| Popis: |
The increase in unclear families and women's advance into society and the decrease in the number of children are greayly influencing the lives of preseny day Japanese children.This study attempts to delineate infant living backgrounds, friendships and play patterns outside the home, and to analyze the difference conpared to research performed ten years ago.A questionnaire was handed out to 324 parents of 4-month, 18-month and 3-year-old infants who had medicai check ups at a Tokyo City health centre in Novenber, 1995. 291 parents (89.9%) complied. Questions targeted infant living conditions , lifestyles, frendships and parental story reading.We discuss the following results: 1) Living conditions and the family constituency remained almost unchanged compared to the research results of ten years ago. The age of mothers having their first child has risen in the decade. 2) The time spent playing outside the home increases as infants get older and 46% of the 3-year-olds spend more than two hours a day outside the home. Parks came first as a place to play, yet the percentage for “friends' houses”is increasing. 3) Though the number of friends increase with age, 17.6% of the 3-year-olds have no friends. 17.6% of the mothers of 3-year-olds have no neighbors that they socialize with at home. |
