Eryn Piper Block, Frederick J. Zimmerman, and Neal Halfon are with the Department of Health Policy and Management, School of Public Health, University of California Los Angeles (UCLA). Efren Aguilar, Lisa Stanley, and Neal Halfon are with the Center for Healthier Children, Families, and Communities, Department of Pediatrics, David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA.
Am J Public Health. 2018 Nov;108(11):1550-1557. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2018.304680. Epub 2018 Sep 25.
To examine relationships of residential crowding and commute time with early child development.
We used the Early Development Instrument (EDI), a teacher-reported, population-health measure of child development. The sample included child-level observations spanning 8 US states from 2010 to 2017 (n = 185 012), aggregated to the census tract (n= 2793), stratified by percentage of households in poverty. To test the association of commute times, crowding, and child development, we tested overall readiness and 5 EDI domains by using adjusted census tract-level multivariate regression with fixed effects.
In the full sample, a 1-standard-deviation increase in crowding was associated with 0.064- and 0.084-point decreases in mean score for cognitive development and communication skills, respectively. For the high-poverty subsample, a 1-standard deviation increase in commute time was associated with 0.081- and 0.066-point decreases in social competence and emotional maturity.
In neighborhoods with increased crowding or commute time, early child development suffers.
This study suggests a potential relationship between the changing urban landscape and child health. Children would benefit from more multisector collaboration between urban planning and public health.
探讨居住拥挤程度和通勤时间与儿童早期发展的关系。
我们使用了早期发展工具（EDI），这是一种教师报告的、用于衡量儿童发展的人群健康指标。该样本包括 2010 年至 2017 年来自美国 8 个州的儿童水平观察数据（n=185012），并按贫困家庭比例汇总到普查区（n=2793）。为了测试通勤时间、拥挤程度和儿童发展之间的关联，我们使用具有固定效应的调整后的普查区水平多元回归来测试总体准备情况和 EDI 的 5 个领域。
在全样本中，拥挤程度每增加一个标准差，认知发展和沟通技能的平均得分分别下降 0.064 和 0.084 分。对于高贫困子样本，通勤时间每增加一个标准差，社会能力和情绪成熟度分别下降 0.081 和 0.066 分。
在拥挤程度或通勤时间增加的社区，儿童早期发展受到影响。
本研究表明，不断变化的城市景观与儿童健康之间可能存在关联。儿童将受益于城市规划和公共卫生之间更多的多部门合作。
