Published online August 31, 2005
PEDIATRICS Vol. 116 No. 3 September 2005, pp. 657-662 (doi:10.1542/peds.2004-2443)
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A National Study of Neighborhood Safety, Outdoor Play, Television Viewing, and Obesity in Preschool Children

Hillary L. Burdette, MD* and Robert C. Whitaker, MD, MPH{ddagger}

* Division of Gastroenterology and Nutrition, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, and Department of Pediatrics, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
{ddagger} Mathematica Policy Research, Inc, Princeton, New Jersey

Objective. To test the hypothesis that preschool children have a higher prevalence of obesity, spend less time playing outdoors, and spend more time watching television (TV) when they live in neighborhoods that their mothers perceive as unsafe.

Methods. In a cross-sectional survey in 20 large US cities, mothers reported the average daily time of outdoor play and TV viewing for their 3-year-old children, and the children's BMI was measured. Maternal perception of neighborhood safety was assessed with the Neighborhood Environment for Children Rating Scales; the scale score was used to divide children into tertiles of neighborhood safety.

Results. Of the 3141 children studied, 35% lived in households with incomes below the US poverty threshold. After adjustment for sociodemographic factors (household income and mothers' education, race/ethnicity, age, and marital status), obesity prevalence (BMI ≥95th percentile) did not differ in children from the least safe to the safest neighborhood safety tertile (18% vs 17% vs 20%) or in weekday (160 vs 151 vs 156 minutes/day) or weekend (233 vs 222 vs 222 minutes/day) outdoor play time. Children who lived in neighborhoods that were perceived by their mothers as the least safe watched more TV (201 vs 182 vs 185 minutes/day) and were more likely to watch >2 hours/day (66% vs 60% vs 62%). TV viewing and outdoor play minutes were not significantly correlated to each other or to BMI.

Conclusions. In a national sample of preschool children, mothers' perception of neighborhood safety was related to their children's TV viewing time but not to their outdoor play time or risk for obesity.

Key Words: safety • obesity • television • physical activity • preschool children

Abbreviations: TV, television

Accepted Dec 20, 2004.




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