The phrase ‘child friendly’ has come to mean many things: restaurants who serve families, safety-proofed environments for babies, toys without lead, and community design, development and planning that promotes child wellness. Although all are important for children, the last example is the focus of this post. The child friendly cities movement is a world-wide initiative to build and evaluate environments that promote child-environment congruence (UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre, 2004, 2007). This movement evolved from the global commitment to improve child well-being, particularly, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (United Nations, 1989). See previous post for a description of this international legal agreement.Launched in 1996, the Child Friendly Cities movement was based on a resolution passed during the second United Nations Conference on Human Settlements, to make cities livable places for all, particularly children. A Child Friendly City or Community is actively engaged in fulfilling the right of every young citizen to:

Actually, when you think of it, cities and communities that are safe, unpolluted, have green spaces, promote equality, support empowerment and provide basic services are good for everyone; children, adults, the elderly and individuals with disabilities.

The evidence linking health and environmental interaction is mounting rapidly. Health, as defined by the World Health Organization “is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity” (World Health Organization, 2007). Communities that are not safe, do not have green spaces and inhibit physical activity and social interactions are not healthy and negatively affect children and adults alike.

Research and Policy Implications
For instance, there is an epidemic of childhood obesity in many developed nations and the research is finding that our communities are partly to blame (Basrur, 2004; Pouliou & Elliott, 2009). Being obese increases the risk of diabetes, heart disease and hypertension and has the potential for negative influences on one’s psychosocial state and quality of life (Raine, 2004). Basrur (2004) concludes that more than half of Canada’s youth are not active enough for optimal growth and development, in part due to increased screen time, less time interacting with the natural environment or exploring and moving about in their communities.

Michelle Obama, the First Lady of The United States, has recently worked with the White House Task Force on Childhood Obesity to identify 70 recommendations to reduce childhood obesity. The recommendations relate to early childhood care, supporting parents and caregivers, providing access to healthier food in schools, access to healthy, affordable food, and increasing physical activity. The following recommendations support Child Friendly Communities:

• Considering transportation that enhances livability and physical activity
• Developing guidelines and plans for promoting safe walking and bike riding to school, parks, libraries, transit, and recreation centres
• Increasing the number of safe and accessible parks, playgrounds, forests, national parks and refuge lands
• Increasing children’s access to community recreation facilities
• Creating and supporting school gardens
• Promoting access to healthy food, particularly in underserved communities

Along with addressing obesity, many of the recommendations are likely to improve kids’ cognitive, emotional and social health. For example, adding green spaces such as parks and natural areas has shown to promote more outdoor play and enhance positive social interactions among children (Moore, 1986). Kaplan and Kaplan (1989) found that natural settings are more restorative, reduce cognitive fatigue and enhance positive affect. As well, in natural settings, children engage in more creative play (Faber Taylor, Wiley, Kuo, & Sullivan, 2001; Kirby, 1989), and develop better motor skills (Fjortoft, 2004). Natural settings have also been shown to enhance attention (Wells, 2000) and reduce symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (Kuo & Faber Taylor, 2004). Watch this blog and Kids Helping Communities for more information and research on other environmental influences on children’s health.

For more information on the importance of nature for children see
Last Child in the Woods: Saving our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder.

References
Basrur, S. (2004). Chief Medical Officer of Health Report: Healthy Weights, Healthy Lives. Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-term Care: Toronto, Ontario.

Faber Taylor, A., Kuo, F., & Sullivan, W. (2001). Coping with ADD: The surprising connects to green play settings. Environmental Behavior, 33, 54-77.

Fjortoft, I. (2004). Landscape as playscape: The effects of natural environments on children’s play     and motor development, Children, Youth and Environments, 14(2), 21-44.

Kaplan, R. & Kaplan., S. (1989). The Experience of Nature. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Kirby, M. (1989). Nature as refuge in children’s environments. Children’s Environments Quarterly, 6(1), 7-12.

Kuo , F. & Faber Taylor, A. (2004). A potential natural Treatment for Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: Evidence from a national study. American Journal of Public Health, 94(9), 1580 – 1586.

Louv, R. (2005). Last Child in the Woods: Saving our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder. New York, NY: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill.

Moore, R.C. (1986). Childhood’s Domain: Play and Place in Child Development. London: Croom Helm.

Pouliou, T., & Elliott, S.J. (2009). Individual and socio-environmental determinants of overweight and obesity in Urban Canada. Health & Place, doi:10.1016/j.healthplace.2009.11.011.

Raine, K.D. (2004). Overweight and obesity in Canada: a population health perspective. Canadian Population Health Initiative and Canadian Institute for Health Information, Ottawa, ON, Canada.

UNICEF (2007). Child Friendly Cities, http://www.childfriendlycities.org/ [accessed on: January 11, 2009].

UNICEF: Innocenti Research Centre (2004). Building Child Friendly Cities: A framework for action. UNICEF Florence, Italy.

Wells, N.M. (2000). At home with nature: Effects of “greenness” on children’s cognitive functioning. Environment and Behavior 32(6), 775-795.

World Health Organization (2007). Constitution of the World Health Organization: Basic Documents. 46th ed. Geneva, Switzerland.