The freedom to explore: examining the influence of independent mobility on weekday, weekend and after-school physical activity behaviour in children living in urban and inner-suburban neighbourhoods of varying socioeconomic status

Michelle R Stone,Ron N Buliung,Guy Ej Faulkner,Raktim Mitra

doi:10.1186/1479-5868-11-5

Abstract

BackgroundChildren’s independent mobility (CIM) is critical to healthy development in childhood. The physical layout and social characteristics of neighbourhoods can impact opportunities for CIM. While global evidence is mounting on CIM, to the authors’ knowledge, Canadian data on CIM and related health outcomes (i.e., physical activity (PA) behaviour) are missing. The purpose of this study was to examine if CIM is related to multiple characteristics of accelerometry-measured PA behaviour (total PA, light PA, moderate-to-vigorous PA, time spent sedentary) and whether associations between CIM and PA behaviour systematically vary by place of residence, stratifying by gender and type of day/period (weekdays, after-school, weekend).MethodsParticipants were recruited through Project BEAT (Built Environment and Active Transport; http://www.beat.utoronto.ca). Children (n = 856) were stratified into four neighbourhood classifications based on the period of neighbourhood development (urban built environment (BE) (old BE) versus inner-suburban BE (new BE)) and socioeconomic status (SES; low SES and high SES). Physical activity was measured via accelerometry (ActiGraph GT1M). CIM was assessed via parental report and two categories were created (low CIM, n = 332; high CIM, n = 524). A series of two-factor ANOVAs were used to determine gender-specific differences in PA for weekdays, weekend days and the after-school period, according to level of CIM, across four neighbourhood classifications.ResultsChildren who were granted at least some independent mobility (high CIM) had more positive PA profiles across the school week, during the after-school period, and over the weekend; they were also less sedentary. The influence of CIM on PA behaviour was particularly salient during the after-school period. Associations of CIM with PA varied by gender, and also by neighbourhood classification. CIM seemed to matter more in urban neighbourhoods for boys and suburban neighbourhoods for girls.ConclusionOur findings highlight the importance of independent mobility to multiple characteristics of children’s PA behaviour across the week. Furthermore, they emphasize that independent mobility-activity relationships need to be considered by gender and the type of neighbourhood independent mobility is offered in. Future work will focus on developing a predictive model of CIM that could be used to inform decision-making around alleviating barriers to CIM.

Highlights

Regular physical activity (PA) in childhood is associated with many physical, physiological and mental health benefits [1]
The purpose of this study is to examine, a) if Children’s independent mobility (CIM) is related to multiple characteristics of accelerometry-measured PA behaviour and b) whether the association between CIM and PA behaviour systematically varies by place of residence, stratifying by gender and type of day/period
This study investigated whether characteristics of accelerometry-measured physical activity behaviour across the school week and over the weekend vary according to the amount of independent mobility a child is granted, and, whether the type of neighbourhood in which a child

Summary

Introduction

Regular physical activity (PA) in childhood is associated with many physical, physiological and mental health benefits [1]. Children’s Independent Mobility (CIM) is defined as “the freedom of children to travel around their own neighbourhood or city without adult supervision” [5] This mobility could be for the purposes of play or travel, within and beyond their neighbourhood, and to destinations such as school and leisure facilities or just outside the home. This ability to move around independently is critical to children’s healthy development; it influences cognitive development [6], it helps children build relationships [7,8] which impacts social capital [9], and it allows children to engage/ form bonds with other children and the natural environment [10,11]. The purpose of this study was to examine if CIM is related to multiple characteristics of accelerometry-measured PA behaviour (total PA, light PA, moderate-to-vigorous PA, time spent sedentary) and whether associations between CIM and PA behaviour systematically vary by place of residence, stratifying by gender and type of day/period (weekdays, after-school, weekend)

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