How far do children travel from their homes? Exploring children's activity spaces in their neighborhood

Place-Based Developmental Research: Conceptual and Methodological Advances in Studying Youth Development in Context

Scientists have, for some time, recognized that development unfolds in numerous settings, including families, schools, neighborhoods, and organized and unorganized activity settings. Since the turn of the 20th century, the body of mainstream neighborhood effects scholarship draws heavily from the early 20th century Chicago School of Sociology frameworks and have been situating development in neighborhood contexts and working to identify the structures and processes via which neighborhoods matter for a range of developmental outcomes, especially achievement, behavioral and emotional problems, and sexual activity. From this body of work, two new areas of developmental scholarship are emerging. Both areas are promising for advancing an understanding of child development in context. First, cultural-developmental neighborhood researchers are advancing neighborhood effects research that explicitly recognizes the ways that racial, ethnic, cultural, and immigrant social positions matter for neighborhood environments and for youths' developmental demands, affordances, experiences, and competencies. This body of work substantially expands the range of developmental outcomes examined in neighborhood effects scholarship to recognize normative physical, emotional, cognitive, behavioral, social, and cultural competencies that have largely been overlooked in neighborhood effects scholarship that espoused a more color-blind developmental approach. Second, activity space neighborhood researchers are recognizing that residential neighborhoods have important implications for broader activity spaces-or the set of locations and settings to which youth are regularly exposed, including, for example, schools, work, organized activities, and hang-outs. They are using newer technologies and geographic frameworks to assess exposure to residential neighborhood and extra-neighborhood environments. These perspectives recognize that time (i.e., from microtime to mesotime) and place are critically bound and that exposures can be operationalized at numerous levels of the ecological system (i.e., from microsystems to macrosystems). These frameworks address important limitations of prior development in context scholarship by addressing selection and exposure. Addressing selection involves recognizing that families have some degree of choice when selecting into settings and variables that predict families' choices (e.g., income) also predict development. Considering exposure involves recognizing that different participants or residents experience different amounts of shared and nonshared exposures, resulting in both under-and over-estimation of contextual effects. Activity space scholars incorporate exposure to the residential neighborhood environments, but also to other locations and settings to which youth are regularly exposed, like schools, after-school settings, work, and hang-outs. Unfortunately, the cultural-development and activity space streams, which have both emerged from early 20th century work on neighborhood effects on development, have been advancing largely independently. Thus, the overarching aim of this monograph is to integrate scholarship on residential neighborhoods, cultural development, and activity spaces to advance a framework that can support a better understanding of development in context for diverse groups. In Chapters I and II we present the historical context of the three streams of theoretical, conceptual, and methodological research. We also advance a comprehensive cultural-developmental activity space framework for studying development in context among children, youth, and families that are ethnically, racially, and culturally heterogeneous. This framework actively recognized diversity in ethnic, racial, immigrant, and socioeconomic social positions. In Chapters III-V we advance specific features of the framework, focusing on: (1) the different levels of nested and nonnested ecological systems that can be captured and operationalized with activity space methods, (2) the different dimensions of time and exposures or experiences that can be captured and operationalized by activity space methods, and (3) the importance of settings structures and social processes for identifying underlying mechanisms of contextual effects on development. Structures are setting features related to the composition and spatial arrangement of people and institutions (e.g., socioeconomic disadvantage, ethnic/racial compositions). Social processes represent the collective social dynamics that take place in settings, like social interactions, group activities, experiences with local institutions, mechanisms of social control, or shared beliefs. In Chapter VI, we highlight a range of methodological and empirical exemplars from the United States that are informed by our comprehensive cultural-developmental activity space framework. These exemplars feature both quantitative and qualitative methods, including method mixing. These exemplars feature both quantitative and qualitative methods, including method mixing. The exemplars also highlight the application of the framework across four different samples from populations that vary in terms of race, ethnicity, gender, age, socioeconomic status (SES), geographic region, and urbanicity. They capture activity space characteristics and features in a variety of ways, in addition to incorporating family shared and nonshared activity space exposures. Finally, in Chapter VII we summarize the contributions of the framework for advancing a more comprehensive science of development in context, one that better realizes major developmental theories emphasizing persons, processes, contexts, and time. Additionally, we offer a place-based, culturally informed developmental research agenda to meet the needs of an increasingly diverse population.

What can drawings tell us about children's perceptions of nature?

The growing disconnect between children and nature has led to concerns around the loss of ecological knowledge and reduced nature connection. Understanding children's perceptions of nature is vital for engaging them with local wildlife and mitigating this growing disconnect. This study investigated children's perceptions of nature by analysing 401 drawings made by children (aged 7-11) of their local green spaces, collected from 12 different English schools, including state-funded and privately funded. We assessed which animal and plant groups were drawn the most and least often, quantified each drawing's species richness and community composition, and identified all terms used in the drawings to the highest taxonomic resolution possible. The most commonly drawn groups were mammals (80.5% of drawings) and birds (68.6% of drawings), while herpetofauna were the least commonly drawn (15.7% of drawings). Despite not explicitly being asked about plants, 91.3% of drawings contained a plant. Taxonomic resolution was highest for mammals and birds, with 90% of domestic mammals and 69.6% of garden birds identifiable to species, compared to 18.5% of insects and 14.3% of herpetofauna. No invertebrates other than insects were identifiable to species. Within plants, trees and crops were the most identifiable to species, at 52.6% and 25% of terms respectively. Drawings from state-school children had higher plant richness than those from private-school children. Animal community composition differed between school funding types, with more types of garden birds drawn by private-school than state-school children, and more types of invertebrates drawn by state-school than private-school children. Our findings indicate that children's perceptions of local wildlife are focused on mammals and birds. While plants feature prominently, plant knowledge is less specific than animal knowledge. We suggest that this skew in children's ecological awareness be addressed through better integration of ecology within national curricula and more funding for green space within schools.

Perceived Safety Influencing Active Travel to School-A Built Environment Perspective

Despite the many research studies on active school travel (AST), the number of children walking/cycling to school is decreasing as there is a lack of implementable research evidence. This review through database searches from 2000 to 2020 aims to identify research gaps and explore new perspectives. The articles are selected and screened methodically for systematic presentation of the review. An existing active school travel framework is used to structure and discuss this review paper on mediating factors influencing children's active travel to school, that is the perceived traffic safety, neighborhood safety, and distance to school. Perception of traffic safety could be ameliorated through lateral separation from the traffic, and this could be a new area of research. The neighborhood safety perception may require more research to validate the previous findings. Schools should be located within high-density residential development so that many children can walk to school.

Children's Access to Non-School Destinations by Active or Independent Travel: A Scoping Review

BACKGROUND

Children's access to non-school destinations is important for their well-being, but this has been overlooked in transport planning. Research on children's access to non-school destinations is growing, and there is a need for a comprehensive overview, examining both quantitative and qualitative studies, of the existing evidence on places that children access by active or independent travel.

