--- title: U.K. Kids Spend Less Time Outside Than Prison Inmates: Study description: About 3/4 of kids in the UK are spending less than an hour outside on an average day canonical: https://time.com/4272459/u-k-kids-spend-less-time-outside-than-prison-inmates-study-says/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-03-25T18:23:43.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T16:13:55.431Z article:section: Health og:title: U.K. Kids Spend Less Time Outside Than Prison Inmates: Study og:description: About 3/4 of kids in the UK are spending less than an hour outside on an average day og:url: https://time.com/4272459/u-k-kids-spend-less-time-outside-than-prison-inmates-study-says/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbc767309e9beadb6/69888c99428a9e593acd1f78/515719714.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 594 og:image:height: 334 og:image:alt: Kid Using Ipad Under Parental Supervision og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: U.K. Kids Spend Less Time Outside Than Prison Inmates: Study twitter:description: About 3/4 of kids in the UK are spending less than an hour outside on an average day twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbc767309e9beadb6/69888c99428a9e593acd1f78/515719714.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # U.K. Kids Spend Less Time Outside Than Prison Inmates, Study Says > Sponsored content. 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Health Matters is TIME's daily health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free daily newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Mar 25, 2016 6:23 PM UTC  Aadit, using an iPad for games under his mother's supervision as Children and smart devices - Studies have shown that time-bound exposure to games can actually help kids develop better sight, reflexes as well as analytical skills on May 18, 2015 in New Delhi, India. Mint—Hindustan Times via Getty Images Aadit, using an iPad for games under his mother's supervision as Children and smart devices - Studies have shown that time-bound exposure to games can actually help kids develop better sight, reflexes as well as analytical skills on May 18, 2015 in New Delhi, India. Mint—Hindustan Times via Getty ImagesMint—Hindustan Times via Getty Images by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Mar 25, 2016 6:23 PM UTC Kids in the United Kingdom are [spending less time outside than prisoners](http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/mar/25/three-quarters-of-uk-children-spend-less-time-outdoors-than-prison-inmates-survey), according to a new study. A survey of 2,000 parents in United Kingdom finds that nearly three quarters of children are spending less than one hour outside every day, the _Guardian_ reports. About 20% are not going outside at all on a regular basis. U.N. [guidelines](https://www.unodc.org/pdf/criminal%5Fjustice/UN%5FStandard%5FMinimum%5FRules%5Ffor%5Fthe%5FTreatment%5Fof%5FPrisoners.pdf) mandate that prisoners receive “at least one hour of suitable exercise in the open air daily.” “The truth is we are enclosing our children,” Mark Sears, an advocate for “wild play,” told thepaper. “We are stifling their ability to be free, to be at their best as children and it is having significant impacts.” Though the survey was commissioned by the laundry detergent brand Persil as a part of its “Dirt is Good” campaign, it aligns with goals laid out by government officials in the U.K. The environment secretary announced an effort to get every child to visit a national park on Wednesday, according to the _Guardian_. In the U.S., First Lady Michelle Obama has been a fierce advocate for getting children outside for play time as a part of her “Let’s Move” initiative. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4272459/u-k-kids-spend-less-time-outside-than-prison-inmates-study-says/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4272459/u-k-kids-spend-less-time-outside-than-prison-inmates-study-says/"},"headline":"U.K. Kids Spend Less Time Outside Than Prison Inmates, Study Says","datePublished":"2016-03-25T18:23:43.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T16:13:55.431Z","description":"About 3/4 of kids in the U.K. are spending less than an hour outside on an average day","url":"https://time.com/4272459/u-k-kids-spend-less-time-outside-than-prison-inmates-study-says/","keywords":["Children","Studies","health","uk","United Kingdom"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbc767309e9beadb6/69888c99428a9e593acd1f78/515719714.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbc767309e9beadb6/69888c99428a9e593acd1f78/515719714.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Kid Using Ipad Under Parental Supervision","caption":"Kid Using Ipad Under Parental Supervision","creditText":"Mint—Hindustan Times via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4272459/u-k-kids-spend-less-time-outside-than-prison-inmates-study-says/","name":"U.K. Kids Spend Less Time Outside Than Prison Inmates, Study Says"}}]}] ```