Digital Storytelling SuSe 2022 Stephan Voß: Creating Healthy Cities for Children and Adolescents

Lea

Creating Healthy Cities for Children and Adolescents

Created by: Stephan Voss
Institution: LMU Munich

Introducing Lea

"Hello! My name is Lea. I live in a huge city. I want to talk with you about how cities affect health and well-being of children and adolescents. Just join me on an average day of my life."

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Traffic

"Crossing busy roads on my way to school can be an adventure! These are a source for accidents and injuries for children and adolescents."

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Pollution

"Also, the pollutants from the cars worsen my asthma. Ambient air pollution from traffic and other sources increase risk for many diseases in adults, but children are especially vulnerable. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) 600,000 children may have died from acute lower respiratory infections caused by polluted air."

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Parks

"In the afternoon, me and my friends often hang out in the streets, because there are no parks in our neighborhood.

Parks are not only a safe ground to play around for young people. Greenspaces are associated with mental well-being, a healthy cognitive development including improved attention and memory."

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Ela

"Hello! I am Ela, Lea´s aunt. You have learnt now a lot about how cities affect the health of young people. But what can we do about it? Let`s talk about how we can create healthy cities for children and adolescents."

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Popsicle

"What does it mean, if a city is friendly for children? Well, there is a simple way to find out: the popsicle test."

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Popsicle test

"The popsicle test means: Can a child go safely from its home to a shop to buy a popsicle and go home again, before the popsicle melts? This sounds simple, but it has huge implications: This means that the urban environment
where this child lives in is safe and walkable."

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Walkabability

"Walkability is a concept from urban health research. The higher the walkability of a built environment, the easier it is to reach places of everyday life by foot. This is important for many reasons: people are more physically active and therefore gain obesity and associated diseases less often. Also, mental well-being is improved."

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Lea and Ela

"This sounds great, auntie! But how can we make cities more friendly for children?"

"Well, there are a few important things to consider here."

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Team work

Providing safer roads, alternatives for cars, or more green spaces is no task for health experts alone. Urban planners, social workers and policy makers have to work together to get the best results – e.g. to consider children´s needs when planning a district. We call this the “Health in All Policies” approach.

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Community Engagement

People know best what they need for their health – this is a core idea in health promotion. Therefore, when building cities for children, these children and their parents should always be engaged. This way, they learn how to take care for their needs on their own. That process is called empowerment.

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Finish

Fantastic! Now we know how to build healthier cities for children and adolescents. Let`s get started!

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