OBJECTIVES

Identify and summarize quantitative and qualitative research on the topic of active or independent travel to non-school destinations for elementary aged children (6 to 13 years old).

METHODS

Papers published in English between 1980 and July 2021 were sourced from: (i) Web of Science Core Collection; (ii) PubMed; and (iii) APA PsycInfo. Three relevant journals related to children and transport were hand searched: (i) Children's Geographies; (ii) Journal of Transport & Health; and (iii) Journal of Transport Geography. The search was limited to peer-reviewed articles published in English between 1980 and July 2021. Covidence, an online software platform for systematic reviews, was used to organize articles during the title and abstract screening stage. PRISMA-Scr is applied for reporting.

RESULTS

27 papers were retained from an initial 1293 identified peer-reviewed articles. The results reveal that children in different geographies travel unsupervised or by active modes to places that support different domains of their well-being such as a friend or relative's home, local parks or green spaces, recreational facilities, and different retail locations (e.g., restaurants). There is evidence that children's ability to reach certain places is constrained, likely due to safety concerns or environmental barriers.

CONCLUSIONS

Research on children's diverse destinations is relatively limited as compared to trips to school. Various methodologies have been applied and can be combined to completement each other such as objective GPS tracking and subjective surveys on places children would go if they were available. Future research should clearly report and discuss the non-school destinations that children access to better inform transport planning and policy for all aspects of children's lives.

Effects of Attending Extracurricular Lessons and Cram School on Independent Mobility in Japanese Children

Independent mobility and its related factors were examined among Japanese elementary school children. Based on the responses of 1,824 mothers with elementary school-aged children, the effects of demographic variables such as children’s grade, gender, and birth order as well as regional characteristics, neighborhood environment, distance to and means of getting to school, children’s use of bicycles, keys and cell phones, and the number of weekdays spent attending lessons or cram schools were explored. Factor analysis revealed that independent mobility comprised activities in public places, including outings to supermarkets, and traveling by bus and train as well as activities in the school district such as visiting friends’ homes and parks. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses that comprised five steps were conducted in which the number of days of attending lessons and cram school was entered in the final step. There was a strong gender effect and grade effect for outings to public places and activities in the school district. Concerns about traffic accidents and security were associated with lower independent mobility. With regard to activities in the school district, proximity to school, use of bicycles, and possession of house keys had a positive effect. It is noteworthy that the effect of the number of days spent attending lessons or cram school was observed even after the other variables were entered, thus resulting in a negative effect. It is recommended that further comparative studies involving other Asian countries be conducted to evaluate the effects of extracurricular activities.

Physical Activity and Food Environments in and around Schools: A Case Study in Regional North-West Tasmania

A better understanding of the physical activity (PA) infrastructure in schools, the walkability of neighborhoods close to schools, and the food environments around schools, particularly in rural, socioeconomically challenged areas such as the North-West (NW) of Tasmania, could be important in the wider effort to improve the health of school-age children. Accordingly, this research aimed to assess PA resources, walkability, and food environments in and around schools in three socioeconomically disadvantaged, regional/rural Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Tasmania, Australia. A census of schools (including assessment of the PA infrastructure quality within school grounds), a walkability assessment, and a census of food outlets surrounding schools (through geospatial mapping) were executed. Most of the schools in the study region had access to an oval, basketball/volleyball/netball court, and free-standing exercise equipment. In all instances (i.e., regardless of school type), the quality of the available infrastructure was substantially higher than the number of incivilities observed. Most schools also had good (i.e., within the first four deciles) walkability. Numerous food outlets were within the walking zones of all schools in the study region, with an abundance of food outlets that predominantly sold processed unhealthy food.

Association between Land Use Mix and Respiratory Symptoms and Asthma in Children from the Generation XXI Birth Cohort

Land use mix (LUM) in the neighbourhoods has been associated with healthier lifestyles. However, less is known about the association between LUM and health outcomes, namely during childhood. The objective of this study was to evaluate the association between different LUM indexes for Porto Metropolitan Area and asthma and respiratory symptoms in children. A cross-sectional analysis was performed involving 6260 children enrolled in Generation XXI. Land use around the child's residence was assessed with the Portuguese official map of land cover using a GIS. Generalized linear mixed-effects models were fitted to estimate the association between LUM and respiratory symptoms and asthma at 7 years of age. Adjusted associations were quantified using odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (95% CI). After adjustment, LUM was associated with a lower odds of wheezing in the last 12 months [OR (95% CI) = 0.37 (0.15; 0.93) using Shannon's Evenness Index within 500 m; and OR = 0.93 (0.89; 0.98) using the number of different land use types within 250 m]. Living in neighbourhoods with high LUM has a protective effect on current wheezing symptoms. Our results highlight the association between LUM and respiratory symptoms among children, suggesting that public health considerations should be incorporated in land use decision-making.

Childhood Experience Reduces Gender Differences in Spatial Abilities: A Cross-Cultural Study

Spatial experience in childhood is a factor in the development of spatial abilities. In this study, we assessed whether American and Faroese participants' (N = 246, M_age = 19.31 years, 151 females) early spatial experience and adult spatial outcomes differed by gender and culture, and if early experience was related to adult performance and behavior. Participants completed retrospective reports on their childhood spatial experience, both large-scale (permitted childhood range size) and small-scale (Lego play). They also completed assessments of their current large-scale spatial behavior (navigational strategy) and small-scale ability (mental rotation task, MRT). We replicated earlier results showing better MRT performance among males and more reliance by males on orientation navigational strategies, although males and females reported similar ranges as children. However, there were cross-cultural differences, with Faroese having larger childhood ranges, less reliance on route strategies, better MRT scores, and a smaller gender difference in MRT. Larger permitted childhood ranges were associated with reduced use of route strategies for navigation in adulthood, and greater Lego play in childhood predicted better MRT performance as adults. There was also some evidence supporting relationships across spatial scales, with more Lego play predicting an orientation style of navigation and larger childhood ranges predicting better performance on the MRT, although the latter was not independent of country. In sum, we observed an association in both cultures between large-scale childhood experience and large-scale behavior in adulthood, small-scale experience in childhood and adult small-scale performance, and some associations between experience and behavior across spatial scales.

Social-Ecological Correlates of Children’s Independent Mobility: A Systematic Review

Children’s independent mobility (IM) is associated with a range of benefits and understanding the factors that influence IM can support creation of effective interventions. The review (Prospero CRD42016042174) systematically summarized the available literature for social-ecological correlates of children’s IM in school-aged children and youth (aged 5–17 years). In this case, 53 studies were included and evaluated six individual, 15 interpersonal, 12 social environment, and 19 built environment- level variables. Most studies originated from Australia (n = 15) and Canada (n = 8) with most published in 2011 or later (n = 48). Variables that were consistently (positively and/or negatively) associated with children’s IM were age, ethnicity/race, child’s perceived competence, ownership of a house/access to house keys, having siblings, parents’ attitude toward IM and perception of child’s confidence, children’s interest in environment and activities, parents’ concern around traffic, housing/residential density, length of residency in one’s home, distance to destinations, and proximity to green space. Given the inter-related social-ecological correlates identified, intervention to promote children’s IM will likely need a multi-level and multi-sectoral approach. However, focus areas of building children’s skills and confidence, helping parents gain confidence in their children’s abilities, assuaging parental traffic concerns, and building environments with shorter distances to destinations of interest for children should be prioritized.

