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Children's (in)dependent mobility in Portugal
Abstract
Objectives
To characterize children's independent mobility in Portugal, by studying the influence of age, sex, school type (primary/secondary) and location (urban/rural). To explore associations between mobility licences and children's actual independent mobility.
Design
Cross-sectional study of 1099 children between 8 and 15 years of age and their parents. Children attended primary (n = 660, 49% boys, 69% urban) and secondary (n = 439, 43% boys, 72% urban) schools.
Methods
The Portuguese version of the child independent mobility survey (Policy Studies Institute, London) was completed. Parents reported the mobility licences granted to their children. Children reported their independent mobility on school journeys and on weekends. Differences were examined in mobility licences and independent mobility by sex, urban/rural setting and primary/secondary schools. Multiple logistic regression models examined the associations between different variables and actual independent mobility.
Results
Secondary school children are granted more licences and have greater levels of independent mobility than primary school children. Only 21% of primary school children and 45% of secondary school children come home from school actively and independently. Overall, sex does not influence the licences granted to children in Portugal but boys have greater levels of independent mobility during the weekends than girls. Children in rural settings report engaging in more activities during the weekend. The number of mobility licences granted to the child was identified as predictor for actual independent mobility on school days and during the weekend.
Conclusions
Portuguese children lack independent mobility. Complementary qualitative research will be important to inform about the better practices to tackle this problem.
... It also offers opportunities for an increased physical activity level among children (Carver, Veitch, et al. 2014). Despite these benefits, since the last three decades, several international studies (Bhuyan and Zhang 2020;Cordovil, Lopes, and Neto 2015;Shaw et al. 2015;Kyttä et al. 2015;Shaw et al. 2013;Witten et al. 2013;Doxey et al. 2003;Drianda and Kinoshita 2011) have indicated a widespread decline in the degree of CIM. At the same time, there is a sharp rise in overweight and obesity issues among children, especially from developing countries (WHO 2017). ...
... At the same time, there is a sharp rise in overweight and obesity issues among children, especially from developing countries (WHO 2017). Multidisciplinary researchers have argued that the built environment (BE) and socio-cultural transformations due to the growing pressure of urbanisation have resulted in children's restrictions on freedom to move (Sharmin and Kamruzzaman 2017;Fyhri et al. 2011;Malone and Rudner 2011;Tranter and Sharpe 2012;Cordovil, Lopes, and Neto 2015;Marzi, Demetriou, and Reimers 2018). However, owing to the heterogeneous character of these environmental factors, the current state of research remains inconsistent in terms of their effect on CIM. ...
... Given the contextual differences, many CIM studies conducted comparative investigations between varied levels of urbanisations (Sharmin and Kamruzzaman 2017). Initially, focus was on the differences between 'urban' and 'rural' areas (Kyttä 1997;Fyhri and Hjorthol 2009;Carver, Panter, et al. 2014), which later extended by the inclusion of 'suburban' (Loebach and Gilliland 2016), 'inner-city', 'small-town' (Cordovil, Lopes, and Neto 2015;Carver, Timperio, and Crawford 2012) and 'large-town' areas (Kyttä et al. 2015;Rudner and Wickramaarachchi 2013) in the research design. These studies not only provided empirical evidence but also emphasised the need to adopt a comparative approach within CIM study domain. ...
Narratives on children's independent mobility (CIM) from developing countries remain limited and under-researched. This is the first paper from India that examines CIM across three urban neighbourhood typologies, taking a case of Kolkata. The study reports from the comparative analysis of the data provided by 384 parents of children aged 7-12 years from four schools on their CIM licence scores and neighbourhood perception. Logistic regression was employed to examine the association of CIM with the built environment (BE) and social environment (SE) variables of the neighbourhood. The results reveal that older children (10-12 years) were found to enjoy higher CIM licences irrespective of their gender. Low-rise neighbourhood inheriting an organic spatial growth fosters higher CIM than planned mid-rise or high-rise neighbourhoods. When all variables were taken together, the influence of neighbourhood social cohesion and safety on CIM was found to override the influence of BE variables.
... In fact, girls (aged 8-10 years) are less likely to be active during unstructured time such as recess, than boys (Mota et al. 2005), 11-12-year-old boys are more likely than girls to actively commute to school (Harten and Olds 2004), and boys seem to have more independent mobility than girls (aged 8-15-years), at least on weekends, which may translate in more outdoor play (Cordovil, Lopes, and Neto 2015). Overall, a study measuring PA via accelerometry found that in a normal school day, 8-11-year-old girls seem to accumulate less MVPA than boys and fewer achieve the recommended 60 min/day of MVPA, either during recess, lunch time, and PE classes (Nettlefold et al. 2011). ...
... or on a playground than girls (53%) (Singer et al. 2009). In Portugal, parents of 8-15-year-old children, were seen to give more independent mobility licence to boys, than girls, particularly during the weekends (Cordovil et al. 2015), facilitating outdoor time, which is positively associated with PA levels of children . Boys being allowed with more freedom, compared to girls, including in the form of playing outdoor, has been consistently observed in other studies (Ferré, Guitart, and Ferret 2006;Lee et al. 2015;Tranter and Pawson 2001). ...
... Also, proximity to sports facilities may increase children's familiarity with that sport which could generate demand for individual visits, as well as, for partaking in organised sports taking place in those facilities. Low proximity to sports facilities could be a barrier of participation in sports activities, especially in young urban children, because they tend to depend on others for their daily mobility (Cordovil et al. 2015;Santos et al. 2013) and therefore experience more difficulty in reaching sports facilities further away from their home. ...
Association of social, cultural and environmental factors with participation in extracurricular sport and obesity indicators in 6-10-year-old children living in urban and non-urban settings
... Parental licence for their child's independent mobility is strongly related to children's actualised independent mobility [24]. Parents are the 'gatekeepers' who determine the travel mode of their children and the degree of freedom they have to independently move in the neighbourhood [6,25]. ...
... Individual factors that are associated with children moving independently in their environment include age and sex. Children who are older, especially after 12 years of age, are more likely to have licence from their parents to engage in independent mobility [9,24,[30][31][32]. Many studies indicate that boys have higher rates of independent mobility compared to girls and tend to gain mobility licence earlier than girls [9,32,33]. ...
... Safety from traffic is a key priority for parents [24,49]. Numerous studies have shown that parental fear of traffic danger is associated with limiting children's independent mobility licence [21,32,35,36,45,50,51]. ...
Children’s independent mobility is declining internationally. Parents are the gatekeepers of children’s independent mobility. This mixed methods study investigates whether parent perceptions of the neighbourhood environment align with objective measures of the neighbourhood built environment, and how perceived and objective measures relate to parental licence for children’s independent mobility. Parents participating in the Neighbourhood for Active Kids study (n = 940) answered an open-ended question about what would make their neighbourhoods better for their child’s independent mobility, and reported household and child demographics. Objective measures of the neighbourhood built environment were generated using geographic information systems. Content analysis was used to classify and group parent-reported changes required to improve their neigbourhood. Parent-reported needs were then compared with objective neighbourhood built environment measures. Linear mixed modelling examined associations between parental licence for independent mobility and (1) parent neighbourhood perceptions; and (2) objectively assessed neighbourhood built environment features. Parents identified the need for safer traffic environments. No significant differences in parent reported needs were found by objectively assessed characteristics. Differences in odds of reporting needs were observed for a range of socio-demographic characteristics. Parental licence for independent mobility was only associated with a need for safer places to cycle (positive) and objectively assessed cycling infrastructure (negative) in adjusted models. Overall, the study findings indicate the importance of safer traffic environments for children’s independent mobility.
... " in 1990, and is defined as "the freedom of children to travel around in their neighborhood or city without adult supervision" [22]. The definition of CIM is interpreted in different ways by different researchers: independent travel to a range of destinations (e.g., friend's home, school, local shops, and playgrounds [23,24]), or explicitly, independent walking to/from school [19,25], independent travel as walking, cycling, and taking public transport without adult supervision [26,27], and sometimes also as independent play outside [27,28]. To better understand the multifactorial phenomenon of CIM, Figure 1 provides an overview of different CIM indicators and measurements, and their application in empirical studies. ...
... When a child is young, it has round-the-clock adult supervision; afterward, a child may be allowed to go out with older siblings or friends, and, at some point, is granted full independence. For instance, in Portugal, about 13% of eight-year-old children are allowed to travel independently to local destinations, while, at the age of 15 years, more than 87% are allowed to go to local destinations on their own [24]. ...
... Socio-demographic characteristics, such as age [19,24,35,45,56], gender [16,30,73], ethnicity [67,68], confidence and skills to travel independently [37,43], and older siblings [35,38], were consistently associated with the extent of CIM. Although many studies evaluated built environmental attributes, the evidence for associations with CIM is limited [69]. ...
Environmental changes significantly impact health behavior. Active travel behavior is mostly affected by increasing motorization, urban sprawl, and traffic safety. Especially for children, active and independent travel can contribute to physical activity, social and motor development, and other health-related outcomes. A reduced number of children engaging in independent mobility over the last 20 years demanded researchers to further examine the construct of children's independent mobility. By examining relevant literature, this narrative review aims to provide the current state of knowledge on children's independent mobility, and identify future directions in research, as well as practical implications. From a public health perspective, considering children's independent mobility in intervention programs is recommended, since it is associated with numerous health and environmental benefits. To develop interventions, multilevel socio-ecological influences on children's independent mobility are widely examined; however, evidence is limited due to heterogeneous measurements and a lack of high-quality prospective studies. To oppose the decline in children's independent mobility, further analysis using comparable measures is needed to understand the determinants of children's independent mobility and to enable international comparison.
... Other studies found that as the number of cars in a household increased, the likelihood of independent mobility for the child decreased. 33,38,40,[59][60][61] ...
... As distance to a destination (e.g., school, parks) increases, the likelihood of children's independent mobility decreases. 19,34,38,52,53,[59][60][61]63 Distances under 1 km are considered ideal for children's independent travel, but as distances to school, leisure activities and parks increase above 1 km, independent mobility becomes less likely. 38,[59][60][61] Families that live closer to their child's school, ideally under 1 km away, are more likely to grant children travel independence to school. ...
... 19,34,38,52,53,[59][60][61]63 Distances under 1 km are considered ideal for children's independent travel, but as distances to school, leisure activities and parks increase above 1 km, independent mobility becomes less likely. 38,[59][60][61] Families that live closer to their child's school, ideally under 1 km away, are more likely to grant children travel independence to school. Living in proximity of retail shops and recreation centres (<800 m) also favours boys' independent mobility. ...
Children's independent mobility refers to the freedom of children to travel around their neighbourhood by themselves without adult supervision. There is global concern around children failing to meet physical activity recommendations. In light of this concern, independent mobility may be important in facilitating opportunities for active transportation and physical activity, as well as helping children's social, cognitive and personal development. This chapter will discuss the trends and benefits of children's independent mobility. The multiple levels of influence on children's independent mobility will be described using a socioecological framework. Additionally, this chapter will address implications of a ‘risk-averse’ society and will conclude by providing recommendations for policy, practice and future research including multilevel approaches in addressing the decline in independent mobility.
... Other studies found that as the number of cars in a household increased, the likelihood of independent mobility for the child decreased. 33,38,40,[59][60][61] ...
