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Researchers of Utrecht ľ�ϸ���Ӱ�� and ľ�ϸ���Ӱ�� Medical Center Utrecht have published an article in the international journal Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, in which they combine clinical, fundamental AND applied research to investigate the importance of playing as an essential part for growing up in health.

Approximately 15 % of children living in the Netherlands, about 600,000 children aged 0-18 years, have a chronic illness. They face social exclusion such as bullying and loneliness more often, play less often with their peers because they do not belong to (sports) clubs and are more often troubled by anxiety, depression and symptoms such as pain and fatigue.

The researchers from various scientific disciplines (paediatrics, social and behavioural sciences, science and neuroscience) see big opportunities in improving playing for these children. Author and neurobiologist Heidi Lesscher says: “We know quite a lot about the importance of playing by research on rats, but playing among humans has been researched far less extensively and not at all among chronically ill children.”

Playing among humans has not been studied extensively and not at all among chronically ill children.

Playing less

Chronic illnesses such as cystic fibrosis, juvenile arthritis, cancer, but also mental illnesses negatively influence children’s physical, social-emotional and cognitive development, besides the impacts of the illnesses themselves. The researchers think this is because chronically ill children have less opportunities to play with peers. Playing could therefore play an important role in the treatment of chronically ill children. There is already attention for this, but that attention is incidental and usually without a scientific basis. By compiling their knowledge, the researchers expect to find out more about the importance of playing to children’s development and to contribute to the prevention or reduction of the consequences of chronic illnesses in children.
 

Letting ill children age happily

“We are becoming better and better at letting chronically ill children reach older ages. But how we can enable them to get older in happiness has been underdiscussed and underresearched. By combining the knowledge we gained from fundamental research, hospital practice AND applied research, we're going to investigate whether or not we can reduce or prevent the negative effects of the illness at a young age. For instance by developing specific games as a means of prevention or intervention,” author and paediatrician Sanne Nijhof explains.

The complete article can be found here:
 

Youth Research

If you want to tackle social problems, it would be best to start with children. The Utrecht-based research theme Dynamics of Youth invests in a resilient youth. Academics from all fields collaborate in order to learn to better understand child development. How can we help children and youngsters to grow and flourish in our rapidly changing society? /en/research/dynamics-of-youth

More information

Wietske de Lange, Press Officer, phone number +316 45 75 82 44, w.delange@uu.nl.