Associations between Children's Physical Activity and Neighborhood Environments Using GIS: A Secondary Analysis from a Systematic Scoping Review

Regular participation in physical activity is essential for children's physical, mental, and cognitive health. Neighborhood environments may be especially important for children who are more likely to spend time in the environment proximal to home. This article provides an update of evidence for associations between children's physical activity behaviors and objectively assessed environmental characteristics derived using geographical information system (GIS)-based approaches. A systematic scoping review yielded 36 relevant articles of varying study quality. Most studies were conducted in the USA. Findings highlight the need for neighborhoods that are well connected, have higher population densities, and have a variety of destinations in the proximal neighborhood to support children's physical activity behaviors. A shorter distance to school and safe traffic environments were significant factors in supporting children's active travel behaviors. Areas for improvement in the field include the consideration of neighborhood self-selection bias, including more diverse population groups, ground-truthing GIS databases, utilising data-driven approaches to derive environmental indices, and improving the temporal alignment of GIS datasets with behavioral outcomes.

Association between physical activity and activity space in different farming seasons among rural Lao PDR residents

Background

Southeast Asia is experiencing a health transition, where non-communicable diseases (NCD) are exceeding communicable diseases. Despite NCDs accounting for roughly 60–85% of deaths in the region, many developing Southeast Asian countries are beginning to address the impacts of a physically inactive lifestyle for the first time. Our study aims to bridge this gap by objectively measuring physical activity in rural Lao PDR to reveal the association among physical activity, activity space, and seasonal variation.

Methods

Multiple waves of survey data were collected in Songkhon District, Lao PDR between March 2010 and March 2011. Adults aged between 18 and 65 were recruited (n = 48). A portable GPS recorded participants’ activity and farmland locations and an accelerometer recorded participants’ physical activity level and daily steps for seven consecutive days. Using a directional distribution tool in ArcGIS 10.5, the activity space area of each participant in each wave was calculated. Concurrently, participants recorded time spent on each daytime activity. Linear mixed models with the fixed effects as the observations from different waves and the random effects as individual participants were developed to identify factors associated with areas of activity space and counts of daily steps, respectively.

Results

A total of 48 respondents aged between 19 and 57 took part in the study. Half of the participants were females. Walking was found to be the most frequent travel mode. Females were physically less active, with a smaller activity space, and were more overweight than the males in the study. Participants were physically less active during the off-farming seasons.

Conclusions

Findings contribute to the surveillance of risk factors needed to create healthy living environments. Our research is also one of the first to use empirical evidence demonstrating seasonal variations of rural residents’ activities in mainland Southeast Asia.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s41182-021-00364-6.

Improving spatial data in health geographics: a practical approach for testing data to measure children's physical activity and food environments using Google Street View

Background

Geographic information systems (GIS) are often used to examine the association between both physical activity and nutrition environments, and children’s health. It is often assumed that geospatial datasets are accurate and complete. Furthermore, GIS datasets regularly lack metadata on the temporal specificity. Data is usually provided ‘as is’, and therefore may be unsuitable for retrospective or longitudinal studies of health outcomes. In this paper we outline a practical approach to both fill gaps in geospatial datasets, and to test their temporal validity. This approach is applied to both district council and open-source datasets in the Taranaki region of Aotearoa New Zealand.

Methods

We used the ‘streetview’ python script to download historic Google Street View (GSV) images taken between 2012 and 2016 across specific locations in the Taranaki region. Images were reviewed and relevant features were incorporated into GIS datasets.

Results

A total of 5166 coordinates with environmental features missing from council datasets were identified. The temporal validity of 402 (49%) environmental features was able to be confirmed from council dataset considered to be ‘complete’. A total of 664 (55%) food outlets were identified and temporally validated.

Conclusions

Our research indicates that geospatial datasets are not always complete or temporally valid. We have outlined an approach to test the sensitivity and specificity of GIS datasets using GSV images. A substantial number of features were identified, highlighting the limitations of many GIS datasets.

Is there a correlation between children's outdoor active mobility behaviour and neighbourhood safety? A systematic review of the evidence

OBJECTIVE

To identify, summarise and evaluate evidence on the correlation between perceived and actual neighbourhood safety (personal and road danger) and diverse forms of outdoor active mobility behaviour (ie, active play, exercise, and travel) among primary-school-aged children.

DESIGN

A systematic review of evidence from observational studies exploring children's active mobility behaviour and safety.

DATA SOURCES

Six electronic databases were searched: Google Scholar, PubMed, Scopus, Science Direct, ProQuest and Web of Science from study inception until July 2020.

DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS

Study selection and quality assessment were conducted independently by two reviewers. We expanded on a quality assessment tool and adopted a vote-counting technique to determine strength of evidence. The outcomes were categorised by individual, family and neighbourhood levels.

RESULTS

A total of 29 studies were included, with a majority of cross-sectional design. Higher parental perceived personal safety correlated with increased children's active mobility behaviour, but most commonly in active travel (eg, independent walking or cycling to a local destination). Increased concerns regarding road danger correlated with a decrease in each type of children's active behaviour; active travel, play and exercise. However, these correlations were influenced by child's sex/gender, age, car ownership, neighbourhood types, across time, and proximity to destination. Limited or inconclusive evidence was found on correlate of children's outdoor active mobility behaviour to 'stranger danger', children's perceived personal safety, race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status or measured safety.

CONCLUSION

Children are restricted by perception of safety. Encouraging children's active travel may require future strategies to address characteristics relevant to types of the neighbourhood that promote a high sense of personal safety. Children and parents may embrace other types of active mobility behaviour if road danger is mitigated. Sex/gender and age-specific interventions and redesign of public places could lead to child-friendly cities. Future studies may benefit from adopting validated measurement methods and fill existing research gaps.

Accuracy of buffers and self-drawn neighbourhoods in representing adolescent GPS measured activity spaces: An exploratory study

BACKGROUND

There continues to be a lack of understanding as to the geographical area at which the environment exerts influence on behaviour and health. This exploratory study compares different potential methods of both researcher- and participant-defined definitions of neighbourhood reflect an adolescent's activity space.

METHODS

Seven consecutive days of global positioning system (GPS) tracking data were collected at 15 s intervals using a small exploratory adolescent sample of 14-18 year olds (n = 69) in West Yorkshire, England. A total of 304,581 GPS tracking points were collected and compared 30 different definitions of researcher-defined neighbourhoods including radial, network and ellipse buffers at 400 m, 800 m, 1000 m, 1600 m and 3000 m, as well as participant-defined self-drawn neighbourhoods.