... As distance to a destination (e.g., school, parks) increases, the likelihood of children's independent mobility decreases. 19,34,38,52,53,[59][60][61]63 Distances under 1 km are considered ideal for children's independent travel, but as distances to school, leisure activities and parks increase above 1 km, independent mobility becomes less likely. 38,[59][60][61] Families that live closer to their child's school, ideally under 1 km away, are more likely to grant children travel independence to school. ...
... 19,34,38,52,53,[59][60][61]63 Distances under 1 km are considered ideal for children's independent travel, but as distances to school, leisure activities and parks increase above 1 km, independent mobility becomes less likely. 38,[59][60][61] Families that live closer to their child's school, ideally under 1 km away, are more likely to grant children travel independence to school. Living in proximity of retail shops and recreation centres (<800 m) also favours boys' independent mobility. ...
... Children with greater independent mobility tend to have a greater 'territorial range', allowing them to visit a broader range of destinations within their neighbourhood (Mackett et al. 2007). Despite health and social benefits, this form of physical activity has been long overlooked and is declining worldwide (Carver et al. 2013;Witten et al. 2013;Cordovil, Lopes, and Neto 2015;Kyttä et al. 2015), including India, at an alarming rate (Gulati et al. 2014). The factors responsible for this phenomenon range from lack of built environmental support, parents' negative perception towards neighbourhood safety and growing vehicular traffic, to increased use of digital technology among children, leading to their sedentary behaviour (Karsten 2005;Malone 2007). ...
... The responses were coded as '1' for a 'yes' and '0' for a 'no'. A mobility license score was then computed by summing the licenses granted to the child (values range 0-6), as adopted by other relevant studies (Cordovil, Lopes, and Neto 2015;Stark, Frühwirth, and Aschauer 2018). Originally, the study also aimed to quantify parents' perception of neighbourhood using previously adopted (Foster et al. 2014;Christian et al. 2015;Lin et al. 2017) measures of social capital and neighbourhood safety. ...
Parents’ role, as primary decision-makers, is critical in granting independent mobility permissions to children within local surroundings. This paper aims to explore the parental perception of children's independent mobility (CIM) and the influential urban policies taking the case of an urban neighbourhood in Delhi. The study looks at CIM from a three-lens perspective of concept, concern and challenges. Qualitative interviews were conducted with fifteen parents of children aged 7–12 years, on their understanding of CIM and to obtain CIM license scores. The content analysis reveals that CIM is not only a complex but also a conditional phenomenon, with conditions of ‘time’ and ‘location’ as decisive factors. Lack of trust in children's independent travel to school and the use of public transport were identified as unique challenges affecting overall CIM. Concludingly, by placing the voice of parents at the forefront, this study positions India on the emerging map of CIM domain.
... Defined as the children's free activities in the neighborhood without parental supervision [30] , CIM is mainly influenced by safety factor, including social safety and traffic safety [31]~ [33] , and some CIM studies lay particular emphasis on walking safety [34] . Detailed safety indicators in CIM literature, such as traffic volume and speed [35]~ [39] , are also mentioned in walkabilityrelated studies. However, most of them belong to the category of "motor traffic environment" in Table 4, and only a few of them, such as travel supporting at crossing [37][39] [40] , belong to the "walking / bicycling environment" category. ...
... In addition, attack, harassment, bullying, and antisocial behaviors of strangers also pose social safety threats to CIM [42]~ [44] . Lighting, as an indicator of "other facilities" in "walking / bicycling environment" category, helps increase the safety perception during trips at night [39] [40] . It is worth noting that CIM studies also attach greater attention to environmental factors related to the "other indicators" category in Table 4, with wider safety concerns such as threats from animals, getting lost, and acquaintance or friendly neighbors who can provide passive surveillance of sight and assistance in children's independent mobility [43][44] -these factors are often overlooked in other studies. ...
... Parents of adolescents reported a significantly fewer number of parental barriers towards active commuting than parents of children in our study, this trend was the same as the one identified in Australia (Carver et al., 2010) and Spain (Huertas-Delgado et al., 2017). In Portugal, 21% of children and 45% of adolescents commute home from school actively and independently (Cordovil, Lopes, & Neto, 2015). This increase may be due to the fact that as children grow up, they begin gain more independence and autonomy in regard to the commuting mode they choose. ...
... This results were similar in Australia (Carver et al., 2010) and Spain (Huertas-Delgado et al., 2017). In fact, in Portugal, 21% of children and 45% of adolescents commute home from school actively and independently (Cordovil et al., 2015) and in Ecuador 14,2% of children were active and 20% of adolescents ( Barranco-Ruiz et al., 2018). There is no doubt that parents are more apprehensive with younger children, for fear of them making some bad decision when crossing a street or suffering an accident. ...
Active commuting to school (ACS) provides children and adolescents an opportunity to increase their physical activity levels. Perceived parental barriers are important factors that can influence in ACS in school population. The aim of this study was to identify the parental barriers to active commuting to school among Chilean youth and their association with gender and the usual commuting mode. Parents of children (n = 117) and adolescents (n = 78) completed a self-reported questionnaire. Sociodemographic characteristics, as well as the commuting mode used to go to school and work and parental barriers to active commuting were reported. Parents of children who passively commute to school reported distance to school (p=.000) as the main barrier compared with those who commute actively. Parents of adolescents who passively commute to school reported traffic speed (p=.016) as the main barrier compared with those who commute actively. Parents of adolescent males reported dangerous intersections (p=.024), the absence of adults to walk with (p=.023) and weather (p=.007) at significantly higher frequency compared with the parents of females. Perceived barriers of parents of children were associated with their children´s mode of commuting and barriers of parents of adolescents were associated with their adolescent´s mode of commuting and gender. Parents of children and adolescents reported distance and traffic as the mains barriers to ACS. Education in safe routes to schools and public policies to distribute the students into closer school are needed as a strategy to promote and improve ACS.
... Access to organized leisure activities determines the extent of CIM as Fyhri, Hjorthol [17] reported that children are often taken to leisure activities by car, because activities take place outside the immediate neighborhood. Additionally, due to an increasing crime rate, high urbanization, and long distances to school, parents limit CIM by prohibition [17,23]. Moreover, the neighborhood environment and the local social network determine CIM [24]. ...
... Particularly, CIM license depends on parents' perception of neighborhood environment [24,49,61]. As many studies have demonstrated that CIM increases with children's age [23,25,62], parental restrictions on CIM probably decrease with children's age while physical environmental attributes which support independent active travel may gain in importance. ...
Background: Children’s independent mobility (CIM) is an important contributor to physical activity and health in
children. However, in the last 20 years CIM has significantly decreased. To develop effective intervention programs to promote CIM, the impact of the environment on CIM must be identified. This review seeks to provide an overview of sex/gender-specific socio-ecological correlates of CIM.
Methods: A systematic literature search of five databases (PubMed, PsycInfo, Scopus, Medline, Web of Science) was conducted with a priori defined eligibility criteria and identified 1838 potential articles published between January 1990 and November 2017. Two independent reviewers screened the literature and identified and rated methodological quality of the studies. Related factors of CIM were summarized separately for CIM license (parental permission to travel independently) and CIM destination (destinations to which a child travels independently), and separately for boys and girls using a semi-quantitative method.
Results: Twenty-seven peer-reviewed journal articles were identified which examined the relationship between the social and physical environment and CIM. Only seven studies reported results divided by sex/gender. Most associations between the environment and CIM were found in the expected direction (positive or negative) or not associated at all. The social environment seemed to be more influential for ensuring CIM than the physical environment.
Neighborhood safety, fear of crime and stranger, parental support, and perception of traffic were important social
environmental factors influencing CIM, while car ownership, distance, and neighborhood design were relevant physical environmental attributes. Few studies examined sex/gender-related environmental correlates of independent mobility, and those findings were inconsistent.
Conclusion: The findings of this systematic review serve as suggestions for intervention programs to increase CIM and to identify future directions in research. To establish a robust comprehension of the impact of the social and physical environment on CIM, further sex/gender-sensitive studies using comparable measurements for CIM and environmental correlates are needed.
... Desse modo, resolvemos pesquisar fora dos grandes centros, já que há menos pesquisas sobre os deslocamentos e vivências de crianças nesse cenário (SABBAG; KUHNEN; VIEIRA, 2015) e o nível de urbanização afeta a mobilidade e as vivências das crianças, quanto mais urbanizadas, tende-se a ter menos liberdades (CORDOVIL; LOPES; NETO, 2015). No Brasil, as cidades não metropolitanas e de pequeno-médio portes reproduzem problemas urbanos de grandes áreas, como a violência urbana e infraestrutura precária dos espaços públicos. ...
Resumo: As crianças são geralmente invisibilizadas nos processos decisórios da vida urbana, consideradas apenas as cidadãs do futuro e confinadas em ambientes privados com deslocamentos vertiginosamente mais motorizados sob o argumento de segurança e bem-estar. Há uma lacuna na investigação da relação criança-cidade em contextos fora das grandes cidades. Assim, o objetivo deste artigo foi analisar as características dos vínculos das crianças com o ambiente urbano em Quixadá/CE a fim de indicar (des)potencialidades para o desenvolvimento de uma formação cidadã na cidade. A metodologia foi baseada na produção de mapas afetivos para compreensão das representações e vínculos aos trajetos escolares. Os resultados indicaram que as crianças que adotaram modais ativos tiveram mais conhecimento ambiental e se vincularam de modo mais crítico aos trajetos, oportunizando a experienciação e desenvolvimento de vínculos da criança com o espaço público e, consequentemente, de potenciação cidadã. Palavras-chave: mobilidade urbana de crianças, mobilidade ativa, espaço público, vínculo ao lugar, cidadania.
Palavras-chave: mobilidade urbana de crianças, mobilidade ativa, espaço público, vínculo ao lugar, cidadania.
... Social environment factors are mainly reflected in the regional economic situation, neighborhood safety, social supervision, and policy management [40][41][42][43]. Regarding individual-related factors, parental attributes [18,26,44,45], children's characteristics [44,46,47], family economic level [21,26,[48][49][50][51], and safety concerns [21,50] are included. ...
Children are a vulnerable population that is frequently overlooked in urban planning. The spatial demands of children are garnering broader consideration in the development of public spaces in cities as efforts to promote child-friendly cities. Children’s independent activities (CIAs) during childhood are undeniably beneficial to their physical and mental health. Residential areas are the main places for children’s daily activities. Building a suitable outdoor activity space in the community for children’s recreation is an essential foundation for improving CIAs and promoting the development of child-friendly neighborhoods. A sample of 15 typical children’s outdoor activity spaces in residential neighborhoods of Nanjing, China, was selected for the study to observe and record CIAs. The built environment indicators of residential outdoor spaces were extracted, and correlation analysis was employed to investigate the residential outdoor space elements relevant to CIAs. The results indicated that at the site level, higher percentages of tree coverage and soft paving enhanced CIAs, while high functional mix inhibited them. Additionally, gated communities, top-notch sanitation, secure facilities, neighborhoods with higher residential densities, and a diversity of activity facilities all stimulated children to engage in independent activities. Furthermore, questionnaires for the guardian indicated that they placed a high priority on site safety, and that waterfront areas and activity sites where incidents had occurred decreased parents’ willingness to allow participation in CIAs, whereas safety education or the use of positioning devices may promote CIAs. Based on the above results, we proposed appropriate adaptations for places in residential neighborhoods. The study expects to create a higher quality environment in residential neighborhoods for children to play in public spaces and provide beneficial help to improve the child-friendly neighborhood.
