Kids in the city study: research design and methodology

BMC Public Health

Study Protocol

Melody Oliver¹  Chelsea Drumheller¹  Hannah M Badland²  Nic Mason³  Lanuola Asiasiga⁴  Hector Kaiwai⁴  En-Yi Judy Lin⁴  Suzanne Mavoa⁴  Helen Moewaka Barnes⁴  Karen Witten⁴  Penelope Carroll⁴  Paul Sweetsur⁴  Su Jelley⁴  Nicola Tavae⁴  Christina Ergler⁵  Robin A Kearns⁵  Simon Opit⁵ 

[1] Centre for Physical Activity and Nutrition, Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand;Centre for Physical Activity and Nutrition, Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand;Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Division of Population Health, University College London, London, UK;Institute of Public Policy, Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand;SHORE and Whariki Research Centre, School of Public Health, Massey University, Auckland, New Zealand;School of Environment, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand;

关键词: Physical Activity;    Global Position System;    Global Position System Data;    Residential Density;    Street Connectivity;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1471-2458-11-587

 received in 2011-05-23, accepted in 2011-07-24,  发布年份 2011

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundPhysical activity is essential for optimal physical and psychological health but substantial declines in children's activity levels have occurred in New Zealand and internationally. Children's independent mobility (i.e., outdoor play and traveling to destinations unsupervised), an integral component of physical activity in childhood, has also declined radically in recent decades. Safety-conscious parenting practices, car reliance and auto-centric urban design have converged to produce children living increasingly sedentary lives. This research investigates how urban neighborhood environments can support or enable or restrict children's independent mobility, thereby influencing physical activity accumulation and participation in daily life.Methods/DesignThe study is located in six Auckland, New Zealand neighborhoods, diverse in terms of urban design attributes, particularly residential density. Participants comprise 160 children aged 9-11 years and their parents/caregivers. Objective measures (global positioning systems, accelerometers, geographical information systems, observational audits) assessed children's independent mobility and physical activity, neighborhood infrastructure, and streetscape attributes. Parent and child neighborhood perceptions and experiences were assessed using qualitative research methods.DiscussionThis study is one of the first internationally to examine the association of specific urban design attributes with child independent mobility. Using robust, appropriate, and best practice objective measures, this study provides robust epidemiological information regarding the relationships between the built environment and health outcomes for this population.

【 授权许可】

Unknown   
© Oliver et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2011. This article is published under license to BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.