RESULTS

This exploratory study supports emerging evidence cautioning against the use of static neighbourhood definitions for defining exposure. Traditional buffers (network and radial) capture at most 67% of activity space (home radial), and at worst they captured only 3.5% (school network) and range from capturing between 3 and 88% of total time. Similarly, self-drawn neighbourhoods captured only 10% of actual daily movement. Interestingly, 40% of an adolescent's self-drawn neighbourhood was not used. We also demonstrate that buffers capture a range of space (22-95%) where adolescents do not go, thus misclassifying the exposure.

CONCLUSION

Our exploratory findings demonstrate that neither researcher- nor participant-defined definition of neighbourhood adequately captures adolescent activity space. Further research with larger samples are needed to confirm the findings of this exploratory study.

"Well, You Feel More Responsible When You're Unsupervised": Exploring Family Perspectives on Children's Independent Mobility

While children's independent mobility (CIM) is associated with various benefits, there is evidence of a generational decline in CIM in westernized countries; therefore, it is helpful to understand how CIM is currently negotiated between children and their parents. The purpose of this study was to examine children's and parents' perspectives and negotiations of CIM within the family unit. Face-to-face interviews and walk-along interviews were conducted with parents (n = 44) and children (n = 22), respectively. Interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim, and a thematic analysis was conducted. Four key preconditions were identified that facilitated negotiation of CIM within family units, including (1) the influence of parents' childhood experiences regarding their view of CIM (e.g., positive interpretations of childhood on parenting practices), (2) the role of children's individual characteristics on their independent mobility (e.g., child's confidence in their abilities), (3) family communication as a key coping strategy (parent-parent and parent-child communication), and (4) the influence of positive perceptions of the social environment on CIM. The findings suggest that CIM thrives when these conditions are present; as a result, it may be particularly helpful to develop policies and programs that support children's skill training, explore strategies to support communication between parents and children, and build neighbourhood connections.

Children's outdoor active mobility behaviour and neighbourhood safety: a systematic review in measurement methods and future research directions

BACKGROUND

Numerous studies have examined the association between safety and primary school-aged children's forms of active mobility. However, variations in studies' measurement methods and the elements addressed have contributed to inconsistencies in research outcomes, which may be forming a barrier to advancing researchers' knowledge about this field. To assess where current research stands, we have synthesised the methodological measures in studies that examined the effects of neighbourhood safety exposure (perceived and measured) on children's outdoor active mobility behaviour and used this analysis to propose future research directions.

METHOD

A systematic search of the literature in six electronic databases was conducted using pre-defined eligibility criteria and was concluded in July 2020. Two reviewers screened the literature abstracts to determine the studies' inclusion, and two reviewers independently conducted a methodological quality assessment to rate the included studies.

RESULTS

Twenty-five peer-reviewed studies met the inclusion criteria. Active mobility behaviour and health characteristics were measured objectively in 12 out of the 25 studies and were reported in another 13 studies. Twenty-one studies overlooked spatiotemporal dimensions in their analyses and outputs. Delineations of children's neighbourhoods varied within 10 studies' objective measures, and the 15 studies that opted for subjective measures. Safety perceptions obtained in 22 studies were mostly static and primarily collected via parents, and dissimilarities in actual safety measurement methods were present in 6 studies. The identified schematic constraints in studies' measurement methods assisted in outlining a three-dimensional relationship between 'what' (determinants), 'where' (spatial) and 'when' (time) within a methodological conceptual framework.

CONCLUSIONS

The absence of standardised measurement methods among relevant studies may have led to the current diversity in findings regarding active mobility, spatial (locality) and temporal (time) characteristics, the neighbourhood, and the representation of safety. Ignorance of the existing gaps and heterogeneity in measures may impact the reliability of evidence and poses a limitation when synthesising findings, which could result in serious biases for policymakers. Given the increasing interest in children's health studies, we suggested alternatives in the design and method of measures that may guide future evidence-based research for policymakers who aim to improve children's active mobility and safety.

Objective measurement of children's physical activity geographies: A systematic search and scoping review

This study aimed to systematically identify, map out, and describe geographical information systems (GIS)-based approaches that have been employed to measure children's neighborhood geographies for physical activity behaviors. Forty studies were included, most were conducted in the USA. Heterogeneity in GIS methods and measures was found. The majority of studies estimated children's environments using Euclidean or network buffers ranging from 100 m to 5 km. No singular approach to measuring children's physical activity geographies was identified as optimal. Geographic diversity in studies as well as increased use of measures of actual neighborhood exposure are needed. Improved consistency and transparency in reporting research methods is urgently required.

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Varied GIS measures of children's physical activity geographies were identified.

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Evidence was heterogeneous and predominantly from the USA.

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Most research used Euclidean or network buffers ranging from 100 m to 5 km.

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Larger buffer sizes (i.e., ≥800 m) performed better than smaller buffer sizes.

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No optimal approach to measuring children's activity geographies was determined.

Space to play: identifying children's sites in the Pleistocene archaeological record

Identifying the residues of children's activities in deep time contexts is essential if we are to build a comprehensive understanding of human cognitive and cultural development. Despite the importance of such data to human evolution studies, however, archaeologists have only recently begun to look for prehistoric children's material culture, and the identification of children's spaces is completely absent for deep time contexts. This paper draws together sociological and historical data regarding the universal need of Homo sapiens children for 'secret' places - places away from parental control. These spaces are important for the behavioural development of children and are universal in modern contexts. This paper demonstrates that these features can be identified in prehistoric archaeological records - and as such - researchers will have new datasets with which to interrogate the role of children in the development of their respective societies.

GIS-modelled built-environment exposures reflecting daily mobility for applications in child health research

Background

Inaccurately modelled environmental exposures may have important implications for evidence-based policy targeting health promoting or hazardous facilities. Travel routes modelled using GIS generally use shortest network distances or Euclidean buffers to represent journeys with corresponding built-environment exposures calculated along these routes. These methods, however, are an unreliable proxy for calculating child built-environment exposures as child route choice is more complex than shortest network routes.

Methods

We hypothesised that a GIS model informed by characteristics of the built-environment known to influence child route choice could be developed to more accurately model exposures. Using GPS-derived walking commutes to and from school we used logistic regression models to highlight built-environment features important in child route choice (e.g. road type, traffic light count). We then recalculated walking commute routes using a weighted network to incorporate built-environment features. Multilevel regression analyses were used to validate exposure predictions to the retail food environment along the different routing methods.

Results

Children chose routes with more traffic lights and residential roads compared to the modelled shortest network routes. Compared to standard shortest network routes, the GPS-informed weighted network enabled GIS-based walking commutes to be derived with more than three times greater accuracy (38%) for the route to school and more than 12 times greater accuracy (92%) for the route home.

Conclusions

This research advocates using weighted GIS networks to accurately reflect child walking journeys to school. The improved accuracy in route modelling has in turn improved estimates of children’s exposures to potentially hazardous features in the environment. Further research is needed to explore if the built-environment features are important internationally. Route and corresponding exposure estimates can be scaled to the population level which will contribute to a better understanding of built-environment exposures on child health and contribute to mobility-based child health policy.

