Children\u27s Neighbourhood Geographies: Examining Children\u27s Perception and Use of Their Neighbourhood Environments for Healthy Activity

This dissertation examines children’s everyday neighbourhood activities, and the role of the local environment in supporting or limiting their healthy behaviours. Research from the last two decades has documented a dramatic decline in the time children spend playing in their neighbourhood settings, and engaging in local active and independent travel. Traditionally, neighbourhood-based activities have fostered key developmental and health outcomes, including higher levels of physical fitness, the negotiation of new social relationships, and increased cognitive and environmental competence. The processes of carving out neighbourhood ‘domains’ for independent activity and establishing community relationships are also linked to the development of a healthy self-identity and attachment to place. The loss of neighbourhood experiences may therefore have adverse consequences for children’s health and well-being. This study identifies and investigates patterns in children’s (aged 7 to 13 years) environmental perception, activity and mobility in various neighbourhoods within the mid-sized Canadian city of London, Ontario. Children’s local activities are examined through three complementary case studies utilizing a broad range of experiential, visual and qualitative tools, coupled with objective activity monitoring via portable GPS. Patterns in perception and behaviour were evident, but findings reinforce that children’s neighbourhood activities are highly individual and complex. Children were attuned to locally available activity opportunities, but neighbourhood engagements were generally limited and largely passive in nature. Recreational and commercial sites were identified as highly prized local destinations, but study neighbourhoods did not fully support the children’s diverse preferences. Many of the criteria of ‘child-friendly’ environments were lacking in study neighbourhoods. Findings also confirm that neighbourhood activity and mobility is influenced not only by individual characteristics such as a child’s age, but by neighbourhood social and physical conditions, as well as parent perceptions of this environment. Permission from parents for active, independent travel strongly predicted neighbourhood activity, generally expanding the size of a child’s domain and the time spent in local settings. On the whole, however, children spent little of their free time in neighbourhood environments; pedestrian-based domains were generally very small, comprised primarily of the area immediately surrounding their home. This research provides additional evidence that the local domains of children are shrinking, and that the neighbourhood is no longer a primary setting for childhood activities. These findings suggest that the primary landscapes of play are changing in ways that may be detrimental to children’s healthy development

Neighbourhood play on the endangered: examining patterns in children’s local activity and mobility using GPS monitoring and qualitative GIS

Children\u27s time and freedom for independent neighbourhood activity is severely declining, which may be adversely impacting their healthy development. This study integrates GPS activity monitoring and environmental analysis in a geographic information system with activity diaries, annotated maps, surveys, and map-enhanced interviews to conduct a deep pattern analysis of children\u27s habitual neighbourhood behaviour (n = 23; aged 9–13 years) from each an urban and suburban school neighbourhood within London, Canada. Patterns in children\u27s primary activities and settings, independent mobility (IM) levels, and perception and use of neighbourhood affordances are examined. Participants note a diverse range of local independent destinations, but habitually spend little time playing outdoors in neighbourhoods. Local activity related to free time available, perception of activity affordances, and license to travel independently. Social and environmental conditions of children\u27s micro-neighbourhoods influenced independent destinations and domains. Neighbourhood planning should promote diversity of activity affordances and address conditions that support increased IM for youth

Free range kids? Using GPS-derived activity spaces to examine children’s neighborhood activity and mobility

This study examines the neighborhood activity spaces (NAS) of 9- to 13-year-old children (n = 143) from seven schools in London, Canada. Data from Global Positioning System (GPS) loggers worn for 7 days were used to isolate and test measures for children’s pedestrian-based neighborhood activity: the maximum distance traveled from home and relative time spent in neighborhood settings. Descriptive and linear regression analyses examined the influence of individual, perceptual, and environmental factors on neighborhood use and travel. Participants spent a large portion of their out-of-school time (75%) in their NAS. Although traveling far from home on occasion, 94.5% of children’s time on average was spent within a short distance of home; participants spent little of their free time in broader neighborhood settings. School travel mode and independent mobility were among the strongest predictors of both distance traveled and time spent close to home. Perceptions of neighborhood safety, neighborhood type, and nearby land uses also influenced local activity

Fruit and vegetable consumption among urban Canadian schoolchildren living in a socioeconomically disadvantaged neighbourhood

Purpose: Fruit and vegetable (FV) consumption was examined among children aged seven to 10 years in a London, Ontario, neighbourhood. The goal was to determine areas requiring targeted programs to promote healthy lifestyles. Methods: Data were gathered from 136 students in grades 2 to 4. Each student attended one of four elementary schools within a neighbourhood designated a priority by the City of London Child and Youth Network. The Day in the Life Questionnaire was used to collect the data. Instances of FV consumption were compared with Eating Well with Canada’s Food Guide (CFG) guidelines. Results: Ninety-eight percent of participants did not follow the CFG-recommended minimum guidelines; they had fewer than five instances of FV consumption daily. Eighty-seven percent had fewer than two instances of FV consumption daily. Conclusions: These data support national findings of low FV consumption among children

Linking Childhood Obesity to the Built Environment: a Multi-Level Analysis of Home and School Neighbourhood Factors Associated with Body Mass Index

OBJECTIVES: This study examines environmental factors associated with BMI (body mass index) levels among adolescents with the aim of identifying potential interventions for reducing childhood obesity. METHODS: Students (n=1,048) aged 10-14 years at 28 schools in London, ON, completed a survey providing information on age, sex, height, weight, home address, etc., which was used to construct age-sex adjusted BMI z-scores. The presence of recreation opportunities, fast-food outlets and convenience stores was assessed using four areal units around each participant’s home and school neighbourhood: “circular buffers” encompassing territory within a straight-line distance of 500 m and 1000 m; and “network buffers” of 500 m and 1000 m measured along the street network. School neighbourhoods were also assessed using school-specific “walksheds”. Multilevel structural equation modeling techniques were employed to simultaneously test the effects of school-environment (Level 2) and home-environment (Level 1) predictors on BMI z-scores. RESULTS: Most participants (71%) had a normal BMI, 16.9% were overweight, 7.6% were obese, and 4.6% were considered underweight. Multilevel analyses indicated that built environment characteristics around children’s homes and schools had a modest but significant effect on their BMI. The presence of public recreation opportunities within a 500 m network distance of home was associated with lower BMI z-scores (p\u3c0.05), and fast-food outlets within the school walkshed was associated with higher BMI z-scores (p\u3c0.05). CONCLUSION: Interventions and policies that improve children’s access to publicly provided recreation opportunities near home and that mitigate the concentration of fast-food outlets close to schools may be key to promoting healthy lifestyles and reducing childhood obesity