Effects of the Environment on Physical Activity in New Zealand Children
type: CreativeWork
description: Childhood obesity rates have risen steadily in recent decades along with increased urbanisation that has changed where children can play and roam freely, potentially reducing their daily energy expenditure. The relationship between aspects of the built environment and children's physical activity has therefore been identified as a public-health issue. This thesis represents a review, two studies that examined built-environment effects on children's activity, one play intervention study and two studies that investigated issues with accelerometer measurement of physical activity. Chapter two addresses the need for a quantitative review of the effects of objectively measured built-environment factors on children's objectively measured physical activity. The review included studies that used geographical information systems (GIS) or street audits to quantify the built environment with physical activity quantified by accelerometers, pedometers or global positioning systems. A key insight was that danger from vehicle traffic appears to underlie the association between physical activity and some measures of the built environment. There was inadequate research on effects of neighbourhood walkability and on the confounding effects of weather, compliance and the intensity threshold for moderate-vigorous activity. In Study 1, habitual physical activity of 227 children living in 48 residential neighbourhoods within four cities was measured with accelerometers and related to built-environment factors defined using GIS analysis and street-audit measures. Disparate built-environment effects on children’s physical activity were rationalised by classifying neighbourhoods as either safe for children’s walking or play or those where traffic danger constrained activity, which suggests that unsafe neighbourhoods need redesigning. In Study 2 the same data were analysed with a particular focus on children’s daily pattern of accelerometer steps at light and moderate-vigorous intensities. I…
abstract: Childhood obesity rates have risen steadily in recent decades along with increased urbanisation that has changed where children can play and roam freely, potentially reducing their daily energy expenditure. The relationship between aspects of the built environment and children's physical activity has therefore been identified as a public-health issue. This thesis represents a review, two studies that examined built-environment effects on children's activity, one play intervention study and two studies that investigated issues with accelerometer measurement of physical activity. Chapter two addresses the need for a quantitative review of the effects of objectively measured built-environment factors on children's objectively measured physical activity. The review included studies that used geographical information systems (GIS) or street audits to quantify the built environment with physical activity quantified by accelerometers, pedometers or global positioning systems. A key insight was that danger from vehicle traffic appears to underlie the association between physical activity and some measures of the built environment. There was inadequate research on effects of neighbourhood walkability and on the confounding effects of weather, compliance and the intensity threshold for moderate-vigorous activity. In Study 1, habitual physical activity of 227 children living in 48 residential neighbourhoods within four cities was measured with accelerometers and related to built-environment factors defined using GIS analysis and street-audit measures. Disparate built-environment effects on children’s physical activity were rationalised by classifying neighbourhoods as either safe for children’s walking or play or those where traffic danger constrained activity, which suggests that unsafe neighbourhoods need redesigning. In Study 2 the same data were analysed with a particular focus on children’s daily pattern of accelerometer steps at light and moderate-vigorous intensities. I…
author: Mc Grath, Leslie Julian
keywords: Actical, Accelerometer, Play, Traffic, Built environment, Walkability
date published: 2013
date modified: 2026-07-27T18:46:09Z
provider: AUT University
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: AUT University