What Is the Relationship between the Neighbourhood Built Environment and Time Spent in Outdoor Play? A Systematic Review

Outdoor play has been associated with children’s and adolescents’ healthy development and physical activity. Attributes of the neighbourhood built environment can influence play behaviours. This systematic review examined the relationship between attributes of the neighbourhood built environment and the time children and adolescents (0–18 years) spend in self-directed outdoor play. We identified and evaluated 18 relevant papers using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool and developed a narrative synthesis of study results. We found moderate evidence that lower traffic volumes (ages 6–11), yard access (ages 3–10), and increased neighbourhood greenness (ages 2–15) were positively associated with time spent in outdoor play, as well as limited evidence that specific traffic-calming street features such as fewer intersections, low traffic speeds, neighbourhood disorder, and low residential density were positively associated with time spent in outdoor play. To our knowledge, this is the first systematic review on this topic. The limited number of “good quality” studies identified highlights the need for additional research on the topic.

Correlates of Children's Independent Mobility in Canada: A Multi-Site Study

Globally, physical inactivity is a concern, and children’s independent mobility (CIM) may be an important target behavior for addressing the physical inactivity crisis. The aim of this study was to examine correlates of CIM (8–12 years old) in the Canadian context to inform future interventions. CIM was measured via parent surveys. Individual, social, and environmental correlates of CIM were examined using a social–ecological framework. 1699 participants’ data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and gender-stratified linear mixed-effects models while controlling for site, area-level socioeconomic status, and type of urbanization. Individual correlates including child grade (β = 0.612, p < 0.001), language spoken at home (β = −0.503, p < 0.001), car ownership (β = −0.374, p < 0.05), and phone ownership (β = 0.593, p < 0.001) were associated with CIM. For boys, parental gender (β = −0.387, p < 0.01) was negatively associated with CIM. Parents’ perceptions of safety and environment were significantly associated with CIM. Location (i.e., site) was significantly associated with CIM (ref: Trois-Rivières; Ottawa (β = −1.188, p < 0.001); Vancouver (β = −1.216, p < 0.001)). Suburban environments were negatively associated with boys’ independent mobility (β = −0.536, p < 0.05), while walkability (400 m β = 0.064, p < 0.05; 1600 m β = −0.059, p < 0.05) was significantly associated with girls’ independent mobility only. Future research and interventions should consider targeting “modifiable factors” like children’s and parents’ perceptions of neighborhood safety and environment.

Activity spaces in studies of the environment and physical activity: A review and synthesis of implications for causality

Activity spaces are increasingly used to understand how people interact with their environment and engage in activity but their use may raise challenges regarding causal inference. We conducted a systematic review of findings and the methodological, analytical and conceptual issues relevant to causal inference. Studies were included if they comprised a spatial summary of locations visited, assessed any part of the causal pathway between the environment, physical activity and health, and used quantitative or qualitative methods. We searched seven electronic databases in January 2018 and screened 11910 articles for eligibility. Forty-seven studies were included for review. Studies answered research questions about features of or environmental features within activity spaces using a range of spatial and temporal summary techniques. The conceptual challenge of using activity spaces to strengthen causal inference was rarely considered, although some studies discussed circularity, temporality, and plausibility. Future studies should use longitudinal and experimental designs and consider the potential and actual use of spaces for physical activity, and their relationship with total levels of activity.

Residential neighborhood greenery and children's cognitive development

Children who grow up in neighborhoods with more green vegetation show enhanced cognitive development in specific domains over short timespans. However, it is unknown if neighborhood greenery per se is uniquely predictive of children's overall cognitive development measured across many years. The E-Risk Longitudinal Study, a nationally representative 1994-5 birth-cohort of children in Britain (n = 1658 urban and suburban-dwelling participants), was used to test whether residential neighborhood greenery uniquely predicts children's cognitive development across childhood and adolescence. Greenery exposure was assessed from ages 5 to 18 using the satellite imagery-based normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) in 1-mile buffers around the home. Fluid and crystalized intellectual performance was assessed in the home at ages 5, 12, and 18 using the Wechsler Intelligence Scale, and executive function, working memory, and attention ability were assessed in the home at age 18 using the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery. Children living in residences surrounded by more neighborhood greenery scored significantly higher, on average, on IQ measures at all ages. However, the association between greenery and cognitive measures did not hold after accounting for family or neighborhood socioeconomic status. After adjustment for study covariates, child greenery exposure was not a significant predictor of longitudinal increases in IQ across childhood and adolescence or of executive function, working memory, or attention ability at age 18. Children raised in greener neighborhoods exhibit better overall cognitive ability, but the association is likely accounted for by family and neighborhood socioeconomic factors.

Association Between the Activity Space Exposure to Parks in Childhood and Adolescence and Cognitive Aging in Later Life

The exposure to green space in early life may support better cognitive aging in later life. However, this exposure is usually measured using the residential location alone. This disregards the exposure to green spaces in places frequented during daily activities (i.e., the ‘activity space’). Overlooking the multiple locations visited by an individual over the course of a day is likely to result in poor estimation of the environmental exposure and therefore exacerbates the contextual uncertainty. A child’s activity space is influenced by factors including age, sex, and the parental perception of the neighborhood. This paper develops indices of park availability based on individuals’ activity spaces (home, school, and the optimal route to school). These measures are used to examine whether park availability in childhood is related to cognitive change much later in life. Multi-level linear models, including random effects for schools, were used to test the association between park availability during childhood and adolescence and cognitive aging (age 70 to 76) in the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936 participants (N = 281). To test for the effect modification, these models were stratified by sex and road traffic accident (RTA) density. Park availability during adolescence was associated with better cognitive aging at a concurrently low RTA density (β = 0.98, 95% CI: 0.36 to 1.60), but not when the RTA density was higher (β = 0.22, 95% CI: −0.07 to 0.51). Green space exposure during early life may be important for optimal cognitive aging; this should be evidenced using activity space-based measures within a life-course perspective.

Does home neighbourhood supportiveness influence the location more than volume of adolescent's physical activity? An observational study using global positioning systems

Background

Environmental characteristics of home neighbourhoods are hypothesised to be associated with residents’ physical activity levels, yet many studies report only weak or equivocal associations. We theorise that this may be because neighbourhood characteristics influence the location of activity more than the volume. Using a sample of UK adolescents, we examine the role of home neighbourhood supportiveness for physical activity, both in terms of volume of activity undertaken and a measure of proximity to home at which activity takes place.

Methods

Data were analysed from 967 adolescents living in and around the city of Bristol, UK. Each participant wore an accelerometer and a GPS device for 7 days during school term time. These data were integrated into a Geographical Information System containing information on the participants’ home neighbourhoods and measures of environmental supportiveness. We then identified the amount of out-of-school activity of different intensities that adolescents undertook inside their home neighbourhood and examined how this related to home neighbourhood supportiveness.

