UNews - Richard Larouche

Canadian children with greater freedom to roam show lower psychological distress

caroline.zentner — Mon, 16 Sep 2024 15:07:26 +0000

Parents today likely won’t be surprised to know their children have far less freedom to travel in their neighbourhoods than they did. But what they might not know is how that could affect their children’s mental health.

Dr. Richard Larouche, a Faculty of Health Sciences professor at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge, and other researchers across Canada have found children’s independent mobility (CIM), which is children’s freedom to roam and explore their neighbourhood without adult supervision, has declined over the past 50 years. Researchers have also noted the decline in CIM happened at the same time as a major increase in mental health problems such as anxiety, depression and suicide among children and adolescents.

“While there seems to be an association between mental health and CIM, there was no longitudinal evidence to support the idea,” says Larouche. “Using data from a national longitudinal study we conducted between December 2020 and June 2022, we tested the hypothesis that higher CIM would be associated with lower levels of distress during the COVID-19 pandemic.”

The data were obtained from parents of 2,258 seven- to 12-year-olds in Canada. They were surveyed every six months and asked to assess their children’s distress and indicate how far children were allowed to roam alone or with friends or siblings — their home range.

“Consistent with our hypothesis, a higher home range was associated with lower odds of parent-perceived distress among Canadian children during the COVID-19 pandemic,” says Larouche. “Children with the highest level of home range had 39 per cent lower odds of having elevated distress. This is a notable difference given that just over half of the children met the threshold for elevated distress at the beginning of the study. The proportion declined slightly to about 42 per cent by the end of the study when most COVID-19 restrictions were lifted.”

While the study included a relatively large national sample size, the researchers say intervention studies are needed to further investigate the relationship between CIM and mental health and determine causality.

“Our findings concur with research showing that in-person school attendance was associated with better mental health than online attendance,” says Larouche. “Our results underscore the need to provide more mental health support for children during pandemics, especially for low-income families and children attending school remotely. Supporting CIM may be a no-cost, equitable approach to promote physical activity and support child development and mental health.”

The researchers suggest pediatricians and health professionals consider promoting the benefits of children getting out and about. The Canadian Paediatric Society released a position statement earlier this year regarding the benefits of outdoor risky play. CIM is viewed as one example of risky play, which is defined as thrilling and exciting play that can include the possibility of physical injury. Urban planners and policymakers could ensure children have access to places that support their independent mobility, including parks, playgrounds and walking and cycling paths. UNICEF’s Child Friendly Cities Initiative is one such example.

“More research is also needed to develop, implement and evaluate effective interventions to promote children’s independent mobility,” says Larouche.

More than $1.5 million in CIHR funding for study comparing physical activity levels amongst children worldwide

trevor.kenney — Mon, 25 Jul 2022 21:07:06 +0000

An ambitious ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge-led study to create a new app-based questionnaire to compare the physical activity levels amongst children across the globe has been awarded more than $1.5 million in funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).

The study will compare physical activity levels within and between 14 countries on six different continents.

Dr. Richard Larouche, an associate professor in the Faculty of Health Sciences’ Public Health Program, is collaborating with Dr. Mark S. Tremblay, a senior scientist at the CHEO Research Institute in Ottawa, to lead a group of 25 co-investigators as they seek to compare physical activity levels within and between 14 countries on six different continents. Such comparisons could help identify countries that are doing well in promoting some types of activity and help other countries develop interventions to increase physical activity.

“We lack a comparable instrument to measure physical activity across countries,” says Larouche. “So, when we're comparing different studies, some of the differences we see between countries may actually be differences in measurement rather than genuine differences in physical activity behaviours.”

First, they aim to develop an app-based questionnaire and determine its accuracy in measuring physical activity among five- to 17-year-olds in low-, middle-, and high-income countries.

“Most of the questionnaires we have are developed in high-income countries like Canada, the United States and European countries,” adds Larouche. “They tend to do a fairly decent job at capturing things like sport participation but to capture the more lifestyle-associated activities, they don't do such a good job.”

Low-income countries tend to have less organized sport participation and may have higher levels of active play — which the researchers aim to capture through the newly developed questionnaire. The study, which is funded over three years, will begin with the development of the app-based questionnaire and subsequent preliminary testing in each of the 14 countries. Based on initial results, a new version will be created and then translated into the main languages of each country. From there, a pilot study with about 30 children and one of their parents in each country will be conducted to see if further changes to the questionnaire may be needed. The main study will then follow with 500 children and their parents in each of the 14 countries.