... Portugal was ranked 14th, while Finland ranked top in a survey of 16 countries on child mobility independence levels [39] [21]. The freedom / autonomous mobility / mobility independence of children in Portugal to act autonomously in the public sphere without adult control is very limited, especially in urban centers [40] [41]. To analyze the current situation of the playgrounds in Lisbon this research has been started. ...
In this research, the relationship between children and urban space is examined through the analysis of one of playground in Benfica parish of the city of Lisbon. In the next steps of the research, other parts of Lisbon and Istanbul will be included into the analysis. In this paper, the researcher's observations on the biggest playground of Benfica have discussed. In the next phases of the study, new obstacles and needs emerging in the lives of children with the Covid-19 pandemic, will be determined by in-depth interviews and surveys. Besides, the behavioral mappings, movement lines, tracking tools will be prepared and used; Space Syntax modeling will be done; the matrix, that to calculate the convenience and accessibility of the areas for the children, will be developed by Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method to complete the analysis for the playgrounds in Lisbon and Istanbul. Thus, the areas will be evaluated quantitively for their accessibility and convenience for the children development and freedom. At the end of the study, design principles guide of the open public spaces will be created according to children's needs, demands and their mental-physical development by the children's own voices.
... Enquanto isso, nas cidades de menor porte, é possível que sejam registradas dinâmicas diferentes pelos níveis de urbanização e em áreas periféricas socialmente de grandes centros por outro conjunto de fatores, podendo haver mais crianças nos espaços públicos (CORDOVIL; LOPES; NETO, 2015). Entretanto, em alguns casos, as cidades de menor porte reproduzem as problemáticas socioespaciais e demais características de grandes centros, em outros podem emergir elementos diferentes. ...
INTRODUÇÃO Este trabalho faz parte de uma pesquisa de dissertação em andamento relativa à análise da mobilidade independente de crianças (deslocamentos nos espaços urbanos sem o acompanhamento de adultos) e suas experiências urbanas, em que através dela se conhece e constrói a realidade (TUAN, 1983). Na pesquisa, as experiências são investigadas pelas percepções, apropriações e relações afetivas das crianças com o espaço público a partir do recorte físico-espacial da cidade de Quixadá-CE ii. O munícipio de Quixadá foi selecionado pela familiaridade do autor e por sua importância regional, que se caracteriza como de porte médio e tem registrado rápido crescimento urbano que tem gerado o surgimento de bairros periféricos (MARTINS; GERSON, 2017). Esse crescimento está, entre outros, relacionado à transformação do município em centro de convergência regional de educação superior com a instalação de seis campi (HAIASHIDA, 2014). O resultado é a modificação das dinâmicas urbanas e os desafios para a mobilidade independente e apropriações dos espaços públicos pelas crianças. O estudo é justificado em termos científicos pela tentativa de minimização da lacuna relativa as poucas pesquisas sobre mobilidade independente de crianças desenvolvidas no contexto brasileiro, em especial na região nordeste, independente do porte da cidade, como apontam Sabbag, Kuhnen e Vieira (2015). Em termos sociais, o estudo poderá subsidiar elementos de melhoria do planejamento e gestão dos espaços públicos de Quixadá, por meio da escala da criança a fim da melhoria das condições de mobilidade e consequentemente, da vivência dela na cidade, podendo pensar sobre a construção de cidades mais justas e plurais. O desafio principal é dialogar com os achados do campo temático e como os resultados desse Estudo de Caso poderão contribuir nesse debate mais amplo. Neste artigo foram debatidos o campo teórico da MIC, as primeiras imersões no campo relativas ao registro das apropriações das crianças nos espaços públicos e uma tentativa de relacionar esses achados para elaborar direcionamentos futuros da pesquisa principal. Dito isso, partiu-se da discussão da cidade contemporânea como espaço de inter-relações pessoa-ambiente, em que mutuamente o ser humano transfora e é transformado por seu entorno (ITTELSON et al., 2005 apud KUHNEN; HIGUCHI, 2011). No entanto, deve haver o reconhecimento de que historicamente os desejos, subjetividades e necessidades da maioria dos grupos sociais não são priorizados como norteadores do planejamento das cidades, principalmente no contexto de países em desenvolvimento. Desses, as crianças ainda permanecem com pouca visibilidade, independente de seguimentos sociais, sejam eles favorecidos ou desfavorecidos. Constantemente as crianças não são consideradas como seres sociais de pleno direito, sobretudo à participação, sendo vistas como os cidadãos do futuro e não do hoje.
... The age at which children are granted IM has increased compared with younger age groups. In addition, several studies have consistently demonstrated that IM increases as age increases [20][21][22]. According to this, IM could be largely dependent on the parents especially in young children, where parental permission can intervene in the increase or decrease of IM [19,23,24]. ...
... The age at which children are granted IM has increased compared with younger age groups. In addition, several studies have consistently demonstrated that IM increases as age increases [20][21][22]. According to this, IM could be largely dependent on the parents especially in young children, where parental permission can intervene in the increase or decrease of IM [19,23,24]. ...
Background
Independent mobility (IM) provides young people with many opportunities to increase their autonomy and physical activity (PA). This study aimed to analyse whether the parent’s PA, active commuting to work and sociodemographic factors serve as predictors of IM to school in children and adolescents.
Methods
A total of 684 parents (52.8% mothers) and their offspring (56.4% girls) were included in this study, which was performed in Granada (Spain) and Valparaíso (Chile). The parents self-reported their sociodemographic characteristics, PA and mode of commuting to work. The mode of commuting to and from school and the offspring accompaniment mode were reported. T-test and chi-square test were used to study quantitative and qualitative differences by parental gender, respectively. Binary logistic regression models (odds ratio = OR) and stepwise analysis were performed to study the association between the parents’ sociodemographic variables and IM to school.
Results
Adolescents showed higher IM to school than children (58.9% vs 40.2%; p < 0.001). No car availability and shorter distance to work were positively associated with higher IM to school in children (OR = 2.22 and 2.29, respectively). Mothers' lower salary/month (OR = 2.75), no car availability (OR = 3.17), and mother passive commuting to work (OR = 2.61) were positively associated with higher IM to school in adolescents. The main predictor of IM to school in children and adolescents was no car availability (OR = 6.53).
Conclusion
Parental sociodemographic factors, such as salary, distance to work and car availability, were associated more strongly with IM than parental PA and active commuting to work.
... Participants included children between the ages of seven and twelve and their parents or guardians living in a northern British Columbia community (see [29] for a detailed description of the region). The age range seven to twelve yearswas chosen to be consistent with previous literature and because evidence suggests this is when independent mobility behaviours develop [30,31]. Participants were recruited through affiliated networks and organizational connections of the research team. ...
Children's independent mobility (CIM) is the freedom of children to move around their neighbourhood without adult supervision and is closely related to overall physical activity participation. The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted movement behaviours for children, with evidence indicating a decrease in physical activity. The aim of this study was to explore experiences of CIM and physical activity during the COVID-19 pandemic from the perspectives of children and their parents. We completed 21 family (at least one parent and one child aged 7-12) semi-structured interviews with 45 participants living in small urban and rural areas of British Columbia, Canada. Three themes were identified through a reflexive thematic analysis: (1) keeping everyone safe from COVID-19; (2) change in pattern and types of activity; (3) social impacts with family, friends, and community. Participants expressed a perceived increase in unstructured activity and a decrease in structured physical activity during the pandemic, which many parents viewed as a positive change. Parents and children indicated negative feelings due to spending less time with peers and reflected positively about spending more time with family. Parents and children expressed fear and anxiety in trying to keep their families safe from virus spread and creativity in adapting play behaviours. Findings highlight the impact of the pandemic on social friendship networks for families and a shift in activity patterns for children toward unstructured play.
... Time spent outdoors is positively related to PA and negatively related to sedentary behavior in children aged 3 to 12 years [42]. Additionally, even though Portuguese children have low levels of independent mobility [43,44], this constitutes an important factor for the total daily PA, since the percentage of children playing outdoors with a weekly frequency is three or more times higher than the percentage of children engaged in sports practice [45]. ...
During long periods without school, children are more susceptible to unhealthy behaviors, such as an increase in sedentary behaviors, which has a negative impact on children’s motor competence (MC). The COVID-19 lockdown offered us a unique opportunity to test, in a quasi-experimental setting, the impact of lockdown movement restrictions on children’s MC. We assessed the motor competence of 114 children aged 6–9 years using the motor competence assessment. All children were tested before and after the COVID-19 lockdown. Chi-square and 2 × 2 ANOVA (sex by moment) were used to further analyze the data. Regardless of sex, motor performances in all tests (except for jumping sideways in boys) were lower when compared with performances before lockdown. There was a marked decreasing trend in children’s levels of MC, shifting from an upper to a lower quartile in different tests. The results after the lockdown were always significantly inferior to the results before lockdown in all motor tests (except jumping sideways), in the three components of MC, and in global MC. Children’s global MC score decreased by an average of 13 points in boys and 16 points in girls. The imposed movement restrictions had a negative effect on children’s motor competence development.
... Mais recentemente, um estudo internacional, realizado em 16 países a 18.303 crianças com idades compreendidas entre os sete e os 15 anos, demonstrou que Portugal ocupa o 14.º lugar no ranking da independência da mobilidade das crianças (Shaw et al., 2015). Verificou-se, ainda, que apenas 21% das crianças que frequentam a escola primária e 45% das que frequentam a escola secundária efetuam o seu trajeto casa-escola de forma independente e ativa (Cordovil, Lopes & Neto, 2015). ...
... Mais recentemente, um estudo internacional, realizado em 16 países a 18.303 crianças com idades compreendidas entre os sete e os 15 anos, demonstrou que Portugal ocupa o 14.º lugar no ranking da independência da mobilidade das crianças (Shaw et al., 2015). Verificou-se, ainda, que apenas 21% das crianças que frequentam a escola primária e 45% das que frequentam a escola secundária efetuam o seu trajeto casa-escola de forma independente e ativa (Cordovil, Lopes & Neto, 2015). ...
... Children's independent mobility, meaning their parental licenses and opportunities for free movement in the local environment, to and from school and to other meaningful places have become very limited (Brussoni et al., 2012;Lester & Maudsley, 2006;Shaw et al., 2015). This deprivation of children's autonomous mobility is particularly noted in the United States (Alparone & Pacilli, 2012), and in southern European countries, such as Portugal and Italy (Cordovil, Lopes, & Neto, 2015;Marzi & Reimers, 2018). In addition, for the last generation, there has also been a technical development that has led to more indoor activities involving electronic devices (Gray, 2011). ...
