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Children’s Geographies for Activity and Play: An Overview of Measurement Approaches

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Play and Recreation, Health and Wellbeing

Part of the book series: Geographies of Children and Young People ((GCYP,volume 9))

Abstract

Physical activity is fundamental to child health and development. Evidence suggests that environmental features may promote or hinder children’s participation in physical activity, in particular active transport and independent mobility. To date, a clear understanding of the relationships between environmental factors and children’s activity behaviors remains equivocal. An essential component of understanding children’s geographies and related outcomes is the ability to accurately assess the environments and environmental features that matter to children. Current measures include geographic information systems-derived features, audits, user perceptions (via surveys), and photographic data collection. An overview of these measures is provided, including discussion on strengths, weaknesses, and implications for research.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Human Potential Centre, Auckland University of Technology, 55 Wellesley St E, 1010, Auckland, New Zealand

    Melody Oliver & Scott Duncan

  2. School of Human, Health and Social Sciences, Physical Activity Research Group, Central Queensland University, Bruce Highway, 4702, Rockhampton, QLD, Australia

    Stephanie Schoeppe

  3. SHORE and Whāriki Research Centre, School of Public Health, Massey University, Auckland, New Zealand

    Suzanne Mavoa & Phillip Donovan

  4. McCaughey VicHealth Centre for Community Wellbeing Unit, Melbourne University School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Suzanne Mavoa

  5. Department of Real Estate, Planning and Geoinformatics, Aalto University, Helsinki, Finland

    Marketta Kyttä

  6. Physical Activity for Health Sport, Physical Education and Health Sciences (SPEHS), University of Edinburgh Old College, South Bridge, Edinburgh EH8 9YL, Scotland

    Paul Kelly

Authors
  1. Melody Oliver
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  2. Stephanie Schoeppe
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  3. Suzanne Mavoa
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  4. Scott Duncan
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  5. Paul Kelly
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  6. Phillip Donovan
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  7. Marketta Kyttä
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Melody Oliver .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography and Planning, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom

    Bethan Evans

  2. Centre of Children and Youth, The University of Northampton, Northampton, United Kingdom

    John Horton

  3. Department of Geography, National University of Singapore Department of Geography, Singapore, Singapore

    Tracey Skelton

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Oliver, M. et al. (2016). Children’s Geographies for Activity and Play: An Overview of Measurement Approaches. In: Evans, B., Horton, J., Skelton, T. (eds) Play and Recreation, Health and Wellbeing. Geographies of Children and Young People, vol 9. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-4585-51-4_16

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