“It’s definitely the biggest study that I’ve led, so it’s exciting,” says Larouche, who estimates that up to 100 post-secondary students and research staff across the research network will gain valuable experience collecting the data and/or assisting with other study tasks. “If we get the participation we want, which would be about 7,000 kids total, all levels of country income, based on the World Bank classification, and from urban and rural locations, we will have excellent data to work with that’s directly comparable.”

It will allow researchers to gain an understanding of which countries are doing better than others in promoting physical activity among their youth. This, in turn, can help generate ideas for future policies or interventions by researchers and practitioners. It also generates a dataset that can be used by other researchers for future studies.

“We expect our new questionnaire will facilitate the measurement of physical activity globally,” concludes Larouche. “Our sample has the potential to be the largest and most diverse ever collected to assess the accuracy of such a questionnaire.”

The Research Support Fund supports a portion of the costs associated with managing the research funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council and Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, such as salaries for staff who provide administration support, training costs for workplace health and safety, maintenance of libraries and laboratories, and administrative costs associated with obtaining patents for inventions.

July 1 marks the start for six new U of L Board of Governors Research Chairs

caroline.zentner — Mon, 29 Jun 2020 16:23:14 +0000

Six diverse scholars will begin their appointments as Board of Governors Research Chairs, highlighting their exceptional work and impacts on their chosen fields of study.

“I am very pleased these individuals are being recognized as the outstanding scholars that they are,” says Dr. Robert Wood, interim vice-president (research). “They reflect the exceptional quality of research being done across the academic disciplines at the U of L and their important work enhances our reputation as one of Canada’s most influential research institutions.”

Dr. Debra Basil, a professor in the Dhillon School of Business, will begin a five-year term as a Tier I Research Chair in Marketing and Management. Her research examines social responsibility with marketing and management, with a focus on the nexus of non-profit and for-profit organizations. She has held several major external grants and her works have been presented in numerous national and international journals and conferences. She is currently completing a book titled Social Marketing in Action: Cases from Around the World.

Also appointed at the Tier I level is Dr. Chris Hopkinson, a professor in the Department of Geography & Environment. He will be the Research Chair in Terrestrial Ecosystem Remote Sensing. Hopkinson founded the ARTeMIS Lab for ecosystem change in 2013, when he joined the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge after working as an Environmental Research Scientist with the Australian Government. With a background in engineering and geography, Hopkinson integrates hydro-meteorological, remote sensing, spatial and temporal data sources to better understand multi-dimensional natural resource and ecosystem process dynamics in cold region environments.

Mary Kavanagh begins a five-year term as a Tier I Research Chair in Fine Arts. Kavanagh is a visual artist and professor in the Department of Art, where she teaches drawing, interdisciplinary studio, spatial art practice and critical theory. For more than 20 years, her work has been presented in solo and group exhibitions in Canada and abroad, and she has consistently contributed to academic forums including publishing, lecturing, conference publications and adjudicating.

Beginning a four-year appointment as a Tier II Research Chair in Addiction is Dr. Darren Christensen, an associate professor in the Faculty of Health Sciences. He researches the etiology, prevention, and treatment of addiction. His research includes developing behavioural treatments for problem gambling, evaluations of the effectiveness of harm minimization measures, and an investigation of regular opioid antagonist dosing on gambling urge and brain function.

Dr. Richard Larouche, an assistant professor in the Faculty of Health Sciences’ Public Health Program, has been appointed a Tier II Research Chair in Children’s Physical Activity for a four-year term. He joined the Faculty in 2017 after a postdoctoral fellowship at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute. His research program revolves around physical activity among children and youth, with special interest in different types of physical activity such as active transportation (e.g., walking and cycling to and from places) and outdoor play. Larouche published his first book in 2018 with Elsevier entitled, Children’s Active Transportation.

Also at the Tier II level, Dr. Jenny McCune has been appointed as Board of Governors Research Chair in Plant Conservation for four years. McCune, a faculty member in the Department of Biological Sciences, completed her undergraduate degree at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Guelph and graduate degrees at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Kent in the United Kingdom and the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of British Columbia. Between degrees, she worked as a professional ecologist for an environmental NGO in California and as a biologist for the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. Prior to joining the U of L, she held a Liber Ero fellowship, which supported her work in the conservation of rare plants in Canada.

Larouche to cycle across Canada raising funds for Alzheimer research

trevor.kenney — Fri, 03 May 2019 14:21:22 +0000

Like many of us, Dr. Richard Larouche is looking forward to hitting the road and experiencing the beauty of the Canadian landscape this summer. Unlike the majority, he’ll be doing so on his bike, with an ambitious plan to cycle 8,000 kilometres across Canada as he looks to raise funds in support of the Alzheimer Society of Canada.

An avid cyclist, Larouche has been on numerous arduous cycle trips throughout the country.