Risk aversive perceptions and practices among ECEC practitioners and parents have proven to be an important reason for the decline of young children’s opportunities for free outdoor play. Yet, there are also cultural differences in the perception of children’s risky play. This study aims at examining the factors that ECEC practitioners and parents experience as barriers for children’s outdoor play, especially those associated with risk. ECEC practitioners and parents in five different European countries (Greece, Portugal, Estonia, Croatia and Norway) received questionnaires about their perception of children’s outdoor play. The sample consists of 32 ECEC practitioners and 184 parents. Results show that parents and ECEC practitioners from Norway are less risk aversive to children’s play than those from the southern European countries. Traffic is a barrier for outdoor play among parents from all countries (above 50%), and stranger danger is particularly noticed in parents from Greece (80.6%) and Portugal (62.9%), whereas in Norway this value is only 13.3%. The mean average age from which parents allow their children to play outside is quite different between the participating countries, ranging from 5.8 years in Norway to 11.8 years in Greece. In total, fear of children getting injured and adults’ own concern/anxiety are only mentioned as barriers by 9.4% and 3.1% of ECEC practitioners, respectively. Lack of play spaces (74.3%) and poor play facilities (80%) are also considered obstacles to letting children play outside by Greek parents, whereas Portuguese ones emphasized media alerts (61.3%). Our results suggest a differentiated approach between countries to tackle the reported barriers to children’s outdoor risky play.
... Children no longer play, spend most of their days seated and indoors. According to Neto, Cordovil, & Lopes (2015), nowadays, children have less capacity for coordination, less capacity for spatial perception, have less pleasure to use the body for effort, have the difficulty play in group, which causes them to sit for a long time. The playgrounds are often organized according to a work model, or a model of pedagogical functioning, which has more to do with the pedagogical learning required or considered useful, let alone with the activities of the body in movement. ...
... The prevalence of ACS varies across European countries, such as in Swedish children (63%) [12], Spanish adolescents (50%) [13], Portuguese children (21%) and adolescents (45%) [14], or German adolescents (≈21%) [15]. A similar variety occurs in South American countries, with Chilean children (11.0%) and adolescents (25%) [16], Brazilian children (41%) [17], and Colombian children and adolescents (22%) [8]. ...
Active commuting to and from school (ACS) could help to increase daily physical activity levels in youth; however, this association remains unknown in Ecuadorian youth. Thus, the aims of this study were (1) to determine the patterns of commuting to and from school and (2) to analyze the associations between ACS, physical activity (PA), and sedentary habits in Ecuadorian youth. A total of 732 students (65.3% males), aged 10–18 years (children = 246, young adolescents = 310, older adolescents = 162) from the central region of Ecuador participated in this study. A self-report questionnaire, including the usual mode and frequency of commuting, distance from home to school (PACO-Questionnaire), and PA and sedentary habits (YAP-Questionnaire), was used. Most of the sample lived ≤2 km from school; however, they were mainly passive commuters (96%). The most common mode of commuting was by car (to school = 43.4%, from school = 31.6%; p < 0.001). Children presented significantly higher scores (0–4) in PA outside school and total PA compared with older adolescents (2.20 ± 0.97 vs. 1.97 ± 0.96; p = 0.013 and 2.30 ± 0.76 vs. 2.09 ± 0.74, p = 0.019, respectively), as well as the lowest scores in sedentary habits (1.51 ± 0.65, p < 0.001). PA at school and total PA were positively associated with ACS (OR 3.137; 95% CI, 1.918 to 5.131; p < 0.001, and OR 2.543; 95% CI, 1.428 to 4.527; p = 0.002, respectively). In conclusion, passive modes of transportation were the most frequently used to commute to and from school in young Ecuadorians. PA at school and total PA were positively associated with ACS. Thus, interventions at school setting could be an opportunity to improve PA levels and additionally ACS in youth from the central region of Ecuador.
... Independent mobility of children or youth in the urban setting can be defined as permission for children to move without adult supervision in their neighborhood and city (Hillman et al., 1990;Tranter, 1994) so that they can explore and learn about the environment at their own rhythm (Björklid and Nordstrom, 2004), toward a progressive and wider freedom of action and movement (Tonucci, 2005). Previous studies have shown Portugal with low levels of children's independent mobility (Cordovil et al., 2015) and ranked internationally in the 14th place among 16 countries (Bicket, 2013). Moreover, in urban centers, children and youths' restrictions on autonomous movement in Portugal are particularly augmented . ...
Meaning of place is usually approached as slow social cognitive construction. However, grounded on the theory of affordances, it may also stem from direct perception-action processes, which enable the formation of immediate perceived functional, social or symbolic meaning of place (Raymond et al., 2017b). In the present study, affordances of places, which are perceived by a specific perceiver in a specific place, were mapped using a web-map survey. Each place offers opportunities for interaction, behavior, use, feeling or meaning, which is directly perceived and actualized there. This paper aims at identifying the degree of youth-friendliness of urban neighborhoods using the hypothetical intertwined model of independent mobility and actualized affordances (Kyttä, 2004) combined with place use and meaning (Broberg et al., 2013a). SoftGISchildren methodology (Broberg et al., 2013a) was adopted to carry out a cross-sectional research, involving 145 sixth to ninth graders of the Great Lisbon area. SoftGIS integrates Public Participation Geographic Information Systems (PPGIS), enabling collection and place mapping of daily subjective environmental experiences in the physical environment, consequently allowing for individuals to be actively engaged in public processes of participation (Brown and Kyttä, 2014). A place based web survey called "Ideal City: a game of graphic imagination" was adopted. Participants were asked to map their home place, select and mark social, functional, leisure and emotional place transactions, and report actual and ideal mobility to these places. Findings on mobility showed that shorter distances to meaningful affordances of places promote active and independent travel; ideally, youths would like to be more frequently active and more frequently autonomous. As for meaningful places, a total of 1632 affordances were localized, with a higher number on social category. Neighborhood area (500 m around home place) was assessed as youth-friendly, where active and independent travel occurred more frequently, and social affordances were the most expressive type. Relational and affectional experience in the neighborhood places was meaningful for youth. Municipalities should consider these features when planning, designing and managing residential areas aiming for the well-being and health of young citizens; and include youths as specialists of space (spatialists) in planning participatory processes (PPGIS).
... Although the effect sizes of most of our predictors were small, the strength of the association between being a rural child and standing long jump performance was of medium size and merits attention. A plausible explanation may be that children living in rural areas experience independent mobility (Cordovil, Lopes, & Neto, 2015) and more outdoor physical activity (Fjørtoft, 2001;Greier, Brunner, & Riechelmann, 2013;Lovecchio, Novak, Eid, Casolo, & Podnar, 2015;Nikolic, Kocic, Beric, Cvetkovic, & Krzalic, 2015;Tinazci & Emiroglu, 2009;Walhain, Van Gorp, Lamur, Veeger, & Ledebt, 2016); both factors which would be expected to relate to leg strength. ...
The first aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between motor performance and body fatness among 3- to 5-year-old children. The second aim was to assess whether this relationship works similarly for boys and girls. We also investigated whether socioeconomic status (SES) and geographical area when children are aged 3 years old predicts the motor performance of 4 and 5-yr-old children. Motor performance was assessed through the Preschool Test Battery, while body fatness was estimated through body mass index (BMI). SES and geographical area were assessed via parent proxy-report questionnaires. BMI was negatively associated with standing long jump. The association of BMI and motor performance was not statistically different for boys and girls. Children from low SES performed better than high SES peers in tennis ball throw for distance. Rural children were better performers than urban peers in standing long jump. Rural area at baseline was also predictor of standing long jump and tennis ball throw for distance at time 1 and 2. In conclusion, BMI had a negative association with standing long jump and the relationship of BMI with all motor tests was similar for boys and girls. SES and rural area were predictors of motor performance.
... The results were similar to those from Canada, where 3% of children aged 6-9 commuted actively and unaccompanied to school (13). In Portugal, the figure was 21% for children aged 8-15 years (23). However, other studies have displayed higher percentages of between 28% and 44% for unaccompanied active commuting in children from Canada (13) and Australia (12) in the 10-12 age group. ...
Aim:
We explored the rates of children who actively commuted to school, both accompanied and unaccompanied, and identified their safety perceptions.
Methods:
This cross-sectional study focused on 745 children, aged 6-12 years, from public schools in the Spanish Granada region. They completed a questionnaire, providing personal data, their school grade, safety perceptions, whether they were accompanied to school and how they travelled to school. We analysed how active commuters were accompanied to school by age group and assessed the associations between safety perceptions and whether or not they were accompanied.
Results:
Children aged 10-12 years were more likely to travel to school unaccompanied, more likely to travel actively and had better safety perceptions than younger children. We also found differences in how active commuters between 10-12 years and children aged 6-7 and 8-9 years (all p<0.001) were accompanied to school. Children aged 10-12 years who actively commuted unaccompanied had a better understanding of safety issues than accompanied children (p<0.010).
Conclusion:
Older children who actively commuted to school unaccompanied had better safety perceptions than other children in this sample of children aged 6-12. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
... Another study of 6-8-year-old Hong Kong children found that limited availability of outdoor play areas during the afternoon hours resulted in children spending 72.4% of their time sitting and lying down [36]. In fact, Portuguese children (8-15-year-old) living in rural settings seem to have more independent mobility than urban children [37]. ...
Purpose
Faced with the high number of children who do not meet the physical activity guidelines, the identification of possible associated factors is essential. This study aims to identify what motivates and constraints children to engage in physical activities, and to observe how gender and urbanization may predict the perception of those barriers.
Methods
A cross-sectional study in 793 children (51.3% girls) aged 6–10 years was carried in an urban and non-urban setting. Children were asked to self-report sport barriers. Multivariate logistic regression models were used to observe association of barriers with gender and place of residence.
Results
Barriers like “I am not good at sports”, “I do not like to be active”, and “I am not interest in pursuing a career related to sport” were more prevalent in girls than in boys. Urban children had higher odds than their non-urban peers of reporting that they do not watch women’s sport on television, and also lack of time, facilities nearby and weather as barriers to engage in sport. However, non-urban children said that their family engages in less physical activities with them compared to urban children.
Conclusions
Differences according to the gender were visible in psychological barriers, with girls being less motivated to be physically active. Urban children are at a greater risk of not being sufficiently active since they reported more physical and organizational barriers than non-urban ones. Different barriers, according to children’s gender and urbanization, should be considered in future strategies to promote physical activity.
... A independência de mobilidade das crianças e jovens pode ser definida como a "liberdade das crianças para se deslocarem na sua vizinhança ou cidade sem a supervisão adulta" (Tranter, 1994), permitindo que estas explorem e aprendam autonomamente o seu ambiente físico, dando-lhes tempo e uma progressiva liberdade de movimento (Bjorklid & Nordstrom, 2004 Estudos passados e presentes confirmam uma larga redução da independência de mobilidade das crianças, na Europa, inclusive, em Portugal (Cordovil, Lopes, & Neto, 2012a;Fyhri, Hjorthol, Mackett, Fotel, & Kyttä, 2011;M Hillman, Adam, & Whitelegg, 1990;Shaw et al., 2012). Esta situação é alarmante uma vez que a independência de reduzidas ou insuficientes às crianças e jovens ao nível de contacto, exploração, jogo, desafio e aventura. ...
... Going from one activity to another, children tend to be transported by car, without experiencing the outdoor environment through the interaction with the community. 17,18 In this scenario, there is a need to raise general awareness regarding children's right to play outdoors, as well as its potential in supporting children's well-being, learning and development. Acknowledging the time children spend in educational settings, concerns about the time and space to play outside should be integrated in education planning and intervention, starting in day-care and kindergarten. ...
Changes in current societies are affecting childhood experiences. Time for outdoor play is diminishing, contributing to more sedentary lifestyles, disconnected from the natural world. Recognizing the importance of outdoor play for young children's healthy growth, a project focused on the exploration of the outdoor environment was developed with a group of young children in an early childhood education setting in Portugal. The project aimed to transform educational practices, moving from frequent indoor activities to a regular use of the outdoor environment. In this paper, we present the main dimensions related to outdoor play that emerged during the project (contact with natural elements, importance of risk, socialization opportunities) and highlight the role of professionals and families in creating quality outdoor play opportunities.
