Citation

Roberge JB, Contreras G, Kakinami L, Van Hulst A, Henderson M, Barnett TA. Int. J. Health Geogr. 2022; 21(1): e2.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2022, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group - BMC)

DOI

10.1186/s12942-022-00301-8

PMID

35346220

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The suitability of geospatial services for auditing neighbourhood features relevant to pediatric obesity remains largely unexplored. Our objectives were to (i) establish the measurement properties of a desk-based audit instrument that uses Google Street View (®) to assess street- and neighbourhood-level features relevant to pediatric obesity (QUALITY-NHOOD tool, the test method) and (ii) comment on its capacity to detect changes in the built environment over an 8-year period. In order to do so, we compared this tool with an on-site auditing instrument (the reference method).

METHODS: On-site audits of 55 street- and neighbourhood-level features were completed in 2008 in 512 neighbourhoods from the QUALITY cohort study. In 2015, both repeat on-site and desk-based audits were completed in a random sample of 30 of these neighbourhoods.

RESULTS: Agreement between both methods was excellent for almost all street segment items (range 91.9-99.7%), except for road type (81.0%), ads/commercial billboards (81.7%), road-sidewalk buffer zone (76.1%), and road-bicycle path buffer zone (53.3%). It was fair to poor for perceived quality, safety and aesthetics items (range 59.9-87.6%), as well as for general impression items (range 40.0-86.7%). The desk-based method over-detected commercial billboards and road-sidewalk buffer zone, and generally rated neighbourhoods as less safe, requiring more effort to get around, and having less aesthetic appeal. Change detected over the 8-year period was generally similar for both methods, except that the desk-based method appeared to amplify the increase in the number of segments with signs of social disorder.

CONCLUSIONS: The QUALITY-NHOOD tool is deemed adequate for evaluating and monitoring changes in pedestrian- and traffic-related features applicable to pediatric populations. Applications for monitoring the obesogenic nature of neighbourhoods appear warranted.

Language: en

Keywords

Built environment; Walkability; Urban design; Neighbourhood; Pediatric obesity