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Are children and adolescents less active if parents restrict their physical activity and active transport due to perceived risk?

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Listed:
  • Carver, Alison
  • Timperio, Anna
  • Hesketh, Kylie
  • Crawford, David

Abstract

The study examined parental restriction of children's active transport and physical activity outside school hours due to safety concerns, and how this restriction was associated with perceived risk and with youth physical activity levels. We used a cross-sectional design with data from children aged 10-11 years (n = 170) and adolescents aged 15-17 years (n = 270) who participated in the five-year follow-up of the Children Living in Active Neighbourhoods longitudinal study in Melbourne, Australia. Walking/cycling to local destinations was survey-reported. Moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) was recorded during non-school hours using accelerometers. Using surveys, parents reported perceived risk of their children being harmed in their neighbourhood, and restrictions they placed on their children's physical activity. Linear regression analyses examined how perceived risk, constrained behaviour, and physical activity were related. We found that perceived risk did not vary by age-group and was positively associated with constrained behaviour among adolescents but not children. Children were subject to higher levels of constrained behaviour than adolescents. Constrained behaviour was negatively associated with active transport among younger boys and among girls in both age-groups. Furthermore, it was negatively associated with younger boys' MVPA on weekends and with adolescent girls' MVPA during evenings. There were no associations between constrained behaviour and active transport or MVPA among adolescent boys. The findings demonstrate that constrained behaviour exhibited by parents may result in lower levels of active transport and of MVPA outside school hours. In particular, this was true for children and adolescent girls. Social interventions to improve perceived safety and physical interventions involving redesign of the built environment to improve actual safety may help to ease parental restriction of their children's active transport and physical activity in their neighbourhood.

Suggested Citation

  • Carver, Alison & Timperio, Anna & Hesketh, Kylie & Crawford, David, 2010. "Are children and adolescents less active if parents restrict their physical activity and active transport due to perceived risk?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 70(11), pages 1799-1805, June.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:70:y:2010:i:11:p:1799-1805
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    Cited by:

    1. Sharmin, Samia & Kamruzzaman, Md., 2017. "Association between the built environment and children's independent mobility: A meta-analytic review," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 104-117.
    2. Damant-Sirois, Gabriel & El-Geneidy, Ahmed M., 2015. "Who cycles more? Determining cycling frequency through a segmentation approach in Montreal, Canada," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 113-125.
    3. Marc Schlossberg & Deb Johnson-Shelton & Cody Evers & Geraldine Moreno-Black, 2015. "Refining the grain: using resident-based walkability audits to better understand walkable urban form," Journal of Urbanism: International Research on Placemaking and Urban Sustainability, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 8(3), pages 260-278, September.
    4. Jespersen, Brooke V. & Hildebrand, Vanessa M. & Korbin, Jill E. & Spilsbury, James C., 2021. "The influence of neighborhood violent crime on child-rearing: Integrating neighborhood ecologies and stratified reproduction approaches," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 272(C).
    5. Johnson, Blair T. & Acabchuk, Rebecca L., 2018. "What are the keys to a longer, happier life? Answers from five decades of health psychology research," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 196(C), pages 218-226.
    6. Fleckman, Julia M. & Tokarz, Stephanie & Claire Craig-Kuhn, Megan & Wallace, Maeve E. & Theall, Katherine P., 2022. "Neighborhood matters: Neighborhood violence, collective efficacy, and social emotional development in early childhood," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 143(C).
    7. Wati, Kala & Tranter, Paul J., 2015. "Spatial and socio-demographic determinants of South East Queensland students’ school cycling," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 23-36.
    8. Frank, Lawrence D. & Fox, Eric H. & Ulmer, Jared M. & Chapman, James E. & Braun, Lindsay M., 2022. "Quantifying the health benefits of transit-oriented development: Creation and application of the San Diego Public Health Assessment Model (SD-PHAM)," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 14-26.
    9. Sharmin, Samia & Kamruzzaman, Md. & Haque, Md Mazharul, 2020. "The impact of topological properties of built environment on children independent mobility: A comparative study between discretionary vs. nondiscretionary trips in Dhaka," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).

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