Results

We found that living in a less supportive neighbourhood did not negatively impact the volume of physical activity that adolescents undertook. Indeed these participants recorded similar amounts of activity (e.g. 20.5 mins per day of moderate activity at weekends) as those in more supportive neighbourhoods (18.6 mins per day). However, the amount of activity adolescents undertook inside their home neighbourhood did differ according to supportiveness; those living in less supportive locations had lower odds of recording activity inside their home neighbourhood. This was observed across all intensities of activity including sedentary, light, moderate, and vigorous.

Conclusions

Our findings suggest that the supportiveness of the neighbourhood around home may have a greater influence on the location of physical activity than the volume undertaken. This finding is at odds with the premise of the socio-ecological models of physical activity that have driven this research field for the last two decades, and has implications for future research, as by simply measuring volumes of activity we may be underestimating the impact of the environment on physical activity behaviours.

Kids in space: Measuring children's residential neighborhoods and other destinations using activity space GPS and wearable camera data

INTRODUCTION

Defining the boundary of children's 'neighborhoods' has important implications for understanding the contextual influences on child health. Additionally, insight into activities that occur outside people's neighborhoods may indicate exposures that place-based studies cannot detect. This study aimed to 1) extend current neighborhood research, using data from wearable cameras and GPS devices that were worn over several days in an urban setting; 2) define the boundary of children's neighborhoods by using leisure time activity space data; and 3) determine the destinations visited by children in their leisure time, outside their neighborhoods.

METHOD

One hundred and fourteen children (mean age 12y) from Wellington, New Zealand wore wearable cameras and GPS recorders. Residential Euclidean buffers at incremental distances were paired with GPS data (thereby identifying time spent in different places) to explore alternative definitions of neighborhood boundaries. Children's neighborhood boundary was at 500 m. A newly developed software application was used to identify 'destinations' visited outside the neighborhood by specifying space-time parameters. Image data from wearable cameras were used to determine the type of destination.

RESULTS

Children spent over half of their leisure time within 500 m of their homes. Children left their neighborhood predominantly to visit school (for leisure purposes), other residential locations (e.g. to visit friends) and food retail outlets (e.g. convenience stores, fast food outlets). Children spent more time at food retail outlets than at structured sport and in outdoor recreation locations combined.

CONCLUSION

Person-centered neighborhood definitions may serve to better represent children's everyday experiences and neighborhood exposures than previous methods based on place-based measures. As schools and other residential locations (friends and family) are important destinations outside the neighborhood, such destinations should be taken into account. The combination of image data and activity space GPS data provides a more robust approach to understanding children's neighborhoods and activity spaces.

Are buffers around home representative of physical activity spaces among adults?

Residential buffers are frequently used to assess built environment characteristics relevant to physical activity (PA), yet little is known about how well they represent the spatial areas in which individuals undertake PA. We used System for Observing Play and Recreation in Communities data for 217 adults from five US states who wore an accelerometer and a GPS for three weeks to create newly defined PA-specific activity spaces. These PA spaces were based on PA occurring in bouts of ≥10min and were defined as 1) the single minimum convex polygon (MCP) containing all of a participant's PA bout minutes and 2) the combination of many MCPs constructed using each PA bout independently. Participants spent a large proportion of their PA bout time outside of 0.5, 1, and 5 mile residential buffers, and these residential buffers were a poor approximation of the spatial areas in which PA bouts occurred. The newly proposed GPS-based PA spaces can be used in future studies in place of the more general concept of activity space to better approximate built environments experienced during PA.

The places parents go: understanding the breadth, scope, and experiences of activity spaces for parents

Neighborhood environments are related to parenting behaviors, which in turn have a life-long effect on children's health and well-being. Activity spaces, which measure individual routine patterns of movement, may be helpful in assessing how physical and social environments shape parenting. In this study we use qualitative data and GIS mapping from 4 California cities to examine parental activity spaces. Parents described a number of factors that shape their activity spaces including caregiving status, the age of their children, and income. Parental activity spaces also varied between times (weekends vs. weekdays) and places (adult-only vs. child-specific places). Knowing how to best capture and study parental activity spaces could identify mechanisms by which environmental factors influence parenting behaviors and child health.

Geographical Cues and Developmental Exposure: Navigational Style, Wayfinding Anxiety, and Childhood Experience in the Faroe Islands

The current study assessed potential relationships among childhood wayfinding experience, navigational style, and adult wayfinding anxiety in the Faroe Islands. The Faroe Islands are of interest because they have an unusual geography that may promote the use of an orientational style of navigation (e.g., use of cardinal directions). Faroese adults completed questionnaires assessing (1) their permitted childhood range sizes, (2) the types of navigational strategies they use, and (3) the amount of anxiety they experience when navigating in adulthood. Males had more childhood wayfinding experience, used the orientation strategy at a higher rate, and showed lower levels of wayfinding anxiety. When compared with other cultures, both Faroese women and men appear to embrace orientation strategies at an unusually high rate. Childhood experience was not conclusively linked to later wayfinding anxiety. However, the current findings raise the possibility that children who have particularly small ranges in childhood may be especially anxious when navigating in adulthood.

Relations of Neighborhood Environment Influences, Physical Activity, and Active Transportation to/from School across African American, Latino American, and White Girls in the United States

BACKGROUND

Neighborhood environment influences may be particularly important for understanding physical activity (PA) patterns across ethnic subgroups of early adolescent girls.

PURPOSE

This study examined relationships between neighborhood variables, moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA), and active transportation to/from school across African American, Latino American, and White early adolescent girls living in an urban/suburban community in the northwestern U.S.A. Relations between the neighborhood variables across ethnic groups also were examined.

METHOD

The sample comprised 372 African American, Latino American, and White girls living in the U.S.A. (mean age = 12.06 years; SD = 1.69).

RESULTS

Data were analyzed using multiple-sample structural equation modeling. Results showed that girls' MVPA was positively related to physical activity facility accessibility and negatively related to age. Active transport was positively related to physical activity facility accessibility, neighborhood walkability, and age, and negatively related to distance to the nearest school and household income.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings highlight the importance of both perceived and objective neighborhood influences on girls' MVPA and active transport. Consistencies in findings across African American, Latino American, and White girls suggest that neighborhood-level PA promotion has the potential for broad impact across all three ethnic groups.

Neighbourhoods for Active Kids: study protocol for a cross-sectional examination of neighbourhood features and children's physical activity, active travel, independent mobility and body size

INTRODUCTION

New Zealand children's physical activity, including independent mobility and active travel, has declined markedly over recent decades. The Neighbourhoods for Active Kids (NfAK) study examines how neighbourhood built environments are associated with the independent mobility, active travel, physical activity and neighbourhood experiences of children aged 9-12 years in primary and intermediate schools across Auckland, New Zealand's largest city.

