EUKN - European Urban Knowledge Network - Children in priority districts: physical (in)activity and obesity

Children in priority districts: physical (in)activity and obesity

Introduction

What characteristics of the developed areas in Dutch urban districts are linked with the amount of physical (in)activity of children aged 6-9 in regular primary schools?

Description

In urban districts, one in three children is overweight; the national average is one in seven. This difference is largely due to a lack of exercise. This was the finding of research conducted by the Netherlands Institute for Applied Scientific Research (TNO) and commissioned by the Ministry of Health (VWS) and the Ministry of Housing (VROM) into the link between the amount of exercise children get, obesity and their living environment.

Background information

For the study, five urban districts were selected from the 56 priority districts referred to in the dossier ‘50-districts approach’ by the VROM. In these five ‘priority districts’, five comparable ‘control districts’ were selected. Within these ten urban districts, children aged 6-9 from twenty regular primary schools took part in the study. The cross-sectional research was carried out between October 2004 and January 2005.

Methodology

Literature search, focus group interviews (parents, children) and cross-sectional research were used for this study. In the cross-sectional research, it was investigated whether a cross-sectional link exists between characteristics of the built-up areas and the physical (in)activity of children in regular primary schools in ten urban districts in the Netherlands. The energy intake was also investigated and the prevalence of overweight and obese children in these primary schools. On the basis of the literature research, focus group interviews and the results of the cross-sectional research, provisional policy recommendations were formulated for the ‘activity-friendly’ redesign of urban districts.

Conclusions

31% of the children are overweight, 9% of which are obese.
97% of the children exercise too little. Only 3% reach the Dutch Standard for Healthy Exercise (= a minimum of 60 minutes of at least moderately intense physical activity per day).

The research team makes the following recommendations:

Encourage the children to exercise more.
The activity-friendly (re)design of some districts. For example, the equipping of play areas adapted to age, low-rise instead of high-rise buildings, more green areas and water in the district, free access to schoolyards, sports fields, etc.
Expansion of the current research into 'activity-friendly' districts.
Re-assessment after the redesign of the studied districts to investigate the causal links.

Contact info

TNO Quality of Life, tel. +31 15 269 66 18

Publication date

01/09/2005

Researcher

S.I. de Vries, I.Bakker, K. van Overbeek and M. Hopman-Rock

Cities

The districts of Amersfoort, Haarlem, Hengelo, Rotterdam, Schiedam.

Article info
ISBN: 90 5986 165 5

Links

TNO Quality of Life

Children in priority districts: physical (in)activity and obesity (PDF, Dut, 1.6 MB)

Document type

research

Themes

Urban Policy > Social inclusion & integration > Quality of life

Keywords

Health