... The observations and analysis of Hillman et al. (1990) had a strong influence on the development of an interdisciplinary field of studies focused on what is now widely known as "children's independent mobility" (CIM), broadly defined as children's freedom to move around their neighborhoods and cities without the company or supervision of adults (Nansen et al. 2014;Shaw et al. 2013;Tranter and Whitelegg 1994). The questionnaire originally developed by Hillman and his team has since then been widely replicated and adapted for the study of children's mobility internationally Cordovil et al. 2014;Fyhri et al. 2009;Shaw et al. 2013;Mackett et al. 2007, Fyhri et al. 2011Malone and Rudner 2011), for example, to assess the spatial range and forms of children's mobility in diverse contexts. Others have explored the association between children's independent/dependent mobility and measures of general health, particularly through its correlation with physical activity (Due et al. 2003;Hillman et al. 1990;Nader et al. 2008;Mackett et al. 2007;Sharpe and Tranter 2010;Schoeppe et al. 2013Schoeppe et al. , 2014Wedderkop et al. 2004;Wold and Hendry 1998). ...
Drawing upon an extensive review of the literature, this chapter presents the main theoretical and methodological perspectives utilized in the study of children’s everyday mobilities. These range from sociohistorical perspectives focused on concerns about children’s lack of independent mobility to more recent global perspectives focused on the notion of children’s interdependent mobilities. The methodological implications and the diverse geographical scales involved in these different approaches are discussed. Theoretical and methodological shifts are presented in relation to the wider discussions within mobility studies, geographies of children, and the social studies of childhood; these are characterized by changing notions of movement, childhood, agency, scale, and heterogeneity and a shift toward perspectives less dominated by dichotomous oppositions.
... In the meantime, evidence about the importance of independent mobility accumulated, and results from studies conducted in Australia and Canada indicated a positive association between children's independent mobility and children's active transport , Villanueva et al. 2012, Villanueva et al. 2012, Witten et al. 2013, Schoeppe et al. 2014. Evidence from recent studies conducted in Belgium, Portugal GENERAL DISCUSSION and Finland confirmed this positive association , Lopes et al. 2014, Cordovil et al. 2015, which illustrates the importance of children's independent mobility across different continents. ...
The development of a healthy lifestyle starts at a young age, and health behavior such as physical activity is known to track from childhood into adolescence and adulthood. One type of physical activity is cycling for transport. Currently, children’s cycling for transport levels are low, although it is an accessible, inexpensive and social-inclusive way to obtain the recommended daily hour of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. Prior to develop interventions aiming to increase children’s cycling for transport, insights are needed into which factors are associated with children’s cycling for transport. Therefore, the overall objective of this PhD study was to obtain insight into individual, social and physical environmental factors associated with children’s (aged 10-12 years old) cycling for transport. This overall objective was divided into three sub-objectives. The first objective of this PhD thesis was to explore whether children’s psychosocial characteristics were associated with their cycling for transport. Results indicated that children’s self-efficacy and perceptions of parental norm and modeling, and friends’ co-participation were positively associated with their cycling for transport. Parental defined independent mobility was positively associated with children’s cycling for transport. Additionally, children’s psychosocial characteristics were stronger related with children’s cycling for transport among children with a low compared to high independent mobility. The second objective of this PhD thesis was to examine how parents’ psychosocial factors and environmental perceptions were associated with children’s independent mobility and cycling for transport. Parents’ perceptions of children’s cycling and traffic skills were positively associated with children’s independent mobility. Additionally, presence and maintenance of cycling facilities and presence of a public transit stop were positively associated with independent mobility levels among girls with low socio-economic status. Finally, parents’ co-participation in active transport was positively associated with children’s active transport levels. The final objective was to investigate which physical environmental factors were associated with an environment’s supportiveness for children’s cycling for transport. The findings highlighted that providing cycling facilities well-separated from traffic is the most important factor to create cycling-friendly environments for children. If a physical separation (such as a hedge or curb) is not possible to provide, line markings indicating a clear space where children are suggested to cycle may provide an alternative. Other micro-scale environmental factors (e.g. speed limitations, good maintenance, low traffic density) could also increase the supportiveness of an environment for children’s cycling for transport. Based on these results, it is suggested to develop future interventions with a multidimensional approach. Interventions should include both the child, by increasing self-efficacy and cycling/traffic skills, and the social environment, by increasing parental norm and modeling, and friends’ co-participation. Additionally, efforts should be made to create more cycling-friendly environments for children thereby targeting an increase in safety (perceptions) among children and parents. Providing cycling infrastructure well-separated from motorized traffic may be considered as an essential first step to increase traffic safety in order to promote cycling for transport among children.
... 14 However, another study showed that of the children that live more than 1 km away from the school, only 30% returned home independently and only 11% returned home actively and independently. 15 Nonetheless, on average, a walking round trip home-school-home represented 40% of recommended daily moderate-to-vigorous PA. 14 Despite the absence of national legislation promoting active travel to schools, a couple of local initiatives (essentially from municipalities) are implementing programs to enhance cycling as a main form of transportation to schools. A grade of C was thus assigned to Active Transport. ...
Background:
This article describes the procedures and development of the first Portuguese Report Card on Physical Activity in Children and Adolescents.
Methods:
Comprehensive searches for data related to indicators of physical activity (PA) were completed by a committee of physical activity and sports specialists. Grades were assigned to each indicator consistent with the process and methodology outlined by the Active Healthy Kids Canada Report Card model.
Results:
Nine indicators of PA were graded. The following grades were assigned: Overall Physical Activity Levels, D; Organized Sport Participation, B; Active Play, D; Active Transportation, C; Sedentary Behaviors, D; Family and Peers, C; Schools, B; Community and the Built Environment, D; and Government, C.
Conclusions:
Portuguese children and adolescents do not reach sufficient physical activity levels and spend larger amounts of time spent in sedentary behaviors compared with recommendations. Effective policies of PA promotion and implementation are needed in different domains of young people's daily lives.
... The observations and analysis of Hillman et al. (1990) had a strong influence on the development of an interdisciplinary field of studies focused on what is now widely known as "children's independent mobility" (CIM), broadly defined as children's freedom to move around their neighborhoods and cities without the company or supervision of adults (Nansen et al. 2014;Shaw et al. 2013;Tranter and Whitelegg 1994). The questionnaire originally developed by Hillman and his team has since then been widely replicated and adapted for the study of children's mobility internationally Cordovil et al. 2014;Fyhri et al. 2009;Shaw et al. 2013;Mackett et al. 2007, Fyhri et al. 2011Malone and Rudner 2011), for example, to assess the spatial range and forms of children's mobility in diverse contexts. Others have explored the association between children's independent/dependent mobility and measures of general health, particularly through its correlation with physical activity (Due et al. 2003;Hillman et al. 1990;Nader et al. 2008;Mackett et al. 2007;Sharpe and Tranter 2010;Schoeppe et al. 2013Schoeppe et al. , 2014Wedderkop et al. 2004;Wold and Hendry 1998). ...
Drawing upon an extensive review of the literature, this chapter presents the main theoretical and methodological perspectives utilized in the study of children’s everyday mobilities. These range from sociohistorical perspectives focused on concerns about children’s lack of independent mobility to more recent global perspectives focused on the notion of children’s interdependent mobilities. The methodological implications and the diverse geographical scales involved in these different approaches are discussed. Theoretical and methodological shifts are presented in relation to the wider discussions within mobility studies, geographies of children, and the social studies of childhood; these are characterized by changing notions of movement, childhood, agency, scale, and heterogeneity and a shift toward perspectives less dominated by dichotomous oppositions.
... The observations and analysis of Hillman et al. (1990) had a strong influence on the development of an interdisciplinary field of studies focused on what is now widely known as "children's independent mobility" (CIM), broadly defined as children's freedom to move around their neighborhoods and cities without the company or supervision of adults (Nansen et al. 2014;Shaw et al. 2013;Tranter and Whitelegg 1994). The questionnaire originally developed by Hillman and his team has since then been widely replicated and adapted for the study of children's mobility internationally Cordovil et al. 2014;Fyhri et al. 2009;Shaw et al. 2013;Mackett et al. 2007, Fyhri et al. 2011Malone and Rudner 2011), for example, to assess the spatial range and forms of children's mobility in diverse contexts. Others have explored the association between children's independent/dependent mobility and measures of general health, particularly through its correlation with physical activity (Due et al. 2003;Hillman et al. 1990;Nader et al. 2008;Mackett et al. 2007;Sharpe and Tranter 2010;Schoeppe et al. 2013Schoeppe et al. , 2014Wedderkop et al. 2004;Wold and Hendry 1998). ...
Drawing upon an extensive review of the literature, this chapter presents the main theoretical and methodological perspectives utilized in the study of children’s everyday mobilities. These range from sociohistorical perspectives focused on concerns about children’s lack of independent mobility to more recent global perspectives focused on the notion of children’s interdependent mobilities. The methodological implications and the diverse geographical scales involved in these different approaches are discussed. Theoretical and methodological shifts are presented in relation to the wider discussions within mobility studies, geographies of children, and the social studies of childhood; these are characterized by changing notions of movement, childhood, agency, scale, and heterogeneity and a shift toward perspectives less dominated by dichotomous oppositions.
... In the meantime, evidence about the importance of independent mobility accumulated, and results from studies conducted in Australia and Canada indicated a positive association between children's independent mobility and children's active transport , Villanueva et al. 2012, Villanueva et al. 2012, Witten et al. 2013, Schoeppe et al. 2014. Evidence from recent studies conducted in Belgium, Portugal GENERAL DISCUSSION and Finland confirmed this positive association , Lopes et al. 2014, Cordovil et al. 2015, which illustrates the importance of children's independent mobility across different continents. ...
The development of a healthy lifestyle starts at a young age, and health behavior such as physical activity is known to track from childhood into adolescence and adulthood. One type of physical activity is cycling for transport. Currently, children’s cycling for transport levels are low, although it is an accessible, inexpensive and social-inclusive way to obtain the recommended daily hour of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. Prior to develop interventions aiming to increase children’s cycling for transport, insights are needed into which factors are associated with children’s cycling for transport. Therefore, the overall objective of this PhD study was to obtain insight into individual, social and physical environmental factors associated with children’s (aged 10-12 years old) cycling for transport. This overall objective was divided into three sub-objectives. The first objective of this PhD thesis was to explore whether children’s psychosocial characteristics were associated with their cycling for transport. Results indicated that children’s self-efficacy and perceptions of parental norm and modeling, and friends’ co-participation were positively associated with their cycling for transport. Parental defined independent mobility was positively associated with children’s cycling for transport. Additionally, children’s psychosocial characteristics were stronger related with children’s cycling for transport among children with a low compared to high independent mobility. The second objective of this PhD thesis was to examine how parents’ psychosocial factors and environmental perceptions were associated with children’s independent mobility and cycling for transport. Parents’ perceptions of children’s cycling and traffic skills were positively associated with children’s independent mobility. Additionally, presence and maintenance of cycling facilities and presence of a public transit stop were positively associated with independent mobility levels among girls with low socio-economic status. Finally, parents’ co-participation in active transport was positively associated with children’s active transport levels. The final objective was to investigate which physical environmental factors were associated with an environment’s supportiveness for children’s cycling for transport. The findings highlighted that providing cycling facilities well-separated from traffic is the most important factor to create cycling-friendly environments for children. If a physical separation (such as a hedge or curb) is not possible to provide, line markings indicating a clear space where children are suggested to cycle may provide an alternative. Other micro-scale environmental factors (e.g. speed limitations, good maintenance, low traffic density) could also increase the supportiveness of an environment for children’s cycling for transport. Based on these results, it is suggested to develop future interventions with a multidimensional approach. Interventions should include both the child, by increasing self-efficacy and cycling/traffic skills, and the social environment, by increasing parental norm and modeling, and friends’ co-participation. Additionally, efforts should be made to create more cycling-friendly environments for children thereby targeting an increase in safety (perceptions) among children and parents. Providing cycling infrastructure well-separated from motorized traffic may be considered as an essential first step to increase traffic safety in order to promote cycling for transport among children.
