1. Objectifs

Intentions :
«We adopted a child-centered socioecological approach to investigate whether children’s own perceptions of neighborhood safety are associated with overall physical activity level, screen time and weight status.» (p. 1476)

Questions/Hypothèses :
«We hypothesized that greater child perceived safety was positively associated with favorable weight-related behaviors (i.e., increased physical activity and decreased screen time), independently of parent perceptions. Moreover, in light of the association between psychological distress and poorer health, we hypothesized that child perceived safety was inversely associated with weight, independently of behaviors.» (p. 1476)

2. Méthode

Échantillon/Matériau :
L’étude est basée sur les données de l’étude QUALITY (QUebec Adipose and Lifestyle InvesTigation in Youth), étude à laquelle 630 familles de partout au Québec ont participé.

Instruments :
Questionnaire

Type de traitement des données :
Analyse statistique

3. Résumé

«Our results suggest that parents’ perceived neighborhood safety was more important in explaining children’s screen time, whereas children’s perceived neighborhood safety was more important in explaining their level of physical activity as measured by an accelerometer. Parent and child perceived neighborhood safety had marginally significant independent indirect associations with children’s BMI [body mass index] z-score through weight-related behaviors. The findings stand in contrast to previous research, which suggests inconsistent associations between neighborhood safety features and weight-related outcomes, and at best that parental perceptions of safety are more important than youths’ perceptions in predicting their level of physical activity. […] Our findings identify different pathways linking perceived neighborhood safety to children’s weight. The association between parent perceived lack of safety and children’s increased screen time could suggest that parents who are concerned about their child’s safety allow their children to spend more time in front of screens, or restrict children’s outdoor activities, resulting in more time spent indoors in front of screens. The direct association between children’s perceived lack of safety and lower levels of physical activity could suggest decreased interest in physical activity.» (p. 1479-1480)