Exploring Children’s Food Environments in Macau from a Built Environment Management Perspective

Faculty of Innovation and Design, City University of Macau, Macau, China

^* Corresponding author: U23092120291@cityu.edu.mo
^a U23092120442@cityu.edu.mo

Abstract

For urban planning and management and public health have been intertwined for most of their histories, the impact of built environment on children’s well-being has become an important topic in both fields today. Many studies have shown that the clustering of fast food restaurants (FFRs) around schools can increase the rate of obesity in children by changing their eating environment, so studying the concentration of FFRs around schools can help us assess the risk of obesity in children. Macau as a high density city, the obesity of children has generally become a critical public health problem. Therefore, this research aims to explore the distribution of FFRs around schools in Macau. Results show that there was not only an obvious clustering distribution of FFRs in Macau, