“Unsafe” cities affecting children’s health

by ERIC HATCH

Montreal is failing its commitment to its children, if the lack of safety and physical activity in urban centres is any indication.

That's the gist of a recent study by Canada's Vanier Institute of the Family,showing that – due to the effects of urban sprawl – more children living in urban communities are becoming less active and less safe.

As cities continue to grow, cars are becoming more fundamental and are discouraging the use of active modes of transportation.

According to the Vanier study, more than 80 per cent of Canadians live in urbanized communities. Only 7.7 per cent use active, non-motorized modes of transportation, such as walking and cycling, to get around on a regular basis.

The Vanier study noticed that, since urban sprawl has made it essential for households to use cars as their main source of transportation, the congestion levels in traffic have increased, making it more dangerous for children to walk or ride bikes in urban centers. In 2007, Statistics Canada reported that 83 per cent of households have at least one car.

“The results of urban planning are rather disappointing,” said Juan Torres, an urban planner and professor at the Université de Montreal's Institut d'urbanisme.

Torres's portion of the study, Children and Cities: Planning to Grow Together, looks at how urbanization has changed to accommodate the needs of motorized transportation and the unhealthy impacts it has on urban-childhood development.

As stated in his study, Torres believes that children nowadays have become only the “users” of public spaces. “Children play an important part in urban population, but they are rarely taken into consideration in city planning,” he said. “It's adults who give shape to these places and control how children should use them.”

“The car is the main tool to help the mobility of the modern family,” said Torres, “and its overuse has made public spaces dangerous.”

With adults being the prime constructors of urban spaces, most communities are only being constructed with adult intentions. This also has a major impact on younger people's lives, since it confines them to environments where they can be less autonomous.

In Vanier's second study titled Caution! Kids at Play?, Carlton University psychology student Belinda Boekhoven stresses that the loss of autonomy gears children down an unhealthy path.

“The dependency on their parents leads them to not having the desire to leave their home,” said Boekhoven. “Instead, children come home from school, grab a snack and turn on the television., only to wait for their parents to come home and feed them more.”

With this inactive, dependent nature, children are more likely to suffer the effects of obesity.

A 2009 study produced by Quebec's statistics institute reports that more than 21 per cent of Montreal children are overweight or obese.

Instead of finding their own methods of active transportation, Boekhoven believes that children have been relying more on their parents to drive them. Since their dependency relies on their parents, children are starting to remain indoors, or remain in spaces that require the least amount of activity.

“Malls have become the new urban hangout,” said Katherine Scott, director of programs at the Vanier Institute of the Family.

As a mother, Scott has seen the lack of physical activity in her own children. “My own children have 20 minutes of [daily physical activity] at school and that's it,” she said. “More has to be done in urban communities in order for them to gain control over their lives and realize how important physical activity is.”

With Montreal's child community at serious health and safety risk, a program like Vélo Quebec's On the Move to School may help change things.

Founded in 2005, On the Move to School is a free program available to all children teaching the importance of daily physical activity. The program also tries to keep children fit, refine their motor skills and teach them to become more self-sufficient.

“On average, kids live about one kilometer away from school,” said Vélo Quebec Development Agent Edith Martel. “With cities constantly growing, it becomes harder for kids to find active ways to get to school because roads have become too dangerous.”

In a study produced in 2002, Vélo Quebec saw that 70 per cent of Quebec children did not fulfill the minimum level of physical activity by healthcare professionals.

“This is also caused by being driven to school everyday,” said Martel.

Since the program started, Martel has noticed a dramatic change in children involvement. “We started with eight Montreal schools signed up for the program,” she said. “Today, almost 105 schools have become involved in different regions around the province, and 40 of them are in Montreal.”

Proud of the programs achievements, Martel said that its work is only half done.

“What we want to see are children continuing to be active and to continue doing so until they become adults,” she said. “This way children will become more empowered and autonomous in their communities and in their everyday lives.”

Although physical activity programs will help children understand its importance, is that the only thing that should be brought forward?

“If children are dependent on their parents, family outings should become weekly a [thing],” said Boekhoven.

She also believes that children who become familiar with their neighborhood and surroundings will become more interested in physical active.

With additional solutions, Torres believes that many Montreal children would like to participate in their community's urban development. “Children bring a unique and important perspective to the planning of our neighborhoods and cities,” said Torres, “and they should be more involved with how they want things to be.”

With more physical activity programming and more constructed urban planning, Torres and Boekhoven find it refreshing to see that people still have hope for today's youth.

“There is a saying that says 'it takes a whole town to raise a child,'” said Torres. “I'd like Montreal to become the town; raising our children rather than scare them away.”