Roberts Jennifer D, Rodkey Lindsey, Grisham Cortney, Ray Rashawn
Department of Kinesiology, School of Public Health, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA.
College of Science and Mathematics, Austin Peay State University, Clarksville, TN 37044, USA.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2017 Nov 16;14(11):1398. doi: 10.3390/ijerph14111398.
Sedentary behavior and physical inactivity are significant contributors to youth obesity in the United States. Neighborhood dog walking is an outlet for physical activity (PA). Therefore, understanding the relationship between built environment, dog ownership, and youth PA is essential. This study examined the influence of dog ownership and parental built environment perceptions on children's PA in the Washington, D.C. area. In 2014, questionnaires were mailed to 2000 parents to assess family dog ownership; children's outdoor dog walking or playing; and parental perceived built environment measures. Chi-square analyses examined differences in parental perceived built environment measures between children with and without family dogs. The sample included 144 children (50% female; average-age 9.7 years; 56.3% White; 23.7% African-American; 10.4% Asian-American; 29.9% owned dog). Only 13% and 5.6% of the children walked or played outdoors with the dog daily, respectively. A significantly greater proportion (-value < 0.05) of parents who owned dogs recognized and observed some home built environment measures (e.g., traffic speed on most streets is 30 mph or less) that were PA -promoting for their children. Findings suggest that dog ownership may provide more positive parental perceptions of the neighborhood built environment, which supports children's outdoor PA through dog walking and playing.
久坐行为和缺乏身体活动是美国青少年肥胖的重要成因。邻里间遛狗是一种身体活动（PA）的方式。因此，了解建成环境、养狗情况与青少年身体活动之间的关系至关重要。本研究考察了华盛顿特区地区养狗情况和父母对建成环境的认知对儿童身体活动的影响。2014年，向2000名家长邮寄了问卷，以评估家庭养狗情况、儿童户外遛狗或与狗玩耍的情况，以及父母对建成环境的感知指标。卡方分析检验了有家庭养狗的儿童和没有家庭养狗的儿童的父母在建成环境感知指标上的差异。样本包括144名儿童（50%为女性；平均年龄9.7岁；56.3%为白人；23.7%为非裔美国人；10.4%为亚裔美国人；29.9%家庭养狗）。分别只有13%和5.6%的儿童每天与狗在户外散步或玩耍。养狗的父母中，有显著更高比例（p值<0.05）的人认可并观察到一些对孩子身体活动有促进作用的家庭建成环境指标（例如，大多数街道的车速为每小时30英里或更低）。研究结果表明，养狗可能会让父母对邻里建成环境有更积极的认知，从而通过遛狗和与狗玩耍来支持孩子的户外身体活动。
