To increase participation in physical activity, it is important to understand the factors associated with a child’s choice to be physically active or sedentary. The neighborhood and home environments may be related to this choice. To determine whether the neighborhood environment or number of televisions in the home environment are independently associated with child physical activity and television time. The associations of the neighborhood and home environments on active and sedentary behaviors were studied in 44 boys and 44 girls who wore accelerometers and recorded their television watching behaviors. Neighborhood environment variables were measured using extensive geographic information systems analysis. Hierarchical regression analyses were used to predict physical activity after controlling for individual differences in age, socioeconomic status, percentage overweight, and time the accelerometer was worn in Step 1. Sex of the child was added in Step 2. A neighborhood design variable, street connectivity, accounted for an additional 6% (p <or= .01) of the variability in physical activity in Step 3. A block of variables including a measure of neighborhood land use diversity, percentage park area, and the interaction of Percentage Park Area x Sex then accounted for a further 9% (p <or= .01) of the variability in physical activity in Step 4. Increased access to parks was related to increased physical activity in boys but not in girls. The number of televisions in the home accounted for 6% (p <or= .05) of the variability in television watching behavior. Neighborhood environment variables did not predict television watching that occurs in the home. The neighborhood environment is more strongly associated with physical activity of boys than girls. Sedentary behaviors are associated with access to television in the home environment. To promote physical activity in children, planners need to design environments that support active living and parents should limit access to television viewing in the home.
Blog Archives
Association of access to parks and recreational facilities with the physical activity of young children
Abstract: Objective.To determine associations of the neighborhood and home television environments with young children’s physical activity.Method.32 boys and 27 girls age 4 to 7 years wore accelerometers for 3 weekdays and 1 weekend day. The number of televisions in the home and television watching of the child were monitored using TV Allowance™units for 3 weeks. A geographic information system was used to measure neighborhood environment variables.Results.Hierarchical regression analysis was used to predict physical activity, initially controlling for sex, age, socioeconomic status, adiposity,and child television watching in step 1. In step 2, the number of televisions did not significantly increase the amount of variability accounted for in the prediction of physical activity. In step 3, housing density and the interaction of housing density by sex accounted for an incremental 12%(p<0.05) of the variability and in step 4 percentage park plus recreation area accounted for a further 10% (p<0.05) of the variability. Greater housing density predicted increased physical activity of boys, but not girls.Conclusion.Neighborhoods with increased proximity between homes and a greater proportion of park area are associated with greater physical activity in young children
Integrating ‘Big Data’ into the Analysis of the Dynamic Spatial Patterns of Hotel Development
The spatio-temporal relationship between tourism product similarity and spatial proximity has not been adequately studied empirically because of data and methodological limitations. New forms of data available at high temporal frequencies and low levels of spatial aggregation, together with large commercial data and expanding computational ability allow a variety of theories, old and new to be explored and evaluated more meticulously and systemically than has been possible hitherto. This study uses spatial visualization and data harvesting to synthesize a variety of data for exploring the evolution of hotel clusters and co-location synergies in US cities. The findings question the reliability of the current data to be used for identifying and analyzing the formation of tourist destination clusters and their dynamics. We conclude that synthesizing social media and large commercial data can generate a more robust database for research on tourism development and planning and improving opportunities for the examining spatial patterns of tourism activities. We also devise a protocol to combine ‘social media’ sources with big commercial sources for tourism
development and planning, and eventually other sectors.
The effects of racism and racial discrimination on minority business development: The case of black manufacturers in Chicago’s ethnic beauty aids industry
This article examines the experiences and attitudes of contemporary Black manufacturers in the ethnic beauty aids industry.
Middleman minorities and sojourning in black America: The case of Korean entrepreneurs on the South Side of Chicago, Sociological Imagination
Black business, group resources, and the economic detour: Contemporary black manufacturers in Chicago’s ethnic beauty aids industry
Neighborhood characteristics, CDC emergence and the community development industry system: A case study of the American Deep South
This article examines the relationship between neighbourhood characteristics and community development corporations (CDC). It is hypothesized that housing tenure and race are correlated with CDC emergence. The methodology for this analysis is primarily quantitative. Variables from the US Census are analyzed using logistic regression. Results from this analysis are augmented with ethnographic and archival data. In particular, data from interviews with CDC directors are examined to understand how neighbourhood characteristics and the community development industry system influence CDC development. This study’s findings assist planners in understanding how demographic characteristics of communities and interorganizational networks shape the services CDCs provide.
Citizens’ district councils in Detroit: The promise and limits of using planning advisory boards to promote citizen participation
Chasing a paper tiger: Evaluating Buffalo’s analysis of impediments to fair housing choice
This article focuses on a specific component of the US Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD’s) strategy to implement fair housing policy, its requirement for local jurisdictions that receive community development block grant (CDBG) dollars to prepare an analysis of impediments to fair housing choice (AI) report. The article’s analysis is based on an evaluation of the City of Buffalo’s 2004 AI report. The evaluation was conducted by a local fair housing organization in collaboration with university-based researchers. The findings from the evaluation revealed that the City had made little progress in implementing the action plan from its AI report over an eight year period. This was an outgrowth of local funding constraints, limited staff capacity, ambiguous HUD rules for AI reporting, and a lack of political will to pursue fair housing in Buffalo. In light of these findings, we recommend that HUD: mandate timeframes for AI implementation, require AI updates at regular intervals, and more clearly specify the format and content of AI reports. We also recommend that HUD require jurisdictions to include evaluation plans in their AI reports and measure outcomes from the implementation of AI action plans. These reforms will enhance the ability of AI reports to serve as effective planning tools for the affirmative furthering of fair housing policy.
Progressive Reform, Gender and Institutional Structure: A Critical Analysis of Citizen Participation in Detroit’s Community Development Corporations (CDCs)
This article examines the institutional context in which community-based organisations are embedded. Two emergent themes in the literature on community development are
examined critically: the woman-centred model for community organising; and the thesis concerning the community development industry system. The analysis is based upon data from field
research with community development corporations (CDC) in Detroit, Michigan. The findings
from this research indicate that the prospects for developing progressive community development
strategies in grassroots organisations are constrained by barriers to financial resources and
limited access to the policy-making process. As a result, recommendations are forwarded for the
creation of autonomous funding sources, expanded democratic decision-making in communitybased organisations and the linking of progressive reform to broad-based coalition building and
multiple oppression politics.