Centre for Urban and Regional Studies, Aalto University, Aalto, Finland.
Am J Health Promot. 2012 May-Jun;26(5):e137-48. doi: 10.4278/ajhp.100914-QUAN-310.
To determine the relationship between (1) urban structure characteristics, (2) children's environmental experiences and active behavioral patterns, and (3) perceived health and body mass index (BMI).
Cross-sectional study.
City of Turku, western coast of Finland, 175,000 inhabitants. Average residential density of the studied settings was 17 housing units per hectare, proportion of green structure 43%, and proportion of population under 15 years old 17%.
One thousand eight hundred thirty seven fifth (10-12 years old) and seventh (13-15 years old) graders from 54 schools in Turku.
Self-reported behavioral patterns (activity of school travel mode, territorial range, mobility licenses, and distance to meaningful places) and environmental experiences (localized meaningful places, likability index, environmental fears) were gathered on the basis of locality with an Internet-based softGIS method. Self-reported BMI, perceived health, and daily symptoms were also queried. Geographic information system-based measures of urban structure (residential density, proportion of green structure, proportion of children), calculated within a 500-m buffer of each respondent's home, were used as independent variables.
Mainly logistic regression analysis.
After controlling for gender, age, and neighborhood socioeconomic status (proportion of academically educated), residential density was significantly associated with active travel mode to school and short distances to the meaningful places of children. The proportions of green structure and children had an association with nonactive transport, long distance to meaningful places, and small territorial range. We also found significant associations between active school travel mode and reduced risk of being overweight when controlled for gender and age but not when the proportion of academically educated was also controlled. The negative association between likability index and daily symptoms and positive association with perceived health remained significant after controlling for all three background variables. The only urban structure variable directly associated with good perceived health was the proportion of green structure around the child's home.
Moderate urban density seems to have child-friendly characteristics such as an ability to promote active school journeys and to guarantee a short distance to meaningful places. The studied Finnish children expressed very few environmental fears, and the possibilities for them to independently use the opportunities of the urban environment were very high. The limitation of the study was that the socioeconomic background variables were extracted from register-based geographic grid data rather than from respondents. More refined measures of urban structure are also needed in future studies.
确定（1）城市结构特征、（2）儿童的环境体验和积极的行为模式、以及（3）感知健康和身体质量指数（BMI）之间的关系。
横断面研究。
芬兰西海岸的图尔库市，居民 175000 人。研究地点的平均住宅密度为每公顷 17 个住宅单元，绿地结构比例为 43%，15 岁以下人口比例为 17%。
来自图尔库 54 所学校的 1837 名五年级（10-12 岁）和七年级（13-15 岁）学生。
基于位置使用基于互联网的软 GIS 方法收集自我报告的行为模式（上学出行模式、活动范围、活动许可证和可达性）和环境体验（本地化的有意义的地方、喜爱指数、环境恐惧）。还查询了自我报告的 BMI、感知健康和日常症状。使用基于地理信息系统的城市结构措施（每个受访者家庭 500 米缓冲区内的住宅密度、绿地结构比例、儿童比例）作为自变量。
主要采用逻辑回归分析。
在校正性别、年龄和邻里社会经济地位（受过高等教育的比例）后，住宅密度与儿童积极上学出行模式和较短距离至有意义的地方显著相关。绿地结构比例和儿童比例与非活跃交通、距离有意义的地方较远和活动范围较小有关。在校正性别和年龄后，我们还发现积极的上学出行模式与超重风险降低之间存在显著关联，但在校正受过高等教育的比例时则不相关。喜爱指数与日常症状呈负相关，与感知健康呈正相关，在控制所有三个背景变量后仍保持显著。与感知健康直接相关的唯一城市结构变量是儿童家庭周围的绿地结构比例。
适度的城市密度似乎具有有利于儿童的特征，例如能够促进积极的上学旅行，并保证距离有意义的地方较近。研究中的芬兰儿童表达的环境恐惧很少，他们独立利用城市环境机会的可能性非常高。本研究的局限性在于社会经济背景变量是从基于登记的地理网格数据中提取的，而不是从受访者中提取的。未来的研究还需要更精细的城市结构衡量标准。
