New Research
Risky play and health equity
Guest Author: Elise Whittaker-Hardman
In recent years much has been written about childhood obesity in the UK and the growing pressure on children's mental health services, with anxiety now the most common reason children are referred to counselling services in England. In particular, these challenges are experienced most acutely by children from the least well-off households, where 29.3% of Year 6 children are living with obesity and children are four times more likely to experience serious mental health difficulties by 11. Risky and adventurous outdoor play has been proposed as one response to these issues, and the evidence behind it is growing.
A 2025 scoping review by researchers at Western Sydney University examined 40 empirical studies on risky outdoor play, finding consistent benefit across physical and mental health. By facing real challenges and making their own decisions, children show reduced anxiety, better emotional regulation, improved confidence and greater physical activity. The review highlighted the importance of equity-focused approaches to risky play, noting that children from low socioeconomic backgrounds are disproportionately missing out. While pointing out the importance of risky play and equity, the review offers little practical guidance on how to identify and target priority communities or how existing local resources could be mapped and developed for risky play.
A review of provision across Worcestershire began to explore what addressing that gap might look like in practice. It found that where risky play provision did exist and work well, it was community-led. Evesham Adventure Playground is a strong example of this, offering free open-access play staffed by trained playworkers and located in one of the county’s priority areas. Furthermore, through combining social care priority data with Natural England's newly launched IMED and EEI green space mapping tools it was possible to map where need was greatest and also identify local green space assets that could potentially support risky play provision. In Redditch, for example, the approach identified a 900-acre country park within walking distance of one of the county’s highest-need estates, highlighting both the community in need and a nearby asset that could support provision.
Translation into action:
Recognise risky play as a low-cost, multi-outcome intervention.
Public health teams and local authorities should consider risky play alongside more established interventions. The evidence base is growing, the cost is low and the benefits span physical activity, mental health and healthy weight simultaneously.
Layer your data to identify where to focus.
Combining social care indicators with green space mapping tools like the IMED and EEI can quickly reveal where the same communities appear across multiple datasets and what local assets exist nearby. This provides a practical and equitable basis for targeting investment.
Build on community organisations and involve communities from the start.
Where risky play provision works, it is community-led. Rather than imposing provision from outside, public health teams should look to find local community organisations and work with residents to shape what risky play could look like in their area.