Findings from a research study suggests a relationship between lack of day-to-day physical activity, or sedentary lifestyle, and development of new and ongoing asthma in Toronto children.
Children may be more likely to develop asthma if they live in neighbourhoods where it’s difficult to get around on foot, a new study suggests.
Researchers analysed data from more than 326 000 children in Toronto who were born between 1997 and 2003, and followed them until the ages of eight through 15.
Twenty-one percent of the children developed asthma, and low walkability in a child’s neighbourhood was associated with an increased risk of asthma, the findings showed.
The study findings were published in the Annals of the American Thoracic Society
Low walkability a problem
“We found that children living in neighbourhoods with low walkability were more likely to develop asthma and to continue to have asthma during later childhood,” said study author Dr Elinor Simons. She’s a paediatric allergist at the University of Manitoba and Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba.
“These findings show a relationship between lack of day-to-day physical activity, or sedentary lifestyle, and development of new and ongoing asthma in Toronto children,” she explained in a news release from the American Thoracic Society.
But the study did not prove that a lack of walking caused asthma risk to rise.
“Other large cities may have neighbourhood walkability patterns that are similar to Toronto’s, and may see similar associations with childhood asthma,” the study authors noted.
The researchers suggested that walkability can be improved “by greater placement of services – such as grocery stores – within residential neighbourhoods, and adding pedestrian paths between roads to improve street connectivity.”
Dr Simons added that “it is important to note that this study measured physical characteristics and did not look at social characteristics, such as neighbourhood crime and safety, or cultural reasons for walking rather than using another means of transportation. These characteristics also need to be studied and taken into account.”