... In contrast, the socio-demographic factors (adult age, sex, parental status, education, and level of socioeconomic disadvantage) which might influence adults' willingness to grant children independent mobility have received little attention in the literature [24]. Previous studies [19,[25][26][27][28][29] have mainly focused on child-related socio-demographics and consistently found that child age and sex determines parents' willingness to grant children independent mobility. Adults including parents, grandparents, relatives, teachers and other child caregivers are considered gatekeepers to children's independent travel and outdoor play, as they usually permit or restrict these behaviours [30]. ...
Background
In developed countries, children’s independent mobility levels are low. Built environmental factors and parental safety concerns are well-known to predict the level of independent mobility adults grant to children. In contrast, the influence of adults’ socio-demographic characteristics and neighbourhood social cohesion on children’s independent mobility is largely unexplored. This study investigated the influence of adults’ socio-demographic factors and neighbourhood social cohesion on distances they would permit children for independent travel and outdoor play.
Methods
In 2013, a random sample of 1293 Australian adults (mean age: 56.1 years, 52 % male, 81 % parents) participated in the Queensland Social Survey (QSS) via computer-assisted telephone interview. Socio-demographic factors measured included age, sex, parental status, education and area-level socio-economic disadvantage. Perceived neighbourhood social cohesion was assessed using a standardised scale. Adults reported the distances children aged 8–12 years should be allowed to walk/cycle to places, and play outdoors without adults. Responses were categorised into ‘within sight’, < 0.5 kilometres (km) , 0.5-1 km and >1 km. Ordinal logistic regression was used to assess associations of socio-demographic factors and neighbourhood social cohesion with distances adults would permit for children’s independent travel and outdoor play.
Results
Parents and adults with lower education were less likely to permit greater distances for children’s independent travel (OR = 0.57 and OR = 0.59, respectively). Women, parents and adults with lower education were less likely to grant children greater distances for independent outdoor play (OR = 0.61, OR = 0.50 and OR = 0.60, respectively). In contrast, adults with higher perceptions of neighbourhood social cohesion were more likely to permit children greater distances for independent travel (OR = 1.05)and outdoor play (OR = 1.05). Adult age and area-level socio-economic disadvantage were not associated with distances adults would permit for independent travel and outdoor play.
Conclusions
Women, parents (particularly those of younger children), adults with lower education and those who perceived neighbourhood social cohesion as being lower were less willing to let children independently travel further away from home. Interventions to increase children’s independent mobility may be more effective if targeted to these groups. In addition, increasing neighbourhood social cohesion may help increase adults’ willingness to grant children greater independent mobility.
... The previous finding was very important and led us to conceive that subsequent data collection would be composed with children from year 6 to year 9. In Portugal, young children have very low levels of independent mobility (Cordovil, Lopes, & Neto, 2012b). At the same time, traditionally, from year four to year five (transition between 1 st to 2 nd cycles of basic schooling, approximately with ages between 9 to 11 years old) children will change to another school and remain there until they complete year 9. ...
In this paper, we present SoftGIS methodology used in an undergoing PhD cross-sectional research. By using a web-map based questionnaire, children are allowed to self-report and place-mark significant interactions with the environment on a map of the city. Children were presented a list of several affordances according to play, leisure time, social and emotional categories, and asked to choose and locate those that were meaningful. After locating an affordance, a series of questions concerning mode and type of travel to place were presented. This methodology is child-friendly because survey’s content and usability is adapted for children’s perceptions and skills. In a preliminary stage of study, Beta version of this survey software was tried out individually with 21 children (12-16 years old) from social deprived background, in the western area of Lisbon city. Trial testing was successful and led to the development of a questionnaire designed to characterize children’s mobilities in the urban environment, both daily and ideally; map out children’s current use of public space with distinct physical features; and identify play value city has for children, namely, real vs ideal and structured vs unstructured. Articles 12 and 31 of the CRC ground and guide our research approach and goals.
Objective
Obesity is the most common childhood illness in developed countries and its prevalence continues to increase. The objective was to analyze the influence of obesity on the motor coordination of children between 6 and 9 years old.
Equipment and methods
A number of 52 pupils of both genders participated for evaluation of the prevalence of obesity using the measurement of the abdominal perimeter and the Body Mass Index (BMI) categorized as Normal-Weighted, Excess Weight and Obesity. The assessment of motor coordination was performed by the KTK test. SPSS (version 19.0) was used for statistical purposes.
Results
Girls had lower levels of performance rather than boys, and the pupils presented worse levels of motor performance as the age progressed. Regarding the prevalence of obesity, the two-gender obtained high mean values for the Normal-weighted category, whereas 25% is overweight. Regarding the level of motor coordination, 57.7% of the pupils had Normal Coordination and 40.4% had coordinative difficulties. Pupils with higher values of BMI and abdominal perimeter obtains lower results of motor coordination.
As crianças, sobretudo de classe média urbana, têm um papel social cada vez mais dependente do adulto, invisibilizada nos processos decisórios da vida urbana, consideradas a cidadã do futuro e não do hoje e confinada em ambientes privados sob o argumento de segurança e bem-estar. Seus deslocamentos são vertiginosamente mais motorizados, poucas vezes independentes (sem supervisão direta de adultos) e vivenciados através de vidros em “ilhas privadas”, na qual o espaço público é apenas passagem. Essas relações têm impactado diretamente em seu desenvolvimento social, emocional, mental e espacial. Há diversos estudos e iniciativas que protagonizam a relação criança-cidade e seus deslocamentos, todavia, há uma lacuna sobre pesquisas fora dos grandes centros urbanos de países em desenvolvimento. Assim, o objetivo desta pesquisa foi compreender as interações criança-cidade à luz das experiências de mobilidade urbana nos trajetos casa-escola-casa em Quixadá/CE e seus (des)estímulos ao transporte ativo e independente. Estruturamos o percurso metodológico em (1) revisão de literatura sobre a mobilidade ativa/independente e nas experiências urbanas como possibilidades cidadãs (BARBOSA, 2016; SARMENTO, 2018; TONUCCI, 2005) através da percepção ambiental e das relações afetivas na vinculação ao lugar como base para uma ação-transformação ético-política na cidade (GIULIANI, 2003; ITTELSON, 1978; LYNCH, 1982; TUAN, 2013). Em seguida, desenvolvemos um estudo de caráter exploratório com a (2) caracterização de aspectos sociofísicos dos trajetos por meio de mapeamentos, observações em campo e registros fotográficos. Posteriormente,
(3) aplicamos questionários com pais/responsáveis e realizamos entrevistas estruturadas e mapas afetivos com crianças de 8 a 11 anos em três escolas públicas. Os resultados apontaram que 73% das crianças participantes realizaram trajetos com modais ativos e 50% do total teve alguma experiência de mobilidade autônoma. Parte dos adultos se mostrou resistente à mobilidade ativa e, mais ainda, às deslocações independentes em razão de longas distâncias, violência urbana, medo de desconhecidos,
trânsito e conforto ambiental. As características que potencializaram o transporte ativo e independente foram a permeabilidade urbana (configurações da malha, quadras); diversidade de usos do solo; legibilidade urbana para os moradores; presença de rede de vizinhança; e atribuição de qualificações positivas. O conhecimento ambiental foi mais sólido e crítico com vinculações funcional, relacional e simbólica com os trajetos nas crianças que adotaram mobilidade ativa, enquanto nas crianças de mobilidade motorizada a vinculação foi apenas funcional e menos crítica. Assim, concluímos que os
ambientes (social, construído, familiar, de transporte e subjetividades) de Quixadá tiveram mais aspectos que favoreceram a adoção de transporte ativo/independente, embora não seja intencionalmente educativa no aspecto espacial do ambiente urbano. Essa realidade tem oportunizado a experienciação e desenvolvimento de vínculos da criança com o espaço público construindo maior potencialidade cidadã. Mais do que nunca, se aspiramos por cidades mais democráticas e plurais em tempos difíceis como o que enfrentamos, precisamos amplificar o potencial educativo da cidade, além de necessária, a esperança na infância é também uma possibilidade de resistência.
Palavras-chave: Mobilidade Ativa. Mobilidade Independente de Crianças. Experiências urbanas. Percepção Ambiental. Cidadania.
Penelitian ini dilakukan bertujuan untuk mendeskripsikan serta mengetahui lebih dalam tentang Peran Ibu Bekerja Paruh Waktu Dalam Menumbuhkan Kemandirian anak usia 5-6 tahun. Subjek penelitian adalah 2 ibu dan 2 anak. Metode penelitian yang digunakan adalah penelitian kualitatif dengan studi kasus. Pengumpulan data dilakukan dengan cara dokumentasi, wawancara, observasi, catatatan lapangan.teknik analisis data yang digunakan adalah miles and huberman. Hasil temuan penelitian ini yakni peran ibu dalam keluarga yakni bekerja di pasar, memenuhi gizi anak, memberikan pendidikan, memberikan contoh perilaku yang baik bagi anak. Dimensi kemandirian anak antara lain: perilaku, emosional, nilai. Strategi yang mendukung ibu bekerja paruh waktu dalam menumbuhkan kemandirian anak usia 5-6 tahun
Children’s independent mobility (IM) is associated with a range of benefits and understanding the factors that influence IM can support creation of effective interventions. The review (Prospero CRD42016042174) systematically summarized the available literature for social-ecological correlates of children’s IM in school-aged children and youth (aged 5–17 years). In this case, 53 studies were included and evaluated six individual, 15 interpersonal, 12 social environment, and 19 built environment- level variables. Most studies originated from Australia (n = 15) and Canada (n = 8) with most published in 2011 or later (n = 48). Variables that were consistently (positively and/or negatively) associated with children’s IM were age, ethnicity/race, child’s perceived competence, ownership of a house/access to house keys, having siblings, parents’ attitude toward IM and perception of child’s confidence, children’s interest in environment and activities, parents’ concern around traffic, housing/residential density, length of residency in one’s home, distance to destinations, and proximity to green space. Given the inter-related social-ecological correlates identified, intervention to promote children’s IM will likely need a multi-level and multi-sectoral approach. However, focus areas of building children’s skills and confidence, helping parents gain confidence in their children’s abilities, assuaging parental traffic concerns, and building environments with shorter distances to destinations of interest for children should be prioritized.
