No child left inside: The built environment and caregiver strategies to promote child physical activity

In this study, 13 low-income African American caregivers of preschoolers were interviewed to explore neighborhood obstacles to children's physical activity and the strategies caregivers used against these challenges. Built environment barriers included social and physical disorder, crime and violence, speeding traffic, and stray dogs. Recreational settings were few, inaccessible, and poorly equipped and maintained. In addition to high facility fees and few organized activities, recreational settings had high levels of disorder and violence. Despite barriers, caregivers used strategies to promote physical activity, including environmental appraisal, boundary enforcement, chaperonage, collective supervision, and local and extra-local resource-brokering. These findings document how caregivers' strategies represent intervening processes in response to the built environment The findings further provide place- and asset-based recommendations.