Children who suffer from "play deprivation" could be at a higher risk of suicide, mental illness and anti-social behaviour, as well as being more likely to develop obesity, a conference on children's play has heard.
Outdoor play for children has become restricted not only because of parents' natural fears about danger from strangers and increased traffic, but due to sanitised and unchallenging playground design, said Steve Goode of the National Play Resource Centre. A link between obesity and restrictions on children playing outdoors had already been established, he added.
"New factors that we're starting to see are increases in anti-social behaviour, suicide, depression ... We can't say for certain yet if a lack of play is leading to these problems, but the correlation is starting to emerge."
Fewer children were playing in the streets outside their homes, so schools and childcare facilities needed to ensure that they set aside adequate time and resources for play, he said.
"Increasingly in schools, childcare centres and after-school facilities, play is being pushed to the margins because of the great need for academic attainment, but studies have shown that if children don't get to play, academic attainment is lowered."
The Government had invested €25 million in the development of playgrounds under the national play policy, Mr Goode said, but many of these facilities were bland and did not allow children to develop their risk assessment capabilities.
"We need to make them more exciting and more challenging with natural features."
