The Relationship of Urban Form on Children and Adolescent Health Outcomes: A Scoping Review of Canadian Evidence

Tona M. Pitt, Janet Aucoin, Tate HubkaRao, Suzanne Goopy, Jason Cabaj, Brent Hagel and Gavin R. McCormack
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Tona M. Pitt: Department of Paediatrics, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, 28 Oki Drive NW, Calgary, AB T3B 6A8, Canada
Janet Aucoin: Department of Community Health Sciences, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, 3280 Hospital Drive NW, Calgary, AB T2N 4Z6, Canada
Tate HubkaRao: Department of Paediatrics, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, 28 Oki Drive NW, Calgary, AB T3B 6A8, Canada
Suzanne Goopy: Faculty of Nursing, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive NW, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada
Jason Cabaj: Department of Community Health Sciences, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, 3280 Hospital Drive NW, Calgary, AB T2N 4Z6, Canada
Brent Hagel: Department of Paediatrics, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, 28 Oki Drive NW, Calgary, AB T3B 6A8, Canada
Gavin R. McCormack: Department of Community Health Sciences, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, 3280 Hospital Drive NW, Calgary, AB T2N 4Z6, Canada

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 8, 1-12

Abstract: Urban form can have an impact on health outcomes in children, and the synthesis of findings can identify gaps in the literature and regional reviews may help guide policymakers. This study aims to complete a scoping review of the research relating urban form to health outcomes in children and adolescents from urban Canadian settings. Thirteen online databases were searched to identify studies that had objective measures of urban form and health outcomes. Two research assistants independently reviewed 27,444 titles and abstracts, and 176 full-text articles, returning 32 unique studies with youth-specific data. The majority of the included studies were cross-sectional or ecological ( n = 26). Six studies used Canada-wide data and the rest were from Ontario ( n = 11), Alberta ( n = 6), and Quebec ( n = 6). Urban form characteristics included neighbourhood food environment ( n = 11), parks/natural space/greenness ( n = 10), road or intersection characteristics ( n = 7), and aggregated urban form measures ( n = 7). Studies examined a variety of health outcomes: the majority considered weight status ( n = 16) and injury ( n = 10). Although there is over-reliance on mainly cross-sectional study designs, there is evidence suggesting that urban form is associated with health outcomes in Canadian youth, with parks/greenspace, road connectivity, and road characteristics most consistently associated with health outcomes in youth.

Keywords: urban form; child; youth; adolescent; food environment; health; injury; obesity; built environment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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