针对英国剑桥郡与北伦敦的小学学龄儿童家长开展线上问卷调查（有效样本量n=171），评估了家长对绿地的态度，以及新冠疫情封锁管控是否影响了其态度，抑或影响了子女的户外时长。同时，本研究还分析了受访者的回答是否受当地环境（乡村、郊区或城区）、学校类型（公立或私立）以及是否拥有私人花园这三项因素的影响。
3. 不同当地环境下的家长对绿地的态度存在显著差异：76.9%的乡村家长表示对子女可及的绿地数量感到满意，而城区家长中这一比例仅为40.5%。
4. 新冠疫情封锁管控同样影响了家长对绿地重要性的认知，且该影响因当地环境而异：75.7%的城区家长表示其观点在封锁期间发生了改变，而乡村家长中这一比例为35.9%。封锁期间儿童户外时长的变化也因当地环境存在显著差异：多数城区儿童在封锁期间更多时间待在室内，而多数乡村儿童则更多时间待在户外。
5. 家长对绿地的态度，以及儿童的户外时长，均未因学校类型或是否拥有私人花园而出现显著差异。
6. 本研究结果表明，在本次抽样的人群中，新冠疫情封锁管控加剧了城乡儿童在自然可及性方面已有的差距。我们建议，应借当前公众与政界对绿地价值的关注度提升之机，加大绿地供给与可达性建设，缩小不同背景儿童之间在绿地可达性与自然认知方面的不平等。