title: Are children living on dead-end streets more active? Near-home street patterns and school-going children's time spent outdoors in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
abstract: This study aimed to investigate relationships between near-home street patterns and children's time spent outdoors (TSO). Participants were 60 (n=60) school-age Dhaka children, 7-11years old (16 girls and 44 boys) selected by a two-phase cluster sampling method. Data were collected from September 2010 to June 2011 by visiting each of 60 children's homes. Children's mean TSOs (in minutes) were reported by parents' face-to-face interviews, and near-home street pattern data were collected by systematic direct observations. The researchers also collected data on seven socio-demographic variables and three neighborhood built-environment variables. A backward selection based multiple linear regression was used to examine association between children's TSO and near-home street patterns. Results (adjusted R2=0.66 for weekdays and 0.68 for weekend) suggested that children's TSO were significantly associated with near-home street type: dead-end instead of through streets (28min on weekdays, p<0.01 and 66min on weekend, p<0.01). The width of the street, level of its branching and availability of an open space or playground near the house are also positively associated with TSO. Near-home street features significantly contribute to TSO in school-going children of Dhaka.
authors.affiliation: Natural Learning Initiative (NLI), College of Design, NC State University, Campus Box 7701, 101 Leazar Hall, Raleigh, NC 27695-7701, USA. Electronic address: mmonsur@ncsu.edu.
authors.forename: Muntazar
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Monsur
authors.affiliation: Alliance Manchester Business School, The University of Manchester, Booth Street West, Manchester M15 6PB, UK.
authors.forename: Mohaimen
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mansur
authors.affiliation: Department of Architecture, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh.
authors.forename: Mohammed Zakiul
authors.initials: MZ
authors.lastname: Islam
mesh_terms: D001459:Bangladesh; D002648:Child; D004779:Environment Design / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D010290:Parents; D012111:Residence Characteristics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Behavior; Child; Environmental impact; Motor activity