Dataset Information

Correlates of Children's Independent Mobility in Canada: A Multi-Site Study.

ABSTRACT: Globally, physical inactivity is a concern, and children's independent mobility (CIM) may be an important target behavior for addressing the physical inactivity crisis. The aim of this study was to examine correlates of CIM (8-12 years old) in the Canadian context to inform future interventions. CIM was measured via parent surveys. Individual, social, and environmental correlates of CIM were examined using a social-ecological framework. 1699 participants' data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and gender-stratified linear mixed-effects models while controlling for site, area-level socioeconomic status, and type of urbanization. Individual correlates including child grade (β = 0.612, p < 0.001), language spoken at home (β = -0.503, p < 0.001), car ownership (β = -0.374, p < 0.05), and phone ownership (β = 0.593, p < 0.001) were associated with CIM. For boys, parental gender (β = -0.387, p < 0.01) was negatively associated with CIM. Parents' perceptions of safety and environment were significantly associated with CIM. Location (i.e., site) was significantly associated with CIM (ref: Trois-Rivières; Ottawa (β = -1.188, p < 0.001); Vancouver (β = -1.216, p < 0.001)). Suburban environments were negatively associated with boys' independent mobility (β = -0.536, p < 0.05), while walkability (400 m β = 0.064, p < 0.05; 1600 m β = -0.059, p < 0.05) was significantly associated with girls' independent mobility only. Future research and interventions should consider targeting "modifiable factors" like children's and parents' perceptions of neighborhood safety and environment.

SUBMITTER: Riazi NA

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6727085 | biostudies-other | 2019 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Correlates of Children's Independent Mobility in Canada: A Multi-Site Study.

Riazi Negin A NA Blanchette Sébastien S Trudeau François F Larouche Richard R Tremblay Mark S MS Faulkner Guy G

International journal of environmental research and public health 20190810 16

Globally, physical inactivity is a concern, and children's independent mobility (CIM) may be an important target behavior for addressing the physical inactivity crisis. The aim of this study was to examine correlates of CIM (8-12 years old) in the Canadian context to inform future interventions. CIM was measured via parent surveys. Individual, social, and environmental correlates of CIM were examined using a social-ecological framework. 1699 participants' data were analyzed using descriptive sta ...[more]

PMID: 31405110

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Project description:IntroductionIndependent mobility is every child's right and has implications for their health, wellbeing, and development. This scoping review addresses children's needs and experiences of light conditions in their everyday outdoor life. The review examines peer-reviewed scientific literature that analyses associations between different light conditions and children's independent mobility (CIM) during dark hours.MethodsBy formulating a Boolean search string, including terms related to children independent mobility, light and outdoor environment, five scientific databases were searched. The search resulted in 67 eligible papers that were analyzed through an inductive, thematic analysis.ResultsFour overarching themes representing the researched topics of the effects of light conditions with importance for CIM during dark hours were identified: (1) physical activity (PA) and active travel, (2) outdoor activities and place use, (3) safety perception, and (4) outdoor risks. The findings highlight that darkness constitutes a major obstacle for CIM, and that fear of darkness is common among children. It restricts the degree of CIM and influences children's safety perception as well as how they navigate through public places outdoors. The findings show that the type and design of outdoor settings during dark hours and children's familiarity with places during daytime could play a role in the degree of CIM after dark. The presence of outdoor lighting is related to children's increased PA and active travel, and outdoor lighting seems to also influence children's place use and interaction with the environment. The presence and extent of outdoor lighting and lighting quality may play a role in children's safety perception, which in turn can influence CIM.DiscussionThe findings suggest that promoting CIM during dark hours might not only contribute to the accumulation of children's PA, confidence, and skills, but also support mental health. The understanding of children's perspectives on the quality of outdoor lighting needs to be deepened to support CIM. Highlighting the child perspective would aid the development of current recommendations for outdoor lighting and the implementation of the Agenda 2030 of ensuring healthy lives and promoting wellbeing for all at all ages, and making cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable throughout the day and seasons.

