Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2017;76(1):1298883.
doi: 10.1080/22423982.2017.1298883.

A descriptive quantitative study of 7- and 8-year-old children's outdoor recreation, cold exposure and symptoms in winter in Northern Finland

Hanna Rasi  1 , Heli Kuivila  2 , Tarja Pölkki  3 , Risto Bloigu  4 , Hannu Rintamäki  5   6 , Marjo Tourula  7
Affiliations

A descriptive quantitative study of 7- and 8-year-old children's outdoor recreation, cold exposure and symptoms in winter in Northern Finland

Hanna Rasi et al. Int J Circumpolar Health. 2017.

Abstract

Background: In Finland, children spend a lot of time outdoors in winter. Outdoor recreation in winter has a wide variety of effects on children's well-being. Although children are a subgroup that is vulnerable to cold exposure, remarkably little research has been done on the subject.

Objective: The aim of this study was to describe children's outdoor recreation, cold exposure and symptoms in winter in Northern Finland.

Design: This was a descriptive quantitative study. The participants consisted of 30 children aged 7-8 years who were living in the provinces of Lapland and Northern Ostrobothnia in Finland. Data were collected by using electronic data-logging thermometers fixed on children's outerwear for a month. The thermometers recorded the environmental temperature every five minutes and from that temperature data, we were able to discern the exact amount and duration of children's outdoor recreation. In addition, information on the children's cold symptoms was collected with structured daily entries.

Results: Cold weather was not an obstacle to children's outdoor activities in Finland. However, the duration of outdoor recreation shortened when the outdoor air temperature decreased. There were no significant differences between boys and girls in terms of time spent outdoors. Remarkably, every child reported symptoms associated with cold. Almost half of the children reported experiencing respiratory symptoms and some children also experienced cold pain and numbness.

Conclusions: The results of this study illustrate the many and varied effects that cold exposure can have on children's health and well-being. In order to prevent negative health effects of cold exposure on children, structured prevention strategies are needed: therefore, children's exposure to cold should be studied more. Future research should also bring out more the positive health effects of outdoor recreation on children's growth and development.​​​​.

Keywords: Outdoor; children; cold climate; cold exposure; well-being.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Duration of outdoor recreation. Only exposure times less than 150 min are presented.​​​​
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Outdoor recreations during the weekdays.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Outdoor recreations during the days outside of school.
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
Outdoor temperatures during outdoor recreations.
Figure 5.
Figure 5.
Temperature and duration of outdoor recreation.
Figure 6.
Figure 6.
Temperature and duration of outdoor recreation during days outside of school.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Tourula M, Fukazawa T, Isola A. Evaluation of the thermal insulation of clothing of infants sleeping outdoors in Northern winter. Eur Appl Physiol. 2011;111:633–7. ​​​​. - PubMed
    1. Ylppö A. Children and parents: the four presentations. Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava; 1921. Finnish.
    1. Ylppö A. The mother as a caregiver and feeder of her little child. Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava; 1939. Finnish.
    1. Tourula M, Isola A, Hassi J. Children sleeping outdoors in winter: parents’ experiences of a culturally bound childcare practice. Int J of Circumpolar Health. 2008;67(2–3):269–278. - PubMed
    1. Sievänen T, Neuvonen M, editors. Working papers of the finnish forest research institute. 2010. Sep 25, p. 212.http://www.metla.fi/julkaisut/workingpapers/2011/mwp212.pdf