Introduction: This paper reports on a new methodology to objectively study the world in which
children live. The primary research study (Kids’Cam Food Marketing) illustrates the method;
numerous ancillary studies include exploration of children’s exposure to alcohol, smoking, “blue”
space and gambling, and their use of “green” space, transport, and sun protection.
Methods: One hundred sixty-eight randomly selected children (aged 11–13 years) recruited from
16 randomly selected schools in Wellington, New Zealand used wearable cameras and GPS units for
4 days, recording imagery every 7 seconds and longitude/latitude locations every 5 seconds. Data
were collected from July 2014 to June 2015. Analysis commenced in 2015 and is ongoing. Bespoke
software was used to manually code images for variables of interest including setting, marketing
media, and product category to produce variables for statistical analysis. GPS data were extracted
and cleaned in ArcGIS, version 10.3 for exposure spatial analysis.
Results: Approximately 1.4 million images and 2.2 million GPS coordinates were generated (most were
usable) from many settings including the difficult to measure aspects of exposures in the home, at school,
and during leisure time. The method is ethical, legal, and acceptable to children and the wider community.
Conclusions: This methodology enabled objective analysis of the world in which children live. The
main arm examined the frequency and nature of children’s exposure to food and beverage marketing
and provided data on difficult to measure settings. The methodology will likely generate robust
evidence facilitating more effective policymaking to address numerous public health concerns
This item is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License. View License
Funders:
Health Research Council of New Zealand Programme Grant (13/724), Science Foundation Ireland (grant 12/RC/2289), European Commission FP7 International Research Staff Exchange Scheme (IRSES) funding award (2011-IRSES-295157-PANAMA)
ID Code:
25724
Deposited On:
07 Apr 2021 12:58 by
Michael Scriney
. Last Modified 01 Mar 2023 13:38