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An increasing number of children around the world are experiencing mental health problems such as anxiety and depression (UNICEF-WHO, 2021), and physical health problems such as myopia and obesity (Cai et al., 2017), particularly in China's metropolitan areas (Lin, 2018). Lack of physical activity (PA) is one of the main causes of this problem (Janssen and Leblanc, 2010; An et al., 2019; Patel et al., 2024). Differences in the outdoor environment in different urban areas may lead to inequalities in the quality of children's PA. The aim of this study is to investigate the environmental factors affecting children's PA in the metropolitan area, to construct a corresponding evaluation index system, and to reveal the distribution pattern of the children's PA environmental quality in the metropolitan area.
According to the United Nations' Child Friendly Cities Initiative (UNICEF, 2019), and related quantitative studies, we develop a rapid evaluation system for the quality of children's PA environments that includes 10 indicators in 4 dimensions. The “Safety” dimension is concerned with preventing accidents, as measured by Traffic Intensity and Land Safety. The “Diversity” dimension emphasizes that the environment has a variety of PA types to meet children's needs, measured by The Size of Campus Playing Fields Per Children, Types of Sports Fields on Campus, and The Number of Informal Sports Spaces in the Neighborhood. The “Fun” dimension requires unique and creative design of activity spaces to enhance the attractiveness of the environment for children, using The Number of Campus-Specific Sports Spaces and The Number of Dedicated Children's Activity Areas in Neighborhoods as measures. The “Greenness” dimension focuses on the integration of the environment and nature to ensure the comfort and health of children's PA, measured by Campus Tree Coverage Rate, Neighborhood Tree Coverage Rate, and Natural Space Accessibility.
Taking Beijing as a case study, we analyzed the locations of 1,598 primary and secondary schools. Utilizing the Gini coefficient, we assessed the equity of relevant indicators and aimed to investigate the distribution pattern of environmental quality related to children's PA in metropolitan area. The results are: 1) There are inequalities in the children's PA environments quality in Beijing. Of the 4 evaluation dimensions, indicators The Number of Informal Sports Spaces in the Neighborhood (Gini index=0.83), The Number of Campus-Specific Sports Spaces (Gini index=0.77), Campus Tree Coverage Rate (Gini index=0.65), and Natural Space Accessibility (Gini index=0.86) are more unequal. 2) In terms of spatial distribution patterns, the quality is lower within the highly-densified built area and urban fringe, higher in the periphery of the highly-densified built area. In addition, the quality of PA environments in mountainous areas is slightly lower than in plain areas. There is no significant relationship between the quality of the environment for children's PA and socio-economic development.
The results show that: 1) Effective ways to alleviate inequalities include a. increasing the number of small, informal spaces for children's activities around the school, b. creating small, interesting activity areas within the school, and c. enhancing the amount of natural space in and around the school. 2) We argue that the environment quality for children's PA is lower in highly-densified built area and in urban fringe due to the lack of space and geographic remoteness, and the environment for children's PA in these areas should be a priority for the future.
This study proposes a framework to evaluating the quality of children's PA environments and clarifies the distributional characteristics of inequalities in these environments within a metropolitan area, which can help to promote the equal inclusion of children in the city and to safeguard children's healthy growth and well-being.
References
UNICEF-WHO, 2021. Mental health of adolescents. [Online] available at: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/adolescent -mental-health.
An, R., Shen, J., Yang, Q., Yang, Y., 2019. Impact of built environment on physical activity and obesity among children and adolescents in China: A narrative systematic review. Journal of Sport and Health Science 8, 153–169.
Cai, Y., Zhu, X., Wu, X., 2017. Overweight, obesity, and screen-time viewing among Chinese school-aged children: National prevalence estimates from the 2016 Physical Activity and Fitness in China—The Youth Study. Journal of Sport and Health Science 6, 404–409.
Janssen, I., Leblanc, A.G., 2010. Systematic review of the health benefits of physical activity and fitness in school-aged children and youth. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act 7, 40.
Lin, L., 2018. Leisure-time physical activity, objective urban neighborhood built environment, and overweight and obesity of Chinese school-age children. Journal of Transport & Health 10, 322–333.
Patel, J., Katapally, T.R., Khadilkar, A., Bhawra, J., 2024. The interplay between air pollution, built environment, and physical activity: Perceptions of children and youth in rural and urban India. Health & Place 85, 103167.
UNICEF, 2019. Shaping urbanization for children: A handbook on child-responsive urban planning. United Nations.
| Keywords | Children; Physical Activity Environment; Equity; Metropolitan Areas |
|---|---|
| Best Congress Paper Award | Yes |
