Objectively measured crime and active transportation among 10–13 year olds

Abstract

This study examined the temporal relationship between objective measures of neighborhood crime and active transportation among children. A sample of 387 children aged 10–13 years from Kingston, Canada were studied between January 2015 and December 2016. Active transportation was measured over 7 days using Geographic Information System loggers. The number of crimes per capita were measured within a 1 km distance of participants' homes for the 24-month period prior to when their active transportation was measured. Surprisingly, children living in neighborhoods in the highest neighborhood crime rate quartile engaged in significantly more active transportation than children living in neighborhoods in the lowest neighborhood crime rate quartile (16.4 versus 10.2 min/day, p < 0.05). This relationship persisted after adjustment for several individual, family, and environmental covariates. Keywords: Child, Adolescent, Physical activity, Walking, Crime