A national study of neighborhood safety, outdoor play, television viewing, and obesity in preschool children

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.

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.