Critical Hours and Important Environments: Relationships between Afterschool Physical Activity and the Physical Environment Using GPS, GIS and Accelerometers in 10–12-Year-Old Children

Resource type
Journal Article
Authors/contributors
Title
Critical Hours and Important Environments: Relationships between Afterschool Physical Activity and the Physical Environment Using GPS, GIS and Accelerometers in 10–12-Year-Old Children
Abstract
Introduction: The objective of this study was to assess relationships between children’s physical environment and afterschool leisure time physical activity (PA) and active transport. Methods: Children aged 10–12 years participated in a 7-day accelerometer and Global Positioning Systems (GPS) protocol. Afterschool leisure time PA and active transport were identified based on location- and speed-algorithms based on accelerometer, GPS and Geospatial Information Systems (GIS) data. We operationalized children’s exposure to the environment by combining home, school and the daily transport environment in individualized daily activity-spaces. Results: In total, 255 children from 20 Dutch primary schools from suburban areas provided valid data. This study showed that greenspaces and smaller distances from the children’s home to school were associated with afterschool leisure time PA and walking. Greater distances between home and school, as well as pedestrian infrastructure were associated with increased cycling. Conclusion: We demonstrated associations between environments and afterschool PA within several behavioral contexts. Future studies are encouraged to target specific behavioral domains and to develop natural experiments based on interactions between several types of the environment, child characteristics and potential socio-cognitive processes.
Publication
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Volume
16
Issue
17
Pages
3116
Date
2019/1
Language
en
ISSN
1660-4601
Short Title
Critical Hours and Important Environments
Accessed
18/04/2022, 18:15
Library Catalogue
Extra
Number: 17 Publisher: Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute
Citation
Remmers, T., Thijs, C., Ettema, D., de Vries, S., Slingerland, M., & Kremers, S. (2019). Critical Hours and Important Environments: Relationships between Afterschool Physical Activity and the Physical Environment Using GPS, GIS and Accelerometers in 10–12-Year-Old Children. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(17), 3116. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16173116