Erika Ikeda

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 childrens 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 Zealands 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 childrens 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.

Interpersonal Correlates of Active Transportation

Abstract Influenced by sociocultural norms, parents act as gatekeepers to childrens active transportation and independent mobility. Commonly, this is expressed through parental licence and convenience. This chapter presents a summary of these concepts as well as the forces underlying many of the day-to-day decisions that parents make regarding their childs active transportation and independent mobility, specifically working parents, neighbourhood safety concerns, community connections and social surveillance. A diagram is presented to illustrate the connectivity and cyclic nature of these factors and how they impact childrens active transportation. Future research is needed to understand the role that the millennial generation may play in breaking this cycle.

Associations of children's active school travel with perceptions of the physical environment and characteristics of the social environment: A systematic review

&NA; This systematic review summarised and evaluated the evidence for associations between school travel modes in children aged 5–13 years and perceived physical environments as well as social and sociodemographic characteristics. A computerised electronic search was performed for English articles published between January 2000 and July 2017. Data were extracted, study quality was assessed, and findings were analysed using a vote‐counting technique. Thirty‐seven studies met the inclusion criteria and were reviewed. Active school travel was associated positively with safety, walkability and neighbourhood social interactions, and negatively with travel distance and car ownership. Risk of bias, poor sampling methods and lack of external validity were common study limitations. Generally insufficient findings were reported for social characteristics. HighlightsReview of descriptive associations of active school travel with environments.Traffic and route safety is positively associated with active school travel.Neighbourhood social interactions may promote active school travel.Methodological limitations reduce study quality and robustness of the synthesis.Heterogeneity in measurement obstructs comparability and certainty of findings.

Children as urbanites : mapping the affordances and behavior settings of urban environments for Finnish and Japanese children

ABSTRACT Increasingly, children are residing in urban environments, yet little is known about the urban affordances for children. A place-based approach was employed to map the urban experiences of over 1300 children residing in Helsinki (Finland) and in Tokyo (Japan) in terms of meaningful places (affordances), travel mode and accompaniment to these places. Shared affordances were considered behavior settings, and audited on-site by trained experts for their main function, land use, openness, and communality. Significant differences were found between countries for all affordance categories. Although differences in behavior settings were observed between countries, a number of patterns emerged: outdoor settings and those with shared communality were the most prevalent behavior settings, traffic settings were predominantly evaluated negatively and commercial and indoor settings most positively. Findings suggest that although the context is important, independent mobility and the possibility to actualize environmental affordances seem to be fundamental in both contexts as the key criteria for environmental child-friendliness.