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An Overview of How the Built Environment Relates to Children’s Health

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Abstract

Purpose of Review

Explore the varied pathways between the built environment and children’s health. The review begins by describing how the built environment and transport infrastructure relate to conditions that lead to health outcomes. The review examines emissions, noise, and traffic dangers in relation to children’s physical, mental, and social health.

Recent Findings

Evidence is increasing for walkable neighborhoods and health-related behavior such as physical activity. However, diverse land uses (often supporting walkability) were also found to increase traffic injuries. Cognitive impacts of motorways on children at schools were found. Finally, the relationships between social activities and built environment are beginning.

Summary

The built environment’s influence on various physical health outcomes is increasingly clear and is often through a transport pathway. However, the links with mental and social health are less developed, though recent findings show significant results. Having accessible child-relevant destinations is an important consideration for children’s health.

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Funding

This research was funded in part by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (grant number 435–2020-1292).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil, Geological and Mining Engineering, Polytechnique Montréal, Montréal, H3T 1J4, Canada

    Shabnam Abdollahi & E. Owen D. Waygood

  2. Centre Urbanisation Culture Société, Institut National de La Recherche Scientifique, Montreal, H7B 1V7, Canada

    Zeinab Aliyas & Marie-Soleil Cloutier

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  1. Shabnam Abdollahi
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  2. E. Owen D. Waygood
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  3. Zeinab Aliyas
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  4. Marie-Soleil Cloutier
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to E. Owen D. Waygood.

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Conflict of Interest

Dr. Waygood reports grants from Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (grant number 435–2020-1292), during the conduct of the study. Shabnam Abdollahi reports being in part funded by the above grant during the conduct of the study. Dr. Ali Yas has nothing to disclose.

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Appendix. Search terms

Appendix. Search terms

The following search logic was used to identify literature. It was last conducted in January 2023 using Web of Science (Core Collection).

("built environment" OR "physical environment" OR "urban environment") AND ("children" OR "youth" OR "adolescents") AND ("mental health" OR "psychological well-being" OR "emotional well-being" OR "behavioral problems").

("built environment" OR "physical environment" OR "urban environment") AND ("transport" OR "transportation" OR "active transportation" OR "walking" OR "cycling" OR "public transportation") AND ("children" OR "child" OR "adolescent" OR "youth") AND ("physical health" OR "childhood obesity" OR "physical activity" OR "outdoor play”).

("built environment" OR "physical environment" OR "urban environment") AND ("transport" OR "transportation" OR "active transportation" OR "walking" OR "cycling" OR "public transportation") AND ("children" OR "child" OR "adolescent" OR "youth") AND ("social health" OR "social well-being" OR "social interactions" OR "community engagement" OR "neighborhood cohesion”).

Following comments from reviewers, “nature” was added to the built environment synonyms for each search and two additional relevant reviews on nature and green space were identified. That search was run on the 12th of June 2023.

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Abdollahi, S., Waygood, E.O.D., Aliyas, Z. et al. An Overview of How the Built Environment Relates to Children’s Health. Curr Envir Health Rpt 10, 264–277 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40572-023-00405-8

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