METHODS AND ANALYSIS

Child-specific indices of walkability, destination accessibility and traffic exposure will be constructed to measure the built environment in 8 neighbourhoods in Auckland. Interactive online-mapping software will be used to measure children's independent mobility and transport mode to destinations and to derive measures of neighbourhood use and perceptions. Physical activity will be measured using 7-day accelerometry. Height, weight and waist circumference will be objectively measured. Parent telephone interviews will collect sociodemographic information and parent neighbourhood perceptions. Interviews with school representative will capture supports and barriers for healthy activity and nutrition behaviours at the school level. Multilevel modelling approaches will be used to understand how differing built environment variables are associated with activity, neighbourhood experiences and health outcomes.

DISCUSSION

We anticipate that children who reside in neighbourhoods considered highly walkable will be more physically active, accumulate more independent mobility and active travel, and be more likely to have a healthy body size. This research is timely as cities throughout New Zealand develop and implement plans to improve the liveability of intensifying urban neighbourhoods. Results will be disseminated to participants, local government agencies and through conventional academic avenues.

Does Activity Space Size Influence Physical Activity Levels of Adolescents? - A GPS study of an urban environment

Background

Physical activity (PA) is closely linked with child and youth health, and active travel may be a solution to enhancing PA levels. Activity spaces depict the geographic coverage of one's travel. Little is known about activity spaces and PA in adolescents.

Objective

To explore the relation between adolescent travel (using a spatial measure of activity space size) and daily moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA), with a focus on school days.

Methods

We used Global Positioning Systems to manually identify trips and generate activity spaces for each person-day; quantified by area for 39 students (13.8 ± 0.6 years, 38% female) attending high school in urban Downtown Vancouver, Canada. We assessed the association between activity space area and MVPA using multi-level regression. We calculated total, school-day and trip-based MVPA for each valid person-day (accelerometry; ≥ 600 min wear time).

Results

On school days, students accrued 68.2 min/day (95% CI 60.4–76.0) of MVPA. Daily activity spaces averaged 2.2 km² (95% CI 1.3–3.0). There was no association between activity space size and school-day MVPA. Students accrued 21.8 min/day (95% CI 19.2–24.4) of MVPA during school hours, 19.4 min/day (95% CI 15.1–23.7) during travel, and 28.3 min/day (95% CI 22.3–34.3) elsewhere.

Conclusion

School and school travel are important sources of PA in Vancouver adolescents, irrespective of activity space area covered.

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First study relating activity space size and adolescent school day physical activity

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Our use of GPS and accelerometry enhances accuracy of findings.

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No association between activity space size and physical activity on school days

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Most adolescent physical activity is accrued at school or from school travel.

Associations of objectively measured built-environment attributes with youth moderate-vigorous physical activity: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Understanding attributes of the built environment that influence children's and adolescents' habitual physical activity can inform urban design.

OBJECTIVE

To conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies linking aspects of the built environment with youth moderate-vigorous activity, including walking.

DATA SOURCES

The PubMed, Embase, and Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) databases were searched using relevant key words for articles published between January 2000 and March 2013.

STUDY SELECTION

The included articles reported associations between children's or adolescents' objectively measured physical activity and residential neighbourhoods or activity settings defined with geographical information systems (GIS), street audits or global positioning systems (GPS). Excluded articles did not delineate neighbourhoods by residential address or were not written in English. Of 320 potentially relevant articles, 31 met the inclusion criteria, but only 23 (with a total of 6,175 participants, aged 8-17 years) provided sufficient data to derive effects (associations) of built-environment features on child or adolescent habitual moderate-vigorous activity.

STUDY APPRAISAL AND SYNTHESIS METHODS

Ten criteria were used to appraise the inclusion of studies. The effects were analysed as the difference in mean minutes of daily moderate-vigorous activity either between two levels of a dichotomous variable (e.g., neighbourhood park available or not within 800 m) or between predicted means corresponding to a difference of two standard deviations of a simple linear numeric variable (e.g., housing density per square kilometre). The magnitude of the difference in means was evaluated via standardization. The meta-analysis was performed with the 14 studies using GIS or street audits to relate a total of 58 specific built-environment features to daily activity. Each feature was categorized with two dichotomous variables to indicate whether the feature promoted playing and/or walking, and these variables were included in the meta-analytic model as moderators interacting with age and proportion of males in the study as linear numeric covariates.

RESULTS

The meta-analysed effects of built-environment features that encourage play (including sports and fitness) and/or walking on youth moderate-vigorous activity ranged between trivial and small. There was a moderate effect of age (15 versus 9 years) whereby play facilities, parks, playgrounds and features that facilitate walking had negative effects on children's activity but positive effects on adolescents' activity. In studies that located youth physical activity with GPS, walking to school produced small increases in activity compared with transport by car or bus, greater proportions of activity took place in streets and urban venues (40-80%) than in green spaces (20-50%), and more than half of children's outdoor activity occurred with a parent nearby.

LIMITATIONS

The meta-analysis cannot quantify the additive effect when several built-environment features are provided in a given neighbourhood.

CONCLUSIONS

Children do not benefit to the same extent as adolescents from built-environment features that encourage walking and those designed or used for neighbourhood play.

Built Environment Influences of Children's Physical Activity: Examining Differences by Neighbourhood Size and Sex

Neighbourhoods can facilitate or constrain moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) among children by providing or restricting opportunities for MVPA. However, there is no consensus on how to define a child’s neighbourhood. This study examines the influence of the neighbourhood built environment on objectively measured MVPA among 435 children (aged 9–14 years) in London (ON, Canada). As there is no consensus on how to delineate a child’s neighbourhood, a geographic information system was used to generate measures of the neighbourhood built environment at two buffer sizes (500 m and 800 m) around each child’s home. Linear regression models with robust standard errors (cluster) were used to analyze the relationship between built environment characteristics and average daily MVPA during non-school hours on weekdays. Sex-stratified models assessed sex-specific relationships. When accounting for individual and neighbourhood socio-demographic variables, park space and multi-use path space were found to influence children’s MVPA. Sex-stratified models found significant associations between MVPA and park space, with the 800 m buffer best explaining boys’ MVPA and the 500 m buffer best explaining girls’ MVPA. Findings emphasize that, when designing built environments, programs, and policies to facilitate physical activity, it is important to consider that the size of the neighbourhood influencing a child’s physical activity may differ according to sex.

Playability: Built and Social Environment Features That Promote Physical Activity Within Children

The role of neighbourhood built and social environments in shaping children's physical activity has received increasing interest over the past 10 years. We reviewed recent evidence published between 2011 and 2014. Most of the recent evidence continues to be cross-sectional. Few macro-level neighbourhood attributes were consistently associated with physical activity in the expected direction. The strongest evidence for associations between neighbourhood attributes and physical activity with was for the transportation environment, particularly in relation to proximity to school and transport-related physical activity. There was intermediate evidence that neighbourhood walking/cycling infrastructure and pedestrian safety structures are associated with transport-related PA. Recent evidence on associations between the neighbourhood built and social environment and children's PA is modest. Stronger study designs and greater attention to conceptual-matching and specificity of measures are critical to advance the evidence base.

