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Do children like walking? Children in the city of Dunedin, New Zealand

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 February 2012

Robin Quigg  and
Claire Freeman
Robin Quigg
Affiliation:
Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, Dunedin School of Medicin, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand, Email: quiro733@student.otago.ac.nz
Claire Freeman
Affiliation:
Planning Programme, Department of Geography, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
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Abstract

There is rising interest in children's activity levels and the relationship between health, physical activity and their environments – in particular, their ‘obesogenic’ environments. This paper presents the results of a qualitative study of 71 school children in Dunedin, New Zealand, the purpose of which was to discover whether they liked walking. The study found that, whilst many children do like walking, they are not permitted to walk much, nor to many places. Some walk to school, but their overall levels of walking are low due to a combination of factors relating to concerns for their safety and to the need for children to fit in with increasingly complex, car-dependent family lives.

Type
Research Article
Information
Children Australia , Volume 33 , Issue 3 , 2008 , pp. 13 - 20
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2008

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