Associations between the neighborhood environment and moderate-to-vigorous walking in New Zealand children : Findings from the URBAN Study

Background Urban design may affect children’s habitual physical activity by influencing active commuting and neighborhood play. Purpose Our objective was to examine associations between neighborhood built-environment features near children’s homes and objectively measured physical activity. Methods We used geographical information system (GIS) protocols to select 2016 households from 48 low- and high-walkability neighborhoods within four New Zealand cities. Children (n = 227; mean age ± standard deviation [SD] 9.3 ± 2.1 years) from the selected households wore accelerometers that recorded physical activity in the period 2008–2010. We used multilevel linear models to examine the associations of GIS and street-audit measures, using the systematic pedestrian and cycling environmental scan (SPACES), of the residential environment (ranked into tertiles) on children’s hourly step counts and proportions of time spent at moderate-to-vigorous intensity on school and non-school days. Results During school-travel times (8:00–8:59 a.m. and 15:00–15:59 p.m.), children in the mid-tertile distance from school (~1 to 2 km) were more active than children with shorter or longer commute distances (1290 vs. 1130 and 1140 steps·h−1; true between-child SD 440). After school (16:00–17:59 p.m.), children residing closest to school were more active (890 vs. 800 and 790 steps·h−1; SD 310). Neighborhoods with more green space, attractive streets, or low-walkability streets showed a moderate positive association on non-school day moderate-to-vigorous steps, whereas neighborhoods with additional pedestrian infrastructure or more food outlets showed moderate negative associations. Other associations of residential neighborhoods were unclear but, at most, small. Conclusions Designing the urban environment to promote safe child-pedestrian roaming may increase children’s moderate-to-vigorous physical activity