Neighborhood Crime-Related Safety and Its Relation to Children’s Physical Activity

Crime is both a societal safety and public health issue. Examining different measures and aspects of crime-related safety and their correlations may provide insight into the unclear relationship between crime and children’s physical activity. We evaluated five neighborhood crime-related safety measures to determine how they were interrelated. We then explored which crime-related safety measures were associated with children’s total moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and MVPA in their neighborhoods. Significant positive correlations between observed neighborhood incivilities and parents’ perceptions of general crime and disorder were found (r = 0.30, p = 0.0002), as were associations between parents’ perceptions of general crime and disorder and perceptions of stranger danger (r = 0.30, p = 0.0002). Parent report of prior crime victimization in their neighborhood was associated with observed neighborhood incivilities (r = 0.22, p = 0.007) and their perceptions of both stranger danger (r = 0.24, p = 0.003) and general crime and disorder (r = 0.37, p < 0.0001). After accounting for covariates, police-reported crime within the census block group in which children lived was associated with less physical activity, both total and in their neighborhood (beta = −0.09, p = 0.005, beta = −0.01, p = 0.02, respectively). Neighborhood-active children living in the lowest crime-quartile neighborhoods based on police reports had 40 min more of total MVPA on average compared to neighborhood-active children living in the highest crime-quartile neighborhoods. Findings suggest that police reports of neighborhood crime may be contributing to lower children’s physical activity.     

Do investments in low-income neighborhoods produce objective change in health-related neighborhood conditions?

This study examined the effect of neighborhood investments on neighborhood walkability, presence of incivilities, and crime in two low-income, primarily African American neighborhoods in Pittsburgh, USA. During the study period, one of the neighborhoods (the intervention neighborhood) received substantially more publicly-funded investments than a demographically matched comparison neighborhood. Comparisons between the neighborhoods showed a significant difference-in-difference for all three outcomes. The intervention neighborhood experienced significantly more change related to improved walkability and decreased incivilities. However, the control neighborhood experienced better crime-related outcomes. Analyses that focused on resident proximity to investments found similar results. This highlights the nuances of neighborhood investment, which is important to consider when thinking about public policy.     

Are some neighborhoods bad for your waistline? A test of neighborhood exposure effects on BMI

I study the causal impact of neighborhoods on body mass index (BMI). Through exploiting variation in the number of years individuals have lived in their neighborhood, using a data set from California, I examine if there exist causal effects of exposure to neighborhoods with high potential effects on one's BMI. The identifying assumption is that there are no unobserved individual level characteristics correlated with both BMI and moving, after controlling for observables. I find evidence that suggests that neighborhoods do not have a causal impact on BMI.     

Place matters: neighborhood deprivation and cardiometabolic risk factors in the Diabetes Study of Northern California (DISTANCE)

While neighborhood deprivation is associated with prevalence of chronic diseases, it is not well understood whether neighborhood deprivation is also associated with cardiometabolic risk factors among adults with chronic disease. Subjects (n = 19,804) from the Diabetes Study of Northern California (DISTANCE) cohort study, an ethnically-stratified, random sample of members of Kaiser Permanente Northern California (KPNC), an integrated managed care consortium, with type 2 diabetes who completed a survey between 2005 and 2007 and who lived in a 19 county study area were included in the analyses. We estimated the association between a validated neighborhood deprivation index (NDI) and four cardiometabolic risk factors: body mass index (BMI = kg/m2), glycosylated hemoglobin (A1c), low density lipoproteins (LDL) and systolic blood pressure (SBP) using multi-level models. Outcomes were modeled in their continuous form and as binary indicators of poor control (severe obesity: BMI ≥35, poor glycemic control: A1c ≥9%, hypercholesterolemia: LDL ≥130 mg/dL, and hypertension: SBP ≥140 mmHg). BMI, A1c and SBP increased monotonically across quartiles of NDI (p < 0.001 in each case); however, LDL was significantly associated with NDI only when comparing the most to the least deprived quartile. NDI remained significantly associated with BMI and A1c after adjusting for individual level factors including income and education. A linear trend (p < 0.001) was observed in the relative risk ratios for dichotomous indicators of severe obesity, poor glycemic control, and 2 or more poorly controlled cardiometabolic risk factors across NDI quartile. In adjusted models, higher levels of neighborhood deprivation were positively associated with indicators of cardiometabolic risk among adults with diabetes, suggesting that neighborhood level deprivation may influence individual outcomes. However, longitudinal data are needed to test the causal direction of these relationships.     

Neighborhood stressors and cardiovascular health: crime and C-reactive protein in Dallas, USA

We apply neighborhood-based theories of social organization and environmental stress to examine variation in a key indicator of inflammation-related cardiovascular risk-C-reactive protein (CRP). Specifically, we emphasize the potentially health-compromising role of rapid increases in the crime rate or "crime spikes" (focusing on a particularly fear-inducing crime - burglary). We also consider the extent to which the magnitude and significance of the association between burglary rate change and inflammatory processes varies by gender. Data on CRP, neighborhood of residence, and individual-level characteristics for adult women and men ages 30-65 are drawn from the 2000-2002 Dallas Heart Study. Results from neighborhood fixed effects models using piecewise linear splines to estimate short-term burglary rate change effects offer support for the hypothesis that crime spikes are associated with CRP. Specifically, we find that short-term burglary rate change is independently associated with CRP for men. Short-term burglary rate change was not associated with CRP for women. These findings shed light on the contextual processes that influence cardiovascular health and point to the potentially important role of short-term changes in environmental stressors in shaping health outcomes.     

