Examining the Contribution of the Neighborhood Built Environment to the Relationship Between Neighborhood Disadvantage and Early Childhood Development in 205,000 Australian Children

OBJECTIVE: We examined associations between neighbor-hood built environment features and early childhood develop-ment (ECD), and tested the contribution of the built environment to associations between neighborhood disadvan-tage and ECD. METHODS: Spatial neighborhood built environment measures were linked to participant addresses in the 2015 Australian Early Development Census (AEDC) for children >> 5 years old living in Australia's 21 most populous cities. The 2015 AEDC contains teacher-reported national data on five key child devel-opment domains for children in their first year of formal full-time schooling (approximately 5 years old). AEDC scores were classified as 'developmentally vulnerable' (<= 10th cen-tile). Using multilevel modeling, 44 built environment meas-ures were tested with developmental vulnerability on at least one domain of the AEDC, adjusting for socioeconomic factors and neighborhood disadvantage.RESULTS: The dataset consisted of 205,030 children; 89.2% living in major cities. In major cities, children with more early childhood education and care services (OR 0.997) and pre- school services (OR 0.991) exceeding Australian standards, and access to healthier food outlets within 3200 m of their home (OR 0.999) had decreased odds of developmental vul-nerability, controlling for socioeconomic factors and neighbor-hood disadvantage. Neighborhood disadvantage remained significantly associated with developmental vulnerability after adjustment for child/family variables and neighborhood built environment characteristics.CONCLUSIONS: The neighborhood built environment had small effects on the neighborhood disadvantage-ECD rela-tionship at the national level. Few built environment measures were associated with ECD. Small effects at the population level may have wide-ranging impacts; modifying the built environment at scale are promising levers for supporting good child outcomes.

Automated summary

This study examined the relationship between neighborhood built environment features and early childhood development (ECD), and found that education and care services, preschool services, and access to healthier food outlets within neighborhoods were associated with reduced developmental vulnerability in children. The study suggests that the built environment can play a role in supporting positive child outcomes.