The main aim of this paper is to present a methodological proposal applied to the study of the everyday life of a group of adolescents, between 11 and 13 years of age, resident in the city of Silves and attending the 6th and 7th grade of school, with parental authorization to do, in autonomy, the routes between home and school.
We intend to present a methodology that allows us to quantify the physical activity that occurs on the school context and in a situation of free mobility in the urban space, identifying the constrains and possibilities associated to the independent mobility, as well as functionalities and significances attributed to the environment.
We intend to understand how these adolescents use the experiential knowledge they have of the city, when invited to present suggestions and concrete opinions about the city and to identify their favorite places. Having into account the complexity of the object of study, we propose the use of a mixed methodology, that conjugates the treatment and analyses of the quantitative data with qualitative information, with the aim of a more profound and contextualized analysis of the data. The collection of the data was made during four days per child, during which they were monitorized by an accelerometer and a physiological multisensory. After leaving school, they also used GPS and heart rate measurement devices. The children were interviewed daily and asked about their mobility experience. In result of this study, we did a characterization of the independence of mobility at the level of de qualitative variables and the intensity of the physical activity, a quantification of the intensity of the physical activity occurred on the context of school, on formal and informal activities, identifying the activities performed on the playground, and a gathering of opinions and suggestions by the children about the city and their favorite places. We concluded that, when in a situation of free choice, the subjects choose to be physically active;
O principal objectivo desta dissertação é apresentar uma proposta metodológica aplicada ao estudo do quotidiano de um grupo de 30 adolescentes, com 11 a 13 anos, residentes na cidade de Silves e a frequentar o 6.º e 7.º ano de escolaridade, e com autorização parental para fazerem, em autonomia, os trajetos entre a casa e a escola.
Pretende-se apresentar uma metodologia que possibilite quantificar a intensidade da actividade física realizada no contexto escolar e em situação de mobilidade livre no espaço urbano, identificando constrangimentos e possibilidades associadas à independência de mobilidade, bem como funcionalidades e significados atribuídos ao envolvimento. Pretende-se perceber como estes adolescentes usam o conhecimento experiencial que têm da cidade quando são chamados a dar sugestões e opiniões concretas sobre a mesma, e a identificar os seus lugares preferidos. Tendo em consideração a complexidade do objecto de estudo, propõe-se a utilização de uma metodologia mista, que conjugue o tratamento e a análise de dados quantitativos com informações qualitativas, com vista à realização de uma análise mais profunda e contextualizada dos dados. A recolha de dados decorreu durante quatro dias por sujeito, durante os quais foram monitorizados por um acelerómetro e um multissensor fisiológico ambulatório. Após a saída da escola também utilizavam GPS e cardiofrequencímetros, e diariamente eram entrevistados sobre a sua experiência de mobilidade. Em resultado do estudo, fez-se uma caracterização da independência de mobilidade ao nível das variáveis qualitativas e da intensidade da actividade física; uma quantificação da intensidade da actividade física realizada no contexto escolar, nas actividades formais e informais, identificando as actividades realizadas no recreio; e uma auscultação das opiniões e sugestões dos sujeitos sobre a cidade, bem como, dos seus lugares preferidos, tendo-se concluído que, quando em situação de escolha livre, os sujeitos escolheram ser fisicamente activos.
Children’s independent mobility (CIM) on school days (weekdays) and on the weekend are examined in this study. Previous studies have focused primarily on weekday trips, with a vast majority only examining trips to school. However, the types of trips and the available time differ between weekdays and weekends. Weekday trips are more regular and possibly more local, whereas on the weekend the children may have more free time (i.e., no school) to engage in activities. Parents (as a group) are also less likely to have work obligations, and thus potentially more time, on the weekend. Theoretically, each context for the weekend could facilitate more independent or active mode trips. Nonetheless, this may be linked to whether destinations are local, which is linked to the built environment. Using origin–destination data (2011) for the City of Québec, this paper will expand knowledge in the field of children’s travel by examining all trips during a weekday (n = 979) and weekend (n = 315) for children aged 9 to 11 across five built environment types. The findings show that weekend trips are rarely independent, and that the key explanatory factors for greater CIM are shorter distances, having an older sibling, and more urban environments. Other sociodemographic variables were not significant or were inconsistent between the two types of weekday.
Background:
The aim was to investigate the association of (i) parents', siblings' and friends' co-participation in physical activity (PA) and (ii) independent mobility (IM) for walking, cycling and taking public transport with objectively measured non-school PA on week- and weekend days in different school grades.
Methods:
A total of 1,376 Spanish youngsters (50.8% boys; mean age 11.96±2.48 years) participated in the study. Participants reported the frequency of their parents', siblings' and best friends' co-participation in PA with them and their IM for walking, cycling and taking public transport. PA was objectively measured by accelerometry.
Results:
Co-participation in PA and IM were more frequently related to non-school PA among adolescents than among children. Friends' co-participation in PA was positively associated with higher levels of non-school PA in adolescents. IM for walking and IM for cycling in adolescents were related to non-school PA on weekdays.
Conclusions:
Our results highlight the need for age-focused interventions and the integration of family and friends to promote PA in youth.
This study is aimed to evaluate the impact of urbanization in children’s independent mobility in Portugal. Mobility licenses, actual mobility, fear of traffic, stranger danger and sense of community were compared in highly, moderately and non urbanized environments and according to gender. Results showed that increase of urbanization leads to a decrease of children’s licenses to independently cross and cycle main roads; go out after dark and go to places other than school. The rising of urbanization leads to an increase of children’s mean age for independent active travel; and at the same time a decrease of independent active school-home travel and leisure time activities. Parental fear regarding traffic is the most frequent cause for concern regarding children’s safety when they are outdoors. Stranger danger and low sense of community are more prevalent in parents from the highly-urbanized environment. Overall, girls enjoy less actual mobility than boys. The discussion shows that children’s freedom of movement in the highly-urbanized setting is very restricted due to a pervasive automobile dependence, proposing a shift from a motorized to a walkable city.
Introduction:
Driven largely by international declines in rates of walking and bicycling to school and the noted health benefits of physical activity for children, research on children's active commuting to school has expanded rapidly during the past 5 years. We summarize research on predictors and health consequences of active commuting to school and outline and evaluate programs specific to children's walking and bicycling to school.
Methods:
Literature on children's active commuting to school published before June 2007 was compiled by searching PubMed, PsycINFO, and the National Transportation Library databases; conducting Internet searches on program-based activities; and reviewing relevant transportation journals published during the last 4 years.
Results:
Children who walk or bicycle to school have higher daily levels of physical activity and better cardiovascular fitness than do children who do not actively commute to school. A wide range of predictors of children's active commuting behaviors was identified, including demographic factors, individual and family factors, school factors (including the immediate area surrounding schools), and social and physical environmental factors. Safe Routes to School and the Walking School Bus are 2 public health efforts that promote walking and bicycling to school. Although evaluations of these programs are limited, evidence exists that these activities are viewed positively by key stakeholders and have positive effects on children's active commuting to school.
Conclusion:
Future efforts to promote walking and bicycling to school will be facilitated by building on current research, combining the strengths of scientific rigor with the predesign and postdesign provided by intervention activities, and disseminating results broadly and rapidly.
Active commuting is prospectively associated with physical activity in children. Few longitudinal studies have assessed predictors of change in commuting mode.Purpose: To investigate the individual, socio-cultural and environmental predictors of uptake and maintenance of active commuting in 10 year-old children.
Children were recruited in 2007 and followed-up 12 months later. Children self-reported usual travel mode to school. 31 child, parent, socio-cultural and physical environment characteristics were assessed via self-reported and objective methods. Associations with uptake and maintenance of active travel were studied using multi-level multiple logistic regression models in 2012.
Of the 912 children (59.1% girls, mean +/- SD baseline age 10.2 +/- 0.3 yrs) with complete data, 15% changed their travel mode. Those children who lived less than 1 km from school were more likely to take up (OR: 4.73, 95% CI: 1.97, 11.32, p = 0.001) and maintain active commuting (OR: 2.80 95% CI: 0.98, 7.96, p = 0.02). Children whose parents reported it was inconvenient to use the car for school travel were also more likely to take up (OR: 2.04, 95% CI: 1.08, 3.85, p = 0.027) and maintain their active commuting (OR: 5.43 95%CI: 1.95, 15.13, p = 0.001). Lower socio-economic status and higher road safety were also associated with uptake.
Findings from this longitudinal study suggest that reducing the convenience of the car and improving the convenience of active modes as well as improving the safety of routes to school may promote uptake and maintenance of active commuting and the effectiveness of these interventions should be evaluated.
This article reviews literature from the health field investigat- ing the characteristics of environments that support or hinder physical activity. This literature shows that physical activity is associated with objective and subjective measures of acces- sibility to recreational facilities and local destinations, as well as with neighborhood safety and visual quality. Walking and biking emerge as prominent forms of physical activity and occur primarily in neighborhood streets and public facilities, suggesting that building walkable and bikable communities can address health as well as transportation concerns. The studies help advance environment-behavior research related to urban and transportation planning. They identify behav- ioral and environmental determinants of physical activity and employ rigorous data collection methods and theoretical frameworks that are new to the planning field. The article concludes that multidisciplinary research will likely yield promising results in identifying the aspects of environments that can be modified to encourage physical activity and physi- cally active travel.
This paper presents some empirical findings relating to the independent mobility of children in two parts of south-east England – one a south London borough, the other a suburban county north of London. In both locations boys appear to enjoy greater mobility than girls, and become independent much earlier. But closer analysis suggests that girls manage to attain similar levels of independence from adults by travelling more in groups. This collective independence achieved through peers is often overlooked, and may compensate modern children to some extent for their loss of individual freedom.
Diversity of environmental resources and access to play and exploration have been regarded as the two central criteria of a child-friendly environment (Moore, 1986). The former has been operationalized in this article by the number of actualized, positive affordances (Gibson, 1979; Heft, 1989) and the latter by the degree of independent mobility. A hypothetical model in which the degree of independent mobility and the number of actualized affordances covary in four varying types of children's environments was constructed. The latter are called Bullerby (the ideal environment), Wasteland, Cell, and Glasshouse. The model was applied in the interpretation of the research data from eight different neighborhoods of various levels of urbanization, in Finland and Belarus. The subjects (n=223) were 8–9-year-old children, who were studied by using individual interviews and questionnaires. The results indicate that all of the hypothesized environment types appeared in the data. Each neighborhood had a unique combination of affordances and independent mobility in terms of the model. The Bullerby type of setting abounded in the Finnish communities. The Cell, Wasteland and Glasshouse were the most common types of environment in the Belarushian data. In general, the proportion of Bullerby-type settings decreased and the glasshouse-type increased as the degree of urbanization augmented. The models and measures applied need further elaboration and testing in different environments and with varying groups of children. The co-variation of the actualized affordances and the degree of independent mobility can be considered a significant indicator in the assessment of child-friendly environments.
Children's independent mobility has fallen in recent years and may in part explain reported declines in physical activity in young people. This cross-sectional study investigated whether independent mobility in boys and girls was related to objectively measured physical activity.
Thirteen hundred and seven 10-11 year old boys and girls from 23 schools in a large UK city took part. Measures included objectively recorded physical activity (accelerometer (Actigraph GT1M)), height (m) and weight (kg), a newly developed scale for local (Local-IM) and area independent mobility (Area-IM), minutes of daylight after school, level of neighbourhood deprivation and pubertal status.
