ArticleInternational journal of health geographics2025
Is the neighbourhood environment associated with indicators of health in children and adolescents? Developing and testing a new proof-of-concept Healthy Environments Index for Children in Taranaki, New Zealand.
Article in International journal of health geographics, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
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1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Inequalities in neighbourhood features within children's 20-minute neighbourhoods and variation in time spent locally, measured using GPS.Wellbeing, space and society · 2023Article
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Abstract
backgroundWe describe the development of a comprehensive proof-of-concept index of environmental exposures for children based on evidence-informed connections to health behaviours- the Healthy Environments Index for Children (HEIC) - with two sub-indices relating to the food environment (HEIC-FE) and physical activity environment (HEIC-PA) in Taranaki, New Zealand. Associations between this theory-informed index and health outcomes in a cohort of children and adolescents identified with overweight or obesity and enrolled in a community-based healthy lifestyle programme and randomised controlled trial were examined.
methodsThe HIEC was developed using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and 15 variables selected from a series of systematic literature reviews identifying environmental factors associated with childhood obesity. Activity spaces around each participant's residential address, and the route to their nearest school were created and used to estimate environmental exposure. Health data from the Whānau Pakari randomised controlled trial (n = 179 at baseline, 121 at 12-months, 95 at 24-months) was integrated to test associations between HEIC and health outcomes. Statistical analyses included spearman rank correlations, multinomial linear regression, and geographically weighted regression.
resultsHigher HEIC scores (indicating health-promoting environments) tended to be clustered within the cities and towns, while rural areas had low HEIC scores. Strong and consistent associations were not identified between HEIC indices and health outcomes in our study population. However, higher HEIC food environments were associated with increased water intake and decreased sweet drink intake at 24-months.
conclusionsThe theory-informed HEIC and its two subindices may be useful tools for policy and practice aiming at improving child health outcomes. However, they require validation in larger studies in other areas of New Zealand.
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