Associations between parents' perception of neighbourhood environments and safety with physical activity of primary school children in Klang, Selangor, Malaysia.
BACKGROUND
This study aimed to evaluate parental perception of neighbourhood environments and safety in association with children's physical activity among primary school children in Klang, Selangor, Malaysia.


METHODS
A total of 250 children (9-12 years of age) and their parents participated in this cross-sectional study. Physical Activity Questionnaire for Older Children and Neighbourhood Environmental Walkability Scale as well as questions on constrained behaviours (avoidance and defensive behaviours) were used to assess the children's physical activity and parental perception of neighbourhood environment and safety, respectively.


RESULTS
More than one-third (36.0%) of the children were physically inactive compared with only a small percentage (4.8%) who were physically active, with boys achieving higher physical activity levels than girls (t = 2.564, P = 0.011). For the environmental scale, parents' perception of land-use mix (access) (r = 0.173, P = 0.006), traffic hazards (r = -0.152, P = 0.016) and defensive behaviour (r = -0.024, P = 0.143) correlated significantly with children's physical activity. In multiple linear regression analysis, child's gender (β = -0.226; P = 0.003), parent's education (β = 0.140; P = 0.001), household income (β = 0.151; P = 0.024), land-use mix (access) (β = 0.134; P = 0.011) and defensive behaviour (β = -0.017; P = 0.038) were significantly associated with physical activity in children (R = 0.349, F = 6.760; P < 0.001), contributing 12.2% of the variances in physical activity of the children.


CONCLUSIONS
Results highlight the links between parental perception of neighbourhood environments, safety and constrained behaviours with their children's participation in active play. Interventions aimed to increase actual and perceived safety and reduce perceptions of risk by parents in safe neighbourhoods can be targeted to increase children's physical activity in their local neighbourhoods.
Department of Food Science and Nutrition, Faculty of Applied Sciences, UCSI University, Cheras, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
S E H
SE
Tung
Department of Food Science and Nutrition, Faculty of Applied Sciences, UCSI University, Cheras, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
X H
XH
Ng
Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.|Research Center of Excellence, Nutrition and Non-Communicable Diseases, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.
Y S
YS
Chin
Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.|Research Center of Excellence, Nutrition and Non-Communicable Diseases, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.
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MN
Mohd Taib
D000056:Accident Prevention; D000059:Accidents / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001294:Attitude to Health; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004779:Environment Design / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D008296:Malaysia / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D010290:Parents / Q000193:education / Q000523:psychology*; D010465:Perception; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012931:Social Environment; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology
children; constrained behaviour; neighbourhood environment; parents' perception; physical activity; safety