A new policy from the D66 liberal democrats proposes giving all children in the Dutch capital access to outdoor play areas to climb, play with water and fire, sword-fight with sticks, build with hammers, rope or knives, wrestle and fall. “Rufty-tufty playing means that children might get a bump or a cut,” according to the policy – but it’s an acceptable risk, they say.
“The inspiration, and it really is a huge problem, is that children are hardly moving,” said Rob Hofland, head of the local D66 and proud uncle of tree-climbing children. “All kinds of problems stem from just sitting behind a screen. We see increasing numbers of burnouts and we are learning ever more about how unhealthy it is that the Dutch – the sitting champions of Europe – are so sedentary. Things need to change, and it starts young.”
Although the number of overweight children is relatively stable in the Netherlands, at 17%, the figure rises to a 25% for 18- to 24-year-olds. There has been an “alarming” increase in childhood diabetes, according to the Diabetes Fonds, while motor skills have declined so much that many children can no longer catch a ball.
A survey last year from Jantje Beton, which campaigns for outdoor play space, suggested the number of Dutch children playing alone outside without adult supervision plummeted from 25% in 2022 to 13% last year. Almost half play more indoors, compared with a third before the Covid pandemic.