National Play Outside Day Encourages Everyone to Set the Screens Aside and Play Outdoors

Contact: Shelby Cefaratti-Bertin, 254-327-8012
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 The first Saturday of every month marks National Play Outside Day when people of all ages are encouraged to set their screens and devices aside and head outdoors with friends and families to play together, enjoy nature and feel the multiple benefits of play.

Baylor University researcher Renée Umstattd Meyer, Ph.D., is passionate about the health benefits both children and adults receive from spontaneous outdoor play and spending time in nature. As a professor of public health and associate dean at Baylor’s Robbins College of Health and Human Sciences, she has built a nationally recognized research portfolio by thinking about how communities can encourage people to be more active and enjoy the benefits of outdoor play.

When people of all ages spend time outdoors, Umstattd Meyer said they can experience seven associated health and quality of life benefits:

• improved mental health,
• the ability to pay attention, 
• better sleep, 
• increased immune function, 
• improved academic performance, 
• higher productivity and 
• better well-being at work.

Umstattd Meyer has studied communities of all sizes, and much of her work has focused on elevating activity in rural communities to better support the health of their residents by eliminating barriers to an active lifestyle. That work has resulted in Play Streets, which are temporary closures of streets or public spaces to encourage children of all ages to set screens and devices aside and engage in fun, outdoor activities.

“I have personally experienced the benefits of physical activity for myself and those around me, and I feel called to help,” Umstattd Meyer said. “We all have different abilities, but our bodies were designed to move and to benefit from that movement. The question is: ‘How can we do this better?’ When we work together to answer that question, we can provide accessible opportunities for people to move and to thrive.”

Umstattd Meyer encourages everyone to find an outdoor place to visit and think about ways to engage in play. She said play has been described as an activity that can be planned or spontaneous by individuals of all ages and is self-initiated and freely chosen. 

“Play is pursued for enjoyment and recreation rather than serving a serious or practical purpose and enhances health, happiness and quality of life,” Umstattd Meyer said.

While technological advancements and conveniences have improved lives, they also have come at a cost, with the loss of social connection with others and the natural world around us, she said. Americans experience heightened stress and anxiety over demands for higher productivity and achievement placed on both children and adults.

“I encourage each of us to use National Play Outside Day as a reminder to stop for a few moments, enjoy nature and plan for ways to regularly engage in outside play in a way that allows you to connect with others and physically move your body,” Umstattd Meyer said.

ABOUT ROBBINS COLLEGE OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SCIENCES AT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY

The Robbins College of Health and Human Sciences at Baylor University seeks to prepare leaders in health and quality of life through science, scholarship and innovation. Together, the departments housed within the Robbins College – Communication Sciences and Disorders; Health, Human Performance and Recreation; Human Sciences and Design; Occupational Therapy; Physical Therapy; Public Health; and a number of Army-Baylor graduate programs – promote a team-based approach to transformational education and research, establishing interdisciplinary research collaborations to advance solutions for improving quality of life for individuals, families and communities. For more information, visit the Robbins College website.

ABOUT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY

Baylor University is a private Christian University and a nationally ranked Research 1 institution. The University provides a vibrant campus community for more than 20,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating University in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 100 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 12 nationally recognized academic divisions.