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Neighborhood crime-related safety and its relation to children's physical activity
Kneeshaw-Price, Stephanie H. Saelens, Brian E. Sallis, James F. Frank, Lawrence D. Grembowski, David E. Hannon, Peggy A. Smith, Nicholas L. Chan, K. C. Gary
Kneeshaw-Price, Stephanie H.
Saelens, Brian E.
Sallis, James F.
Frank, Lawrence D.
Grembowski, David E.
Hannon, Peggy A.
Smith, Nicholas L.
Chan, K. C. Gary
Abstract
Crime is both a societal safety and public health issue. Examining different measures and aspects of crime-related safety and their correlations may provide insight into the unclear relationship between crime and children’s physical activity. We evaluated five neighborhood crime-related safety measures to determine how they were interrelated. We then explored which crime-related safety measures were associated with children’s total moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and MVPA in their neighborhoods. Significant positive correlations between observed neighborhood incivilities and parents’ perceptions of general crime and disorder were found (r = 0.30, p = 0.0002), as were associations between parents’ perceptions of general crime and disorder and perceptions of stranger danger (r = 0.30, p = 0.0002). Parent report of prior crime victimization in their neighborhood was associated with observed neighborhood incivilities (r = 0.22, p = 0.007) and their perceptions of both stranger danger (r = 0.24, p = 0.003) and general crime and disorder (r = 0.37, p < 0.0001). After accounting for covariates, police-reported crime within the census block group in which children lived was associated with less physical activity, both total and in their neighborhood (beta = −0.09, p = 0.005, beta = −0.01, p = 0.02, respectively). Neighborhood-active children living in the lowest crime-quartile neighborhoods based on police reports had 40 min more of total MVPA on average compared to neighborhood-active children living in the highest crime-quartile neighborhoods. Findings suggest that police reports of neighborhood crime may be contributing to lower children’s physical activity.
Keywords
crime, neighbourhood, children, physical activity
Date
2015
Type
Journal article
Journal
Journal of Urban Health
Book
Volume
92
Issue
3
Page Range
472-489
Article Number
ACU Department
Mary MacKillop Institute for Health Research
Faculty of Health Sciences
Faculty of Health Sciences
Collections
Relation URI
Source URL
Event URL
Open Access Status
License
File Access
Controlled