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. 2012 Jul 26;103(9 Suppl 3):eS22-8.
doi: 10.1007/BF03403831.

Smart cities, healthy kids: the association between neighbourhood design and children's physical activity and time spent sedentary

Dale W Esliger  1 , Lauren B Sherar, Nazeem Muhajarine
Affiliations

Smart cities, healthy kids: the association between neighbourhood design and children's physical activity and time spent sedentary

Dale W Esliger et al. Can J Public Health. .

Abstract
in English, French

Objectives: To determine whether, and to what extent, a relation exists between neighbourhood design and children's physical activity and sedentary behaviours in Saskatoon.

Methods: Three neighbourhood designs were assessed: 1) core neighbourhoods developed before 1930 that follow a grid pattern, 2) fractured-grid pattern neighbourhoods that were developed between the 1930s and mid-1960s, and 3) curvilinear-pattern neighbourhoods that were developed between the mid-1960s through to 1998. Children aged 10-14 years (N=455; mean age 11.7 years), grouped by the neighbourhoods they resided in, had their physical activity and sedentary behaviour objectively measured by accelerometry for 7 days. ANCOVA and MANCOVA (multivariate analysis of covariance) models were used to assess group differences (p<0.05).

Results: Group differences were apparent on weekdays but not on weekend days. When age, sex and family income had been controlled for, children living in fractured-grid neighbourhoods had, on average, 83 and 55 fewer accelerometer counts per minute on weekdays than the children in the core and curvilinear-pattern neighbourhoods, respectively. Further analyses showed that the children in the fractured-grid neighbourhoods accumulated 15 and 9 fewer minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity per day and had a greater time spent in sedentary behaviour (23 and 17 minutes) than those in core and curvilinear-pattern neighbourhoods, respectively.

Conclusion: These data suggest that in Saskatoon there is a relation between neighbourhood design and children's physical activity and sedentary behaviours. Further work is needed to tease out which features of the built environments have the greatest impact on these important lifestyle behaviours. This information, offered in the context of ongoing development of neighbourhoods, as we see in Saskatoon, is critical to an evidence-informed approach to urban development and planning.

Objectifs: Déterminer s’il existe une relation, et si oui de quelle ampleur, entre, d’une part, la conception du quartier et, d’autre part, l’activité physique et les comportements sédentaires des enfants à Saskatoon.

Méthode: Trois types de quartiers ont été évalués: 1) les quartiers du centre-ville datant d’avant 1930, à l’agencement quadrillé, 2) les quartiers scindés à agencement quadrillé datant des années 1930 au milieu des années 1 960 et 3) les quartiers à agencement curviligne datant du milieu des années 1960 à 1 998. Nous avons mesuré objectivement par accélérométrie, pendant 7 jours, l’activité physique et les comportements sédentaires d’enfants de 10 à 14 ans (N=455; âge moyen 11,7 ans), regroupés selon leur quartier domiciliaire. Des modèles ANCOVA et MANCOVA (analyse multivariée de la covariance) ont servi à l’évaluation des différences entre les groupes (p<0,05).

Résultats: Nous avons constaté des différences entre les groupes les jours de semaine, mais non les samedis et dimanches. Après ajustement selon l’âge, le sexe et le revenu familial, les enfants habitant des quartiers scindés à agencement quadrillé enregistraient en moyenne 83 et 55 points d’accéléromètre de moins par minute les jours de semaine que les enfants des quartiers du centre-ville et des quartiers à agencement curviligne, respectivement. Une analyse plus poussée a montré que les enfants des quartiers scindés à agencement quadrillé accumulaient 15 et 9 minutes de moins d’activité physique modérée à vigoureuse par jour et consacraient plus de temps à des comportements sédentaires (23 et 1 7 minutes) que ceux des quartiers du centre-ville et des quartiers à agencement curviligne, respectivement.

Conclusion: Ces données montrent qu’à Saskatoon, il y a une relation entre la conception des quartiers et l’activité physique et les comportements sédentaires des enfants. Il faudrait pousser la recherche pour «démêler» quelles caractéristiques des milieux bâtis ont le plus d’impact sur ces importants comportements liés au mode de vie. Cette information, présentée dans le contexte du développement en cours des quartiers, comme on le voit à Saskatoon, est essentielle à une démarche de planification et de développement urbain fondée sur des preuves.

Keywords: accelerometer; built environment; city planning; lifestyle; urban.

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