Neighborhood Environment and Body Mass Index Trajectories From Adolescence to Adulthood

Objectives

To investigate whether neighborhood conditions during adolescence are associated with body mass index (BMI) extending into young adulthood.

Methods

Latent growth curve modeling was used to examine BMI over three waves (1996, 2001, and 2008) of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (n = 9,115).

Results

Parental perceptions of neighborhood disorder and neighborhood structural disadvantage were positively associated with BMI at baseline. Although parental perceptions of disorder were not associated with the rate of change in BMI over time, neighborhood structural disadvantage was positively associated with the slope of BMI. Adolescents who lived in more disadvantaged neighborhoods not only had higher BMI at the beginning of the study, but they also gained weight at a faster rate than those who lived in more advantaged neighborhoods at the first wave of data collection. The data also revealed notable gender, racial, and ethnic subgroup variations in the relationship between neighborhood context and BMI.

Conclusion

The neighborhood environment during the critical period of adolescence appears to have a long-term effect on BMI in adulthood. Policy interventions focusing on the neighborhood environment may have far-reaching effects on adult health.     

亚洲人群糖尿病患病情况：现状和未来

2型糖尿病可引起血管并发症,并使过早死亡的发生率显著增加[1-4].WHO预测2000-2030年全球人口数将增加37％,而糖尿病患者人数将增加114％[4].国际糖尿病联盟(IDF)估计糖尿病的患病人数将从2007年的2.4亿增加至2025年的3.8亿[5].不可忽略的是,糖尿病的巨大后备军——糖耐量受损人数将从2010年的3.44亿增至2030年的4.72亿[6].     

The Association between Parental Perception of Neighborhood Safety and Asthma Diagnosis in Ethnic Minority Urban Children

Low-income populations, minorities, and children living in inner cities have high rates of asthma. Recent studies have emphasized the role of psychosocial stress in development of asthma. Residence in unsafe neighborhoods is one potential source of increased stress. The study objective was to examine the association between parental perception of neighborhood safety and asthma diagnosis among inner city, minority children. Cross-sectional data from a community-based study of 6–8-year-old New York City children were used. Asthma was defined as parental report of physician-diagnosed asthma and at least one asthma-related symptom. Parental perceptions of neighborhood safety were assessed with a questionnaire. Associations between perceived neighborhood safety and asthma were examined using chi-squared tests. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were then performed. Five hundred four children were included with 79% female, 26.5% non-Hispanic Black, and 73.5% Hispanic. Asthma was present in 23.8% of children. There was an inverse association between feeling safe walking in the neighborhood and asthma with 45.7% of parents of asthmatic children reporting they felt safe compared to 60.9% of parents of non-asthmatic children (p = 0.006). Fewer parents of asthmatic children than of non-asthmatic children reported that their neighborhood was safe from crime (21.7% versus 33.9%, p = 0.018). In multivariate analyses adjusting for race/ethnicity, age, gender, socioeconomic status, number of smokers in the home and breastfeeding history, parents reporting feeling unsafe walking in the neighborhood were more likely to have a child diagnosed with asthma (OR = 1.89, 95%CI 1.13–3.14). Psychosocial stressors such as living in unsafe neighborhoods may be associated with asthma diagnosis in urban ethnic minority children. Addressing the increased asthma burden in certain communities may require interventions to decrease urban stressors.     

Do neighborhoods matter differently for movers and non-movers? Analysis of weight gain in the longitudinal dallas heart study

The few available population-based longitudinal studies examining the link between change in neighborhood condition and weight change to date have only examined neighborhood changes generated by residential mobility. Applying a difference-in-difference analytic framework to data from the Dallas Heart Study (DHS), a multi-ethnic, population-based cohort in Dallas County, TX, we evaluated the relationship between changes in neighborhood condition and weight change for both movers and non-movers over an approximate seven-year follow-up period. We employed a novel measure of neighborhood condition based on property appraisal data to capture temporally consistent measures of change in neighborhood condition regardless of residential mobility. We observed an inverse relationship between weight change and change in neighborhood condition which was more pronounced for non-movers (1.9 fewer kilograms gained per 1-standard deviation improvement in neighborhood condition) than for movers (1.5 fewer kilograms gained per 1-standard deviation improvement in neighborhood condition).     

Are Safety-Related Features of the Road Environment Associated with Smaller Declines in Physical Activity among Youth?