Project description:Time spent outdoors is associated with higher levels of physical activity. To date, correlates of independent outdoor play have not been investigated. This study aimed to identify potential demographic, behavioural, environmental and social correlates of children's independent outdoor play. Data were from the Millennium Cohort Study when children were aged 7 years. Parents reported whether their children played out unsupervised (yes/no) as well as the above mentioned correlates of unsupervised outdoor play. Children's physical activity levels were measured using waist worn accelerometry. Multiple logistic regression was used to examine associations between correlates and odds of independent (unsupervised) outdoor play. Adjusted multiple linear regression was used to estimate associations between independent outdoor play and objective measures of physical activity. Activity was measured as average daily moderate-to-vigorous activity, steps, and sedentary behaviour. 3856 (n = 29%) participants were categorised as engaging in independent outdoor play. Older age, being white British, being in poverty, living in close proximity to both family friends and family, having fewer internalising problems, having more externalising conduct problems and fewer pro-social behaviours were associated with higher odds of independent outdoor play. Independent outdoor play was associated with > 2 additional minutes of moderate-to-vigorous activity (B = 2.21 95% CI, 1.09 to 3.34), > 330 additional steps per day (B = 336.66 95% CI 209.80 to 463.51), and nearly 5 min less time spent sedentary per day (B = - 4.91 95% CI - 7.54, - 2.29) Younger children, those from a higher socio-economic-status, those isolated in location from family friends and family, and those with high levels of prosocial behaviour have lower levels of independent outdoor play. Independent outdoor play was associated with higher levels of physical activity and less time sedentary. Future interventions to promote independent outdoor play should target such populations.

Project description:BackgroundChildren's independent mobility (CIM) is an important contributor to physical activity and health in children. However, in the last 20 years CIM has significantly decreased. To develop effective intervention programs to promote CIM, the impact of the environment on CIM must be identified. This review seeks to provide an overview of sex/gender-specific socio-ecological correlates of CIM.MethodsA systematic literature search of five databases (PubMed, PsycInfo, Scopus, Medline, Web of Science) was conducted with a priori defined eligibility criteria and identified 1838 potential articles published between January 1990 and November 2017. Two independent reviewers screened the literature and identified and rated methodological quality of the studies. Related factors of CIM were summarized separately for CIM license (parental permission to travel independently) and CIM destination (destinations to which a child travels independently), and separately for boys and girls using a semi-quantitative method.ResultsTwenty-seven peer-reviewed journal articles were identified which examined the relationship between the social and physical environment and CIM. Only seven studies reported results divided by sex/gender. Most associations between the environment and CIM were found in the expected direction (positive or negative) or not associated at all. The social environment seemed to be more influential for ensuring CIM than the physical environment. Neighborhood safety, fear of crime and stranger, parental support, and perception of traffic were important social environmental factors influencing CIM, while car ownership, distance, and neighborhood design were relevant physical environmental attributes. Few studies examined sex/gender-related environmental correlates of independent mobility, and those findings were inconsistent.ConclusionThe findings of this systematic review serve as suggestions for intervention programs to increase CIM and to identify future directions in research. To establish a robust comprehension of the impact of the social and physical environment on CIM, further sex/gender-sensitive studies using comparable measurements for CIM and environmental correlates are needed.

