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Abstract

A better understanding of the physical activity (PA) infrastructure in schools, the walkability of neighborhoods close to schools, and the food environments around schools, particularly in rural, socioeconomically challenged areas such as the North-West (NW) of Tasmania, could be important in the wider effort to improve the health of school-age children. Accordingly, this research aimed to assess PA resources, walkability, and food environments in and around schools in three socioeconomically disadvantaged, regional/rural Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Tasmania, Australia. A census of schools (including assessment of the PA infrastructure quality within school grounds), a walkability assessment, and a census of food outlets surrounding schools (through geospatial mapping) were executed. Most of the schools in the study region had access to an oval, basketball/volleyball/netball court, and free-standing exercise equipment. In all instances (i.e., regardless of school type), the quality of the available infrastructure was substantially higher than the number of incivilities observed. Most schools also had good (i.e., within the first four deciles) walkability. Numerous food outlets were within the walking zones of all schools in the study region, with an abundance of food outlets that predominantly sold processed unhealthy food.

Item Type:	Article
Authors/Creators:	Jayasinghe, S and Flies, EJ and Soward, R and Kendal, D and Kilpatrick, M and Cleland, V and Roberts, R and Norzahari, F and Davern, M and Holloway, TP and Murray, S and Patterson, KAE and Ahuja, KDK and Hughes, R and Byrne, NM and Hills, AP
Keywords:	childhood obesity, physical activity, food environment, spatial analysis, NW Tasmania, regional Australia, schools, walkability, physcal activity, food environment
Journal or Publication Title:	International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Publisher:	MDPI AG
ISSN:	1660-4601
DOI / ID Number:	https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19106238
Copyright Information:	Copyright: © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Related URLs:	Google Scholar: Flies, EJ UTAS Profile: Flies, EJ Google Scholar: Kendal, D Google Scholar: Kilpatrick, M Google Scholar: Cleland, V Google Scholar: Murray, S UTAS Profile: Murray, S UTAS Profile: Patterson, KAE Google Scholar: Ahuja, KDK UTAS Profile: Ahuja, KDK Google Scholar: Byrne, NM UTAS Profile: Byrne, NM Google Scholar: Hills, AP UTAS Profile: Hills, AP
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