This study examined how objective measures of the local road environment related to safety were associated with change in physical activity (including active transport) among youth. Few longitudinal studies have examined the impact of the road environment on physical activity among children/adolescents in their neighborhoods. Participants were children aged 8–9 years (n = 170) and adolescents aged 13–15 years (n = 276) in 2004. Data were collected in 2004 and 2006 during follow-up of participants recruited initially in 2001 from 19 primary schools in Melbourne, Australia. Walking/cycling to local destinations was parent-reported for children and self-reported by adolescents. Moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) during nonschool hours was recorded using accelerometers. Road environment features in each participant’s neighborhood (area within 800 m radius of their home) were measured objectively using a Geographical Information System. Linear regression analyses examined associations between road features and changes in active transport (AT) and MVPA over 2 years. Children’s AT increased but MVPA levels decreased in both age groups; on average, younger girls recorded the greatest declines. The number of traffic/pedestrian lights was associated with ΔAT among younger girls (B=0.45, p=0.004). The total length of walking tracks (in meters) was associated with ∆AT among younger girls (B = 0.0016, p = 0.015) and adolescent girls (B = 0.0016, p = 0.002). For adolescent boys, intersection density was associated with ∆AT (B = 0.03, p = 0.030). Slow points were associated with ∆MVPA among younger boys before school (B = 1.55, p = 0.021), while speed humps were associated with ∆MVPA among adolescent boys after school (B = 0.23, p = 0.015). There were many associations for adolescent girls: for example, the total length of local roads (B = 0.49, p = 0.005), intersection density (B = 0.05, p = 0.036), and number of speed humps (B = 0.33, p = 0.020) were associated with ∆MVPA during nonschool hours. Safety-related aspects of the built environment are conducive to physical activity among youth and may help stem age-related declines in physical activity. Passive road safety interventions may promote AT and physical activity among less active girls, in particular.     

Neighborhood Road Environments and Physical Activity Among Youth: The CLAN Study

We examined associations between objective measures of the local road environment and physical activity (including active transport) among youth. There is little empirical evidence of the impact of the road environment on physical activity among children/adolescents in their neighborhoods. Most recent studies have examined perceptions rather than objective measures of the road environment. This was a cross-sectional study of children aged 8-9 years (n = 188) and adolescents aged 13-15 years (n = 346) who were participants in the 3-year follow-up of the Children Living in Active Neighborhoods (CLAN) longitudinal study in Melbourne, Australia. At baseline (2001), they were recruited from 19 state primary schools in areas of varying socioeconomic status across Melbourne. Habitual walking/cycling to local destinations was parent-reported for children and self-reported for adolescents, while moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) outside school hours was recorded using accelerometers. Road environment features in each participant's neighborhood (area of radius 800 m around the home) were measured objectively using a geographical information system. Regression analyses found no associations between road environment variables and children's likelihood of making at least seven walking/cycling trips per week to neighborhood destinations. Adolescent girls residing in neighborhoods with two to three traffic/pedestrian lights were more likely to make seven or more walking/cycling trips per week as those whose neighborhoods had fewer traffic lights (OR: 2.7; 95% CI: 1.2-6.2). For adolescent boys, residing on a cul-de-sac, compared with a through road, was associated with increases in MVPA of 9 min after school, 5 min in the evenings, and 22 min on weekend days. Speed humps were positively associated with adolescent boys' MVPA during evenings. The road environment influences physical activity among youth in different ways, according to age group, sex and type of physical activity.     

Combined measure of neighborhood food and physical activity environments and weight-related outcomes: The CARDIA study

Engagement in healthy lifestyle behaviors likely reflects access to a diverse and synergistic set of food and physical activity resources, yet most research examines discrete characteristics. We characterized neighborhoods with respect to their composition of features, and quantified associations with diet, physical activity (PA), body mass index (BMI), and insulin resistance (IR) in a longitudinal biracial cohort (n=4143; aged 25–37; 1992–2006). We used latent class analysis to derive population-density-specific (<vs.≥1750 people per sq km) clusters of neighborhood indicators: road connectivity, parks and PA facilities, and food stores/restaurants. In lower population density areas, a latent class with higher food and PA resource diversity (relative to other clusters) was significantly associated with higher diet quality. In higher population density areas, a cluster with relatively more natural food/specialty stores; fewer convenience stores; and more PA resources was associated with higher diet quality. Neighborhood clusters were inconsistently associated with BMI and IR, and not associated with fast food consumption, walking, biking, or running.     

Pathways to depression: the impact of neighborhood violent crime on inner-city residents in Baltimore, Maryland, USA

Crime and neighborhood disorder may negatively impact the health of urban residents. Neighborhoods with high levels of violent crime may also increase residents' risk of experiencing violence. Most studies supporting the assertion that neighborhood disorder impacts mental health have used residents' own ratings of their neighborhoods. The present study examines the relationships among block-group level crime, perceived neighborhood disorder, violence experienced in the neighborhood, and depression. The sample comprising the current and former drug users (n=786) nested in 270 block groups within Baltimore, Maryland, USA. Using path analysis, we tested the hypothesis that neighborhood violent crime has a direct impact on experiences of violence. Also, we hypothesized that neighborhood violence had a direct and indirect impact on depressive symptoms. Results support a model in which violence is associated with psychological distress through perceptions of neighborhood disorder, and through experiences of violence. We conclude that community and structural level interventions are needed to decrease neighborhood crime and improve residents' perception of their neighborhood.