Outdoor Play 2010: Youth outdoor recreation still slipping, but not by as much

http://www.outdoorfoundation.org/pdf/ResearchParticipation2010.pdf

2010 Outdoor Recreation Participation Report
The 2010 Outdoor Recreation Participation Report by The Outdoor Foundation is the only detailed study of its kind tracking American participation trends in outdoor recreation. The study is based on an on-line survey capturing responses from over 40,000 Americans ages six and older and covers 114 different activities, making it the largest survey of its type examining participation in sports and outdoor activities.

More than 137.8 million Americans participated in outdoor recreation in 2009, according to the report. This equates to nearly 50 percent of all Americans six and older and 10.1 billion outdoor outings.

The findings reveal many encouraging trends – especially for youth. Over the last several years, youth outdoor participation has declined significantly in every age group, gender and ethnicity. The 2010 Report finds that the trends in youth participation are starting to move in encouraging direction.

Among youth ages 6 to 12 years old, participation showed only a 2 percentage point decline – a much smaller decrease than in years past. This study continues to track an overall downward slide in outdoor recreation among 6 to 12 year olds. In fact, 62 percent of that group participated in some form of outdoor recreation in 2009 compared to 64 percent in 2008 and 78 percent in 2006. The rates for older youth showed a similar positive trend.

File: Full Report
File Type: PDF
File Size: 4.7 MB
Download Now