"Spatial features of obesogenic environments studied on a broad, community level have been associated with childhood overweight and obesity, but little research has focused on the effects of the design of micro spaces such as schools on individual health behaviors. This presentation aims to generate thinking and research on the link between school space and architecture and obesity prevention by reviewing and synthesizing available literature in architecture, environmental psychology, and obesity research, in an effort to propose promising ideas for school space design and redesign..."
This was the beginning of my abstract to a conference panel I was invited to put on by the National Institutes of Child Health and Human Development entitled "Obesity and the Design of Microenvironment: Beyond Individual Behavior: Multidimensional Research in Obesity Linking Biology to Society in Pentagon City, Arlington, VA on October 10 - 12, 2007. My session was on "Engaging and Integrating Industry and Social Entrepreneurial Partnerships Into Empirical Research."
The school environment is defined through five dimensions: physical, legal, policy, social, and cultural domains. For example, students’ meal choices at school could be viewed as the result of these forces. In this case, the legal environment would include regulations regarding the nutritional content of foods sold on campus. Meals provided as part of the National School Lunch Program, for instance, are held to federal nutrition standards while competing foods are not. In addition, the decision of which foods to eat could be affected by physical environment factors such as ease of access to competing foods. Are these foods available through vending machines, cafeterias, or student stores? Furthermore, school policies, such as the amount of time allocated for lunch, may also influence children’s decisions. In many cases, the influences of these domains interact, further strengthening their impact on health behaviors. For instance, in situations where cafeteria designs are inefficient or insufficient to handle growing enrollment rates, shorter lunch periods could be especially likely to steer children away from more nutritious cafeteria meals.
Expanding upon previous conceptualizations to also include social and cultural domains may be important. The environmental psychology literature reports on an increasing number of environmental factors, such as air quality, acoustics, climate control, crowding, ergonomics, and lighting, may be implicated in activity patterns, stress, and/or appetite and food choices – all relevant facets of overweight and obesity. The relationship between exposure to these factors and the subsequent development of unhealthy behaviors is, in many cases, multifactorial and complex. For instance, exposure to high levels of noise not only effects scholastic measures such as attention, but has also been linked to heightened blood pressure and stress, which may, in turn, influence health behaviors and outcomes. In the case of climate control, efforts to insulate buildings, when improperly conducted, have been shown to undermine indoor air quality, a problem which can lead to asthma flare-ups and absenteeism. Similarly, while crowding has been linked to stress, it may also indirectly influence dietary behaviors. Long lines and crowding in cafeteria spaces may encourage students to seek out less healthy alternative foods either on or off campus.
Efforts to increase physical activity at schools may begin with designs that augment traditional recreational spaces. One opportunity to encourage unstructured physical activity during recess is the creation of transitional spaces. Providing weather-protected spaces like porches, overhangs, or covered courts on the borders of indoor and outdoor spaces can provide unique areas for physical activity which may be utilized by students who normally avoid activity on fields, basketball courts, and similar outdoor playgrounds. In addition, such spaces enable physical activity during unfavorable weather conditions.
Existing outdoor spaces may be designed to facilitate both group and individual activities. While large, unstructured spaces like fields facilitate cooperative team play, they may provide little support for individual and small group activities. One way to address this concern is to define small, resource-rich activity pockets within larger spaces. For example, walking or nature trails may be used to divide or encircle undifferentiated outdoor spaces. Such paths can also serve as a means to connect smaller play environments designed to accommodate various levels of development. Examples of resource-rich, small activity centers could include small outdoor auditoriums, ponds, or exploratoriums. The underlying theme is that each provides a clear context for small group games and fills an activity niche that may not be supported by larger spaces. The addition of signage and instructions at each activity center may further supplement the space by removing knowledge barriers to using unfamiliar equipment and by providing guidelines to help influence health norms. Borrowing from the transitional space concept, such environments should make use of a combination of natural and built shelters to ensure that resources are accessible regardless of the season and weather
Design strategies aimed to promote physical activity and healthy eating are proposed, with particular emphasis on the design of cafeterias, activity spaces, connectivity with the larger community, and student health centers. Concluding remarks include intervention logistics, the merits of and barriers to school redesign, the important role of students in design efforts, and future research directions.
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