Boys had greater Local-IM, Area-IM and physical activity (average weekday and weekend counts per minute) compared to girls. In linear regression analyses (adjusting for minutes of daylight after school, neighbourhood deprivation, pubertal status and body mass index) higher scores for Local-IM and Area-IM were significantly (p < 0.01) related to higher levels of physical activity on weekdays for boys and girls. For weekend physical activity, only Local-IM in girls remained significant (p < 0.05) in the model.
Independent mobility appears to be an important independent correlate of weekday physical activity for both boys and girls.
Understanding the factors that influence physical activity can aid the design of more effective interventions. Previous reviews of correlates of youth physical activity have produced conflicting results.
A comprehensive review of correlates of physical activity was conducted, and semiquantitative results were summarized separately for children (ages 3-12) and adolescents (ages 13-18). The 108 studies evaluated 40 variables for children and 48 variables for adolescents.
About 60% of all reported associations with physical activity were statistically significant. Variables that were consistently associated with children's physical activity were sex (male), parental overweight status, physical activity preferences, intention to be active, perceived barriers (inverse), previous physical activity, healthy diet, program/facility access, and time spent outdoors. Variables that were consistently associated with adolescents' physical activity were sex (male), ethnicity (white), age (inverse), perceived activity competence, intentions, depression (inverse), previous physical activity, community sports, sensation seeking, sedentary after school and on weekends (inverse), parent support, support from others, sibling physical activity, direct help from parents, and opportunities to exercise.
These consistently related variables should be confirmed in prospective studies, and interventions to improve the modifiable variables should be developed and evaluated.
Research in transportation, urban design, and planning has examined associations between physical environment variables and individuals' walking and cycling for transport. Constructs, methods, and findings from these fields can be applied by physical activity and health researchers to improve understanding of environmental influences on physical activity. In this review, neighborhood environment characteristics proposed to be relevant to walking/cycling for transport are defined, including population density, connectivity, and land use mix. Neighborhood comparison and correlational studies with nonmotorized transport outcomes are considered, with evidence suggesting that residents from communities with higher density, greater connectivity, and more land use mix report higher rates of walking/cycling for utilitarian purposes than low-density, poorly connected, and single land use neighborhoods. Environmental variables appear to add to variance accounted for beyond sociodemographic predictors of walking/cycling for transport. Implications of the transportation literature for physical activity and related research are outlined. Future research directions are detailed for physical activity research to further examine the impact of neighborhood and other physical environment factors on physical activity and the potential interactive effects of psychosocial and environmental variables. The transportation, urban design, and planning literatures provide a valuable starting point for multidisciplinary research on environmental contributions to physical activity levels in the population.
It is not clear whether the global increase in weight problems in children is the result of excessive energy intake or decreasing energy expenditure. Methodological limitations have made it difficult to analyse. There is evidence that at least part of the problem may lie with increasing energy consumption, but it is important to examine the other side of the energy equation also. However, it is not possible to conclusively describe physical activity trends because of the absence of suitable baseline data. One solution is to summate all available evidence in as many areas of daily activities as possible and then draw tentative conclusions. This review summarises available trend data on direct representations of physical activity in a range of contexts, together with indirect measures such as sedentariness, fitness, and attitudes. The conclusions drawn are: physical activity in clearly defined contexts such as active transport, school physical education, and organised sports is declining in many countries; young people would like to be active but are often constrained by external factors such as school policy or curricula, parental rules in relation to safety and convenience, and physical environmental factors.
Driven largely by international declines in rates of walking and bicycling to school and the noted health benefits of physical activity for children, research on children's active commuting to school has expanded rapidly during the past 5 years. We summarize research on predictors and health consequences of active commuting to school and outline and evaluate programs specific to children's walking and bicycling to school.
Literature on children's active commuting to school published before June 2007 was compiled by searching PubMed, PsycINFO, and the National Transportation Library databases; conducting Internet searches on program-based activities; and reviewing relevant transportation journals published during the last 4 years.
Children who walk or bicycle to school have higher daily levels of physical activity and better cardiovascular fitness than do children who do not actively commute to school. A wide range of predictors of children's active commuting behaviors was identified, including demographic factors, individual and family factors, school factors (including the immediate area surrounding schools), and social and physical environmental factors. Safe Routes to School and the Walking School Bus are 2 public health efforts that promote walking and bicycling to school. Although evaluations of these programs are limited, evidence exists that these activities are viewed positively by key stakeholders and have positive effects on children's active commuting to school.
Future efforts to promote walking and bicycling to school will be facilitated by building on current research, combining the strengths of scientific rigor with the predesign and postdesign provided by intervention activities, and disseminating results broadly and rapidly.
Research in transportation, urban design, and planning has examined associations between physical environment variables and individuals' walking and cycling for transport. Constructs, methods, and findings from these fields can be applied by physical activity and health researchers to improve understanding of environmental influences on physical activity. In this review, neighborhood environment characteristics proposed to be relevant to walking/cycling for transport are defined, including population density, connectivity, and land use mix. Neighborhood comparison and correlational studies with nonmotorized transport outcomes are considered, with evidence suggesting that residents from communities with higher density, greater connectivity, and more land use mix report higher rates of walking/cycling for utilitarian purposes than low-density, poorly connected, and single land use neighborhoods. Environmental variables appear to add to variance accounted for beyond sociodemographic predictors of walking/cycling for transport. Implications of the transportation literature for physical activity and related research are outlined. Future research directions are detailed for physical activity research to further examine the impact of neighborhood and other physical environment factors on physical activity and the potential interactive effects of psychosocial and environmental variables. The transportation, urban design, and planning literatures provide a valuable starting point for multidisciplinary research on environmental contributions to physical activity levels in the population.
We compared independent mobility (freedom to move around the neighbourhood – or similar – without adult accompaniment) among English and Australian schoolchildren. Parents reported mobility licences granted to their children (e.g. allowing them to cross main roads alone) and accompaniment on local trips. Children reported travel mode to school. We examined associations between mobility licences and independent school journeys, and accompaniment on local trips. Among 10–12-year-olds, English children had more licences than Australian children. Mobility licences were directly associated with independent school journeys among primary but not among secondary schoolchildren who travelled further; and inversely associated with parental accompaniment to other destinations. Influences on parental restrictions should be examined to promote children's independent mobility.
Road traffic has doubled in the past 20 years but far fewer children have accidents. Yet this book argues that roads have become increasingly dangerous: improvement has come by withdrawing children from exposure to traffic, thereby impoverishing their lives.
The book is based on a Policy Studies Institute conference that debated the study One False Move: A Study of Children's Independent Mobility. Surveys showed that children walked, cycled, and used public transport strikingly less and relied on the car more, and also had fewer leisure activities, in 1990 than 1971. Is traffic to …
Unlabelled:
Health benefits from children's independent mobility and active travel beyond school travel are largely unexplored.
Objectives:
This review synthesized the evidence for associations of independent mobility and active travel to various destinations with physical activity, sedentary behaviour and weight status.
Design:
Systematic review.
Methods:
A systematic search in six databases (PubMed, Scopus, CINAHL, SportDiscus, PsychInfo, TRIS) for papers published between January 1990 and March 2012 was undertaken, focussing on children aged 3-18 years. Study inclusion and methodological quality were independently assessed by two reviewers.
Results:
52 studies were included. Most studies focussed solely on active travel to and/or from school, and showed significant positive associations with physical activity. The same relationship was detected for active travel to leisure-related places and independent mobility with physical activity. An inverse relationship between active travel to school and weight status was evident but findings were inconsistent. Few studies examined correlations between active travel to school and self-reported screen-time or objectively measured sedentary behaviour, and findings were unclear.
Conclusions:
Studies on independent mobility suggested that children who have the freedom to play outdoors and travel actively without adult supervision accumulate more physical activity than those who do not. Further investigation of children's active travel to leisure-related destinations, measurement of diverse sedentary behaviour beyond simply screen-based activities, and consistent thresholds for objectively measured sedentary behaviour in children will clarify the inconsistent evidence base on associations of active travel with sedentary behaviour and weight status.
This paper presents findings from the project CAPABLE (Children's Activities, Perceptions And Behaviour in the Local Environment) carried out at University College London to explore the concept of independent behaviour by children, by examining variation by age, gender and access to open space to see how independence affects their behaviour, both in terms of how they use their time after school and how they behave when outdoors. A further objective is to look at differences between boys and girls in this type of behaviour. Based on findings from questionnaires completed by children aged 811 in Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, it is shown that most of the children are allowed out without an adult, but that but many of these, particularly girls, are only allowed out with other children. It is also shown that children, particularly boys, who are allowed out without an adult go out more after school, and so have more chance to be active and sociable. The paper then uses data from children who have been fitted with physical activity monitors and GPS (global positioning system) monitors and asked to keep diaries, to show how children's travel behaviour differs when they are with adults from when they are not. Conclusions are drawn in terms of the evidence from this research supporting policies that children should be allowed out more without an adult and with increasing children's volume of physical activity.
To examine urban/rural differences in children's independent mobility; associations between mobility licences and children's independent mobility; and potential correlates of mobility licences.
Cross-sectional study of 430 primary (48% boys; 72% urban) and 258 secondary schoolchildren (52% boys; 51.6% urban) and their parents.
Parents survey reported the mobility licences they granted to their children (e.g. allowing them to cross main roads on their own), access to outdoor playspaces and mobile phone ownership. Children survey reported their independent mobility on school journeys and on weekends. Differences were examined in mobility licences and independent mobility by sex, urban/rural setting and age-group. Regression analyses examined associations between mobility licences and independent mobility; and how access to playspaces, and mobile phone ownership, were associated with mobility licences.
Overall, on average, boys were granted more mobility licences, than were girls, but there were no significant differences by urban/rural location. Variations in independent mobility by urban/rural locality were identified on the school journey but not on weekends. Boys attending urban primary schools had highest rates (44%) of walking/cycling independently to school; those attending rural secondary schools had the lowest (14%). Among urban boys and rural primary school-aged girls access to outdoor playspaces was associated with mobility licences. Mobile phone ownership was associated with mobility licences only among boys attending urban primary schools.
Many Australian children in urban and rural areas lack independent mobility. Further research should examine social/physical environmental influences on parental restrictions, to inform interventions that aim to promote children's independent mobility.
The work presented in the present article was carried out for the purpose of evaluating the effects of the limitations imposed on children's autonomy on their acquisition of environmental knowledge. The representation of the home-school intinerary was investigated in 8–11 year old children who travelled along the itinerary in different ways (on their own, accompanied by an adult, on foot or by car). The tasks included a sketch map of the route and drawing the route on a blank map of the neighbourhood. In order to investigate the role of autonomy in the development of a full understanding of the environment in which they live, the children were asked to use landmarks to find their way around a blank map of the quarter and to mark on it the position of significant components of their environment. The children's freedom of movement in the quarter was investigated by indirect observation.The data were analysed and discussed as a function of the children's method of mobility, their age and gender. The results confirm the importance of the type of individual—environment interaction, in particular of freedom of movement, in acquiring, processing and structuring environmental knowledge. Children going to school on their own achieved the best performances in both making a sketch map of the itinerary and in drawing their movements on a blank map of the quarter. Even when the representation of the environment in which they live is taken into account, the key role played by autonomy is confirmed.
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A study of children's independent mobility
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