Built Environments And Child Health in WalEs and AuStralia (BEACHES)

We will identify and understand how complex and interacting factors in the built environment (BE) influence modifiable risk factors (physical inactivity,
sedentary time, unhealthy diet, overweight/obesity) for non-communicable diseases (NCD) across childhood. A better understanding of how the BE drives
overweight/obesity by either promoting or inhibiting modifiable risk factors will inform evidence-based planning policy and practice strategies to prevent the
rise in NCD’s in future generations.
Building on previous collaborative research between University of Western Australia, Queensland University of Technology, Monash and Swansea
University, our program of work will bring together five large cohort studies that have detailed anthropometric, physical activity, and contextual data on more
than 1million UK and Australian children. We will use highly resolved spatial data and cutting edge geospatial techniques to construct a harmonized set of
metrics that characterise the BE each child inhabits across their lifecourse. Finally, we will use these components in a multi-level modelling framework to
quantify the influence that different BE characteristics have had on the weight status of these children, and the respective roles of physical activity, sedentary
behaviour, and diet in this relationship. Harmonizing both child and BE indicators across five large-scale studies will enable us to conduct analyses across a
broader set of age-ranges and leverage greater heterogeneity in BEs. This will provide a unique opportunity to identify impacts of the BE that are common
across settings, but also explore how the contrasting physical, cultural and policy environments may act to mediate those effects.
This research will inform evidence-based planning policy and practice strategies to prevent the rise in NCD’s in future generations. We will develop a set of
guidelines focused on principles of best practice for liveable, family-friendly BEs that promote healthy beginnings.