Project description:PAPER 1:"Identification of novel subgroups of high-risk pediatric precursor B acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) by unsupervised microarray analysis: clinical correlates and therapeutic implications. A Children's Oncology Group (COG) study." ABSTRACT We examined gene expression profiles of pre-treatment specimens from 207 patients from the COG P9906 study to identify signatures of children with high risk B-precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and to determine whether the resulting clusters are associated with either specific clinical features or treatment response characteristics. Four unsupervised clustering methods were utilized to classify patients into similar groups. The different clustering algorithms showed significant overlap in cluster membership. Two clusters contained all cases with either t(1;19)(q23;p13) translocations or MLL rearrangements. The other six clusters were novel and had no recurring chromosomal abnormalities or distinctive clinical features. Members of two of these novel clusters had significant survival differences when compared to the overall 4-year relapse-free survival (RFS) of 61%. These included clusters of patients with either significantly better (94.7%) or worse (21.0%) RFS at 4 years. Children of Hispanic/Latino ethnicity were disproportionately present in the poor outcome cluster. The poor outcome cluster represents a novel biologically distinctive subset of B-precursor ALL that may occur at least as frequently as BCR/ABL. Further molecular characterization of this cluster may lead to the discovery of genomic abnormalities that can be targeted to improve the currently dismal outcome for children with this gene signature. The Sample data have also been used in another study: PAPER 2: "Gene expression classifiers for minimal residual disease and relapse free survival improve outcome prediction and risk classification in children with high risk acute lymphoblastic leukemia. A Children's Oncology Group study". ABSTRACT Background. Nearly 25% of children with B-precursor ALL present with "high-risk" disease (HR-ALL) that is resistant to current therapies. Gene expression profiling may yield molecular classifiers for outcome prediction that can be used to improve risk classification and therapeutic targeting. Methods. Expression profiles were obtained in pre-treatment leukemic samples from 207 uniformly treated children with HR-ALL. Relapse free survival (RFS) was 61% at 4 years and flow cytometric measures of minimal residual disease (MRD) at the end of induction (day 29) were predictive of outcome (P<0.001). Molecular classifiers predictive of RFS and MRD were developed using extensive cross-validation procedures. Results. A 38 gene molecular risk classifier predictive of RFS (MRC-RFS) distinguished two groups in HR-ALL with different relapse risks: low (4 yr RFS: 81%, n=109) vs. high (4 yr RFS: 50%, n=98) (P<0.0001). In multivariate analysis, the best predictor combined MRC-RFS and day 29 flow MRD data, classifying children into low (87% RFS), intermediate (62% RFS), or high risk (29% RFS) groups (P<0.0001). A 21 gene molecular classifier predictive of MRD could effectively substitute for day 29 flow MRD, yielding a combined classifier that similarly distinguished three risk groups at pre-treatment (low: 82% RFS; intermediate: 63% RFS; and high risk: 45% RFS) (P<0.0001). This combined molecular classifier was further validated on an independent cohort of 84 children with HR-ALL (P = 0.006). Conclusions. Molecular classifiers predictive of RFS and MRD can be used to distinguish distinct prognostic groups within HR-ALL, significantly improving risk classification schemes and the ability to prospectively identify children at diagnosis who will respond to or fail current treatment regimens. NOTE: Due to Children's Oncology Group (COG) restrictions, outcome and MRD data cannot be provided as part of the covariate data for this dataset at the present time. If you would like to arrange individual access to this data, please contact COG or the PI of this study, Dr. Cheryl Willman, at the University of New Mexico Cancer Center (cwillman@unm.edu) to arrange a collaboration.

Project description:Beavers can profoundly alter riparian environments, most conspicuously by creating dams and wetlands. Eurasian beaver (Castor fiber) populations are increasing and it has been suggested they could play a role in the provision of multiple ecosystem services, including natural flood management. Research at different scales, in contrasting ecosystems is required to establish to what extent beavers can impact on flood regimes. Therefore, this study determines whether flow regimes and flow responses to storm events were altered following the building of beaver dams and whether a flow attenuation effect could be significantly attributed to beaver activity. Four sites were monitored where beavers have been reintroduced in England. Continuous monitoring of hydrology, before and after beaver impacts, was undertaken on streams where beavers built sequences of dams. Stream orders ranged from 2nd to 4th, in both agricultural and forest-dominated catchments. Analysis of >1000 storm events, across four sites showed an overall trend of reduced total stormflow, increased peak rainfall to peak flow lag times and reduced peak flows, all suggesting flow attenuation, following beaver impacts. Additionally, reduced high flow to low flow ratios indicated that flow regimes were overall becoming less "flashy" following beaver reintroduction. Statistical analysis, showed the effect of beaver to be statistically significant in reducing peak flows with estimated overall reductions in peak flows from -0.359 to -0.065 m3 s-1 across sites. Analysis showed spatial and temporal variability in the hydrological response to beaver between sites, depending on the level of impact and seasonality. Critically, the effect of beavers in reducing peak flows persists for the largest storms monitored, showing that even in wet conditions, beaver dams can attenuate average flood flows by up to ca. 60%. This research indicates that beavers could play a role in delivering natural flood management.

Dataset Information

Correlates of Children's Independent Mobility in Canada: A Multi-Site Study.

Publications

Correlates of Children's Independent Mobility in Canada: A Multi-Site Study.

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