Larouche, a public health researcher in the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge’s Faculty of Health Sciences, will launch his ride Thursday, May 9 from the U of L and head east with a goal of finishing in St. John’s, Newfoundland. He’ll then cap off his summer by riding from Victoria, BC to Lethbridge.

“In total, I will cycle about 8,000 km, with a few planned detours to Manitoulin Island in Lake Huron, Charlevoix, to visit my hometown of La Malbaie, Que., the Cabot Trail in Nova Scotia and Gros Morne National Park in Newfoundland,” says Larouche. “All the while I’ll be updating a journal on the web in both English and French and collecting funds for research on Alzheimer’s disease.”

His motivation for the trip is simple. As an avid cyclist and public health professor, he’s an advocate for physical activity. He’s also seen several family members struggle with the effects of Alzheimer’s.

“Personally, I’ve seen what this disease does to people and how it affects the families of those who are suffering,” he says. “Our population is aging rapidly and it is expected that the number of people diagnosed with Alzheimer’s will only increase in the coming years. I’ve set a goal to collect $25,000 to support research through the Alzheimer Society of Canada. I’d be more than happy to increase that goal if things go well.”

Larouche has established a campaign on the CanadaHelps platform (https://www.canadahelps.org/en/pages/tour-de-memoire-tour-of-memory/) and all donations greater than $10 will receive a tax receipt.

To view Larouche’s journal, visit https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/?o=1mr&doc_id=21848&v=1F and follow his cross-Canada journey.

New book calls for increased focus on active transportation opportunities for children and youth

trevor.kenney — Fri, 16 Nov 2018 17:12:21 +0000

The sight of children riding bikes or walking to school has largely been replaced by a lineup of cars and schools buses ferrying them to the front door. While a number of factors have contributed to this trend, no one can deny active transportation for children and youth is on the decline.

Dr. Richard Larouche says it’s important to ingrain active transportation habits in children so they continue to be active in their teen and adult years.

Dr. Richard Larouche, a public health researcher in the Faculty of Health Sciences at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge, sees this as disappointing and in his new book, Children’s Active Transportation, says it’s important to ingrain active transportation habits in children so they continue to be active in their teen and adult years.

“The literature is consistent in respect to the relationship between active transportation and physical activity,” says Larouche. “Those who use it are more physically active and studies in adults have found that those involved in active transportation have lower rates of cardiovascular disease, some cancers, diabetes and so on.”

Travel patterns, he says, are habitual, and children who grow up knowing only cars and buses are less likely to adopt active transportation patterns than those who are active as children.

“Active transportation relates to two of my main research interests. When I was an undergraduate student, I was interested in physical activity but also the environment, which are two quite different topics. This area makes the link between the two,” says Larouche, who, as a child, began walking to school at the age of seven. He’s an avid cyclist today.

“Initially in my PhD studies, I was looking more at the effect of active transportation on physical activity and health-related outcomes, things like fitness, body weight and cardiovascular risk. Recently, I’ve transitioned into looking at what distinguishes children who use active transportation from those who don’t and trying to find new ways to encourage active transportation.”

Larouche is originally from Charlevoix, Que. and completed his undergraduate and master’s studies at Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières. From there, he went to ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Ottawa for his PhD and spent considerable time at Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) as part of a research group that worked with children on an assortment of public health issues.

His book is written for a broad audience, appealing to fellow researchers but also advanced students in transportation, urban studies and public health. Transportation and urban planning public officials can also benefit from its insight.

“The book is divided into three main sections. The first looks at benefits of active transportation in terms of health, the environment and the economy. The second section is about the factors that are associated with influencing active transportation, and the third section is about the interventions that exist to promote active transportation, things such as walking school buses and school travel plans,” says Larouche.

He notes that encouraging active transportation involves developing urban infrastructure that supports the behaviour. He also says it goes beyond just trips to and from school.

“In the end, we make the case that most of the current interventions focus on the trip to and from school but there’s a need for interventions to get active transportation to other places. Things like parks, sports fields, shops, all need to be accessible.”

Children’s Active Transportation, 1st Edition, is available from Elsevier.com.

Larouche will launch his book with a public talk on Wednesday, Nov. 21 at 6:30 p.m. in Andy's Place (AH100).

UNews - Richard Larouche

Canadian children with greater freedom to roam show lower psychological distress

Related Topics

More than $1.5 million in CIHR funding for study comparing physical activity levels amongst children worldwide

Related Topics

July 1 marks the start for six new U of L Board of Governors Research Chairs

Related Topics

Larouche to cycle across Canada raising funds for Alzheimer research

Related Topics

New book calls for increased focus on active transportation opportunities for children and youth

Related Topics