Original paper
Are children’s perceptions of neighbourhood social environments associated with their walking and physical activity?

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsams.2008.07.006Get rights and content

Abstract

This study aimed to examine cross-sectional associations between neighbourhood social environmental factors and physical activity (PA) among Australian primary school children. Baseline data from a large-scale trial among 957 children (48% boys) aged 9–12 years were utilised. Children self-reported their perceptions of the neighbourhood social environment including social networks (e.g. there are lots of other children around to play with), and social capital (e.g. there are lots of people in my area I could go to if I need help). Children also self-reported their weekly walking frequency and PA from which average daily moderate to vigorous PA (MVPA) was calculated. Linear regression analyses examined these associations. Boys performed 17 min/day more MVPA than girls (p < 0.01), and girls performed one extra trip/week than boys (p < 0.001). Children’s perceptions of social capital (p < 0.0001) and social networks (p < 0.01) were both positively associated with MVPA and social capital was positively associated with walking frequency (p < 0.05). These associations were not moderated by the child’s sex. These findings suggest that children who had positive perceptions of neighbourhood social capital and social networks in the neighbourhood, tended to be more physically active. Longitudinal and experimental studies are required to further test the influence of these factors among children.

Introduction

Physical activity is recognised to be important for youth health,1 and the promotion of physical activity is a key health priority in most developed countries. As a consequence there has been a large body of research that has been concerned with understanding the determinants of physical activity among youth. Much of this work has been informed by intra- and inter-personal models of health behaviour.2 This research initially focused on psychological (e.g. self-efficacy, intention) or individual-level influences (e.g. sex, age), and proximal social influences (e.g. modelling, social support). Many of these factors were shown to be associated with active behaviours3 and although important, they do not explain a large proportion of the variance in physical activity.

Ecological models of behaviour posit that there are multiple levels of influence, including psychological and inter-personal factors, proximal and distal physical environments, as well as policy-level factors.4 The notion of ‘behaviour settings’, which can be defined as the social and physical situations in which behaviours take place,2 is a concept that may be useful in exploring environmental influences on physical activity. For children, key settings for physical activity are likely to include the local neighbourhood.5 Research into neighbourhood-level influences on children’s physical activity is novel. However, a recent review suggests that physical factors in the neighbourhood, such as access to facilities and the presence of sidewalks and controlled intersections are positively associated with children’s physical activity.5 The same review also reported that the number of roads to cross, traffic density and speed and local conditions such as crime and area deprivation were inversely associated with physical activity.

While studies incorporating a behavioural settings approach have focused on the neighbourhood’s physical environment, few studies among children have attempted to assess the influence of the social environment on physical activity. Additionally, few studies have investigated these issues from the perspective of the child. Two previous studies have used parent’s perceptions of the environment6, 7; however, these measures may not accurately capture factors likely to be important to children, such as whether there are other children in their area to play with, or whether children know other people in their neighbourhood. Given differences in physical activity between boys and girls, it is plausible that there may be differences in perceptions of the environment, and this has not been widely investigated. One study among 280 Australian children aged between 9 and 12 years old showed that having friends in walking or cycling distance was positively associated with boys’ objectively measured physical activity, and knowing lots of people and having lots of friends in the area were associated with girls’ walking in bivariate analyses.8 A study among Australian adolescents also suggests that having peers to ‘hang out with’ locally was positively associated with walking and cycling among both boys and girls.9

Therefore, the aims of this study were to (1) examine associations between measures of children’s perceptions of the neighbourhood social environment and their walking and physical activity; (2) to examine whether these associations were moderated by the child’s sex.

Section snippets

Methods

This study utilised data from the baseline evaluation of a ‘research to practise’ group randomised controlled trial (RCT) examining the effectiveness of a school-based physical activity and sedentary behaviour intervention among 9–12-year-old children (48% boys) from Melbourne, Australia. Schools were recruited through an unrelated complimentary fresh fruit school program organised by the local health centre in the western region of metropolitan Melbourne. Of the 35 schools participating in

Perceptions of the neighbourhood environment

In addition to reporting their age and sex, children were asked to respond to 13 items examining their perceptions of the neighbourhood environment that were either newly developed or adapted from existing measures of these factors among children or adults (item sources are described in Table 1). These items examined children’s perceptions of the aesthetics in their neighbourhood as well as their knowledge of the neighbourhood, and their perceptions of their neighbourhood social networks and

Walking and physical activity

Using a previously validated and reliability tested instrument known as ‘CLASS’10 children self-reported the frequency and duration of their participation in 30 different physical activities (e.g. basketball, dance, walking to school) in a usual week. As per the protocols outlined for that instrument, participation in activities defined as moderate-intensity (18 activities including walking) or vigorous-intensity (12 activities) were determined.10 The total duration of participation in these

Results

The characteristics of the sample are shown in Table 2. Nine hundred and fifty-seven participants were recruited to the study (61% response rate); however the final number of participants included in these analyses after accounting for missing data, was 764. On average participants were aged 10.6 (±0.61) years and a similar proportion of boys and girls participated (48% boys).

Table 2 shows the weekly walking frequency (trips/week) and participation in MVPA (min/day) among boys and girls. Girls

Discussion

This study aimed to examine associations between the measures of children’s perceptions of their neighbourhood social environment, and their walking and physical activity. This study also examined whether these associations were moderated by the child’s sex. Children’s perceptions of neighbourhood social capital were positively associated with their walking frequency, and their MVPA. The child’s sex did not moderate these associations suggesting these findings are consistent between boys and

Conclusions

Findings from this study highlight the importance of the neighbourhood environment for children’s physical activity and they add some weight to the evidence that neighbourhood social environments are associated with children’s walking and physical activity. Future programs focusing on increasing children’s physical activity or preventing declines in activity should incorporate aspects of the neighbourhood social environment.

Practical implications

  • Children who have a positive perception of neighbourhood social capital and social networks in the neighbourhood, tend to be more physically active.

  • Programs focusing on increasing children’s physical activity or preventing declines in activity should incorporate aspects of the neighbourhood social environment.

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the schools and participants in the study. David Crawford is funded by the Victorian Health Promotion Foundation and Jo Salmon is funded by the National Heart Foundation of Australia and sanofi-aventis.

References (18)

There are more references available in the full text version of this article.

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