Spatial physical activity patterns among primary school children living in neighbourhoods of varying socioeconomic status: a cross-sectional study using accelerometry and Global Positioning System

Abstract

BackgroundNeighbourhood socioeconomic status (SES) has been shown to be related to health status and overweight independent of individual SES. However, results about the association between neighbourhood SES and physical activity among children are ambiguous. Particularly, it is unknown how socioeconomic factors influence the spatial context of children’s moderate-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and sedentary behaviour (SB). This study aimed to investigate by means of Global Positioning System (GPS) and accelerometry whether locations where children engage in MVPA and SB differ by neighbourhood SES.MethodsParticipants included 83 children aged 7–9 from nine public schools located in a low- and high-SES area in Zurich, Switzerland. Children wore an accelerometer and GPS sensor for seven consecutive days. Time-matched accelerometer and GPS data was mapped with a geographic information system and each data point assigned to one of eight activity settings. The amount and proportion of MVPA and SB were calculated for every setting. To investigate differences between the two SES groups, multilevel analyses accounting for the hierarchical structure of the data were conducted.ResultsBoth SES groups achieved most minutes in MVPA at own school, on streets and at home and recorded the highest proportions of MVPA in recreational facilities, streets and other schools. The highest amounts and proportions of SB were found at home and own school. High-SES children accumulated significantly more minutes in MVPA and SB in parks, sport facilities, other schools and streets, while the low-SES group spent more time in both activities in other places. When taking the total time spent in a setting into account and using the proportion of MVPA or SB, the only differences between the two groups were found at other schools and outside, where the high-SES children showed a significantly higher activity level (p-values <0.001).ConclusionsSeveral differences in the spatial activity pattern between children from low- and high-SES neighbourhoods were found, independent of their individual SES. The findings seem to highlight the importance of providing safe streets and access to appropriate types of recreational facilities to reach recommended PA levels. Further policies to reduce SB within home and school environment are needed.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12889-016-2954-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Physical activity levels in urban-based South African learners: A cross-sectional study of 7 348 participants

“…[26,27] PA levels were estimated in 7 684 European children aged 2 -11 years from eight countries (Sweden, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Cyprus, Spain, Belgium and Estonia). [27] Two percent of Cypriot females did the recommended amount of 60 minutes of MVPA, compared with 14.7% of Swedish females, while 9.5% of males in Italy and 34.1% of those in Belgium met the PA guidelines.…”

Aptidão Cardiorrespiratória, Composição Corporal De Escolares E Estruturas Físicas Para Prática De Atividades Físicas

“…Entretanto, há evidências de que fatores sociodemográficos, principalmente o quesito social do ambiente, devem ser considerados como mais determinantes do que a estrutura física, ao promover um estilo de vida mais ativo e saudável 25 . Alguns autores afirmam que o status socioeconômico do estudante afeta seu uso das estruturas físicas na escola, enquanto que outros relatam que o nível socioeconômico da vizinhança do local da atividade física influencia mais no aproveitamento de suas estruturas físicas do que o nível socioeconômico do aluno 26,27 . Ainda, se sabe que a importância do suporte escolar para a prática física é mais relevante em países desenvolvidos do que em sub ou em desenvolvimento, assim como os melhores ambientes e infraestruturas se encontram nos países europeus e norte americanos, enquanto que os piores estão em países africanos 28 .…”

Examen rapide des études spatialisées traitant des lieux d’activité physique et de sédentarité des enfants et des adultes

“…Des données solides indiquent que le milieu scolaire est l'un des principaux lieux de pratique de l'ensemble de l'APMV 23,27,30,35,39,42 chez les enfants. Plus précisément, la cour d'école semble contribuer grandement à l'APMV en milieu scolaire, surtout chez les garçons 27,42 .…”

“…Si les parcs et les espaces verts ont peu contribué à l'APMV totale 40 , le temps passé dans ces endroits a souvent été consacré à l'AP d'intensité plus élevée 23,24,29,43 . L'étude néozélandaise Children's Activity in their Local Environment (CALE) a révélé que seulement 2 % de l'AP enregistrée a été pratiquée dans des parcs urbains 40 .…”

“…Une étude menée auprès d'enfants d'âge préscolaire a révélé que 45 % du temps passé à la maison est con sacré à des comportements sédentaires 24 . Burgi et ses collaborateurs 23 ont constaté que les enfants de 7 à 9 ans passaient en moyenne 60 % de leur temps à la maison à des activités sédentaires. Les résultats de l'étude Healthy PLACES ont également révélé que les comportements sédentaires observés avaient souvent eu lieu à la mai son chez les enfants de 8 à 14 ans 22 .…”