An assessment of the relevance of the home neighbourhood for understanding environmental influences on physical activity: how far from home do people roam?

BACKGROUND

The choice of geographical unit of analysis in studies of the built environment and physical activity has typically been restricted to the home neighbourhood where only a small proportion of physical activity may actually be undertaken. This study aimed to examine the distance from home at which physical activity takes place and how this varies by personal and neighbourhood characteristics.

METHODS

A cross-sectional, population based study of 195 people in the North West region of England, aged 18 to 91 years, clustered in 60 localities (small geographical areas of ~125 households). Individual socio-demographic data were collected by computer-aided personal interviews and physical activity was characterised by accelerometer and Global Positioning System (GPS) data. The locations of periods of light, moderate and vigorous intensity physical activity (LMVPA) undertaken outdoors were linked to measures of the neighbourhood around the home and distance from home.

RESULTS

Sixty per cent of outdoors LMVPA took place outside of the proximal home neighbourhood (800 m buffer). Distances from home where median levels of LMVPA were undertaken varied by gender (p < 0.05), home location, area deprivation, and car ownership (all p < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

Objectively measured physical activity appears to vary appreciably by participant characteristics and home location, although for many settings a large proportion is undertaken outside of the home neighbourhood, suggesting the characterisation of neighbourhoods close to home will fail to properly capture the environmental influences on physical activity.

Assessing neighbourhood destination access for children: development of the NDAI-C audit tool

Considerable societal changes across many countries have altered how children interact with their local environment, yet child-specific destination data have not been translated into a child-related destination accessibility index to further understand how neighbourhood locations support or hinder child mobility. Using data sourced from 238 9–11 year-old children living in Auckland, New Zealand, we aimed to: identify common destinations children travelled to; and develop a spatially derived objective index to quantify access to destinations that may support child mobility in the neighbourhood. Our findings show that children accessed a wide range of destinations during their daily activities, and the neighbourhoods that supported children's mobility tended to be located in more established areas, rather than newer greenfield developments.

Conceptualizing and comparing neighborhood and activity space measures for food environment research

Greater accessibility to geospatial technologies has led to a surge of spatialized public health research, much of which has focused on food environments. The purpose of this study was to analyze differing spatial measures of exposure to supermarkets and farmers׳ markets among women of reproductive age in eastern North Carolina. Exposure measures were derived using participant-defined neighborhoods, investigator-defined road network neighborhoods, and activity spaces incorporating participants׳ time space behaviors. Results showed that mean area for participant-defined neighborhoods (0.04 sq. miles) was much smaller than 2.0 mile road network neighborhoods (3.11 sq. miles) and activity spaces (26.36 sq. miles), and that activity spaces provided the greatest market exposure. The traditional residential neighborhood concept may not be particularly relevant for all places. Time-space approaches capturing activity space may be more relevant, particularly if integrated with mixed methods strategies.

Dog walking is associated with more outdoor play and independent mobility for children

OBJECTIVE

Dog ownership is positively associated with children's physical activity. It is plausible that dog-facilitated activity rather than dog ownership per se encourages children's physical activity behaviors. We examined relationships between dog walking and children's physical activity, and outdoor play and independent mobility.

METHOD

Cross-sectional survey data from the 2007 Perth (Western Australia) TRavel, Environment, and Kids (TREK) project were analyzed for 727 10-12 year olds with a family dog. Weekly minutes of overall physical activity and walking, local walking and outdoor play were collected from children and parents. Children's weekly pedometer steps were measured. Independent mobility was determined by active independent travel to 15 local destinations.

RESULTS

Overall, 55% of children walked their dog. After adjustment, more dog walkers than non-dog walkers walked in the neighborhood (75% vs. 47%), played in the street (60% vs. 45%) and played in the yard (91% vs. 84%) (all p ≤ 0.05). Dog walkers were more independently mobile than non-dog walkers (p ≤ 0.001). Dog walking status was not associated with overall physical activity, walking, or pedometer steps (p>0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Dog-facilitated play and physical activity can be an effective strategy for increasing children's physical activity. Dog walking may provide a readily accessible and safe option for improving levels of independent mobility.

Measures of outdoor play and independent mobility in children and youth: A methodological review

OBJECTIVES

Declines in children's outdoor play have been documented globally, which are partly due to heightened restrictions around children's independent mobility. Literature on outdoor play and children's independent mobility is increasing, yet no paper has summarized the various methodological approaches used. A methodological review could highlight most commonly used measures and comprehensive research designs that could result in more standardized methodological approaches.

DESIGN

Methodological review.

METHODS

A standardized protocol guided a methodological review of published research on measures of outdoor play and children's independent mobility in children and youth (0-18 years). Online searches of 8 electronic databases were conducted and studies included if they contained a subjective/objective measure of outdoor play or children's independent mobility. References of included articles were scanned to identify additional articles.

RESULTS

Twenty-four studies were included on outdoor play, and twenty-three on children's independent mobility. Study designs were diverse. Common objective measures included accelerometry, global positioning systems and direct observation; questionnaires, surveys and interviews were common subjective measures. Focus groups, activity logs, monitoring sheets, travel/activity diaries, behavioral maps and guided tours were also utilized. Questionnaires were used most frequently, yet few studies used the same questionnaire. Five studies employed comprehensive, mixed-methods designs.

CONCLUSIONS

Outdoor play and children's independent mobility have been measured using a wide variety of techniques, with only a few studies using similar methodologies. A standardized methodological approach does not exist. Future researchers should consider including both objective measures (accelerometry and global positioning systems) and subjective measures (questionnaires, activity logs, interviews), as more comprehensive designs will enhance understanding of each multidimensional construct. Creating a standardized methodological approach would improve study comparisons.

Developing suitable buffers to capture transport cycling behavior

The association between neighborhood built environment and cycling has received considerable attention in health literature over the last two decades, but different neighborhood definitions have been used and it is unclear which one is most appropriate. Administrative or fixed residential spatial units (e.g., home-buffer-based neighborhoods) are not necessarily representative for environmental exposure. An increased understanding of appropriate neighborhoods is needed. GPS cycling tracks from 78 participants for 7 days form the basis for the development and testing of different neighborhood buffers for transport cycling. The percentage of GPS points per square meter was used as indicator of the effectiveness of a series of different buffer types, including home-based network buffers, shortest route to city center buffers, and city center-directed ellipse-shaped buffers. The results show that GPS tracks can help us understand where people go and stay during the day, which can help us link built environment with cycling. Analysis showed that the further people live from the city center, the more elongated are their GPS tracks, and the better an ellipse-shaped directional buffer captured transport cycling behavior. In conclusion, we argue that in order to be able to link built environment factors with different forms of physical activity, we must study the most likely area people use. In this particular study, to capture transport cycling, with its relatively large radius of action, city center-directed ellipse-shaped buffers yielded better results than traditional home-based network buffer types. The ellipse-shaped buffer types could therefore be considered an alternative to more traditional buffers or administrative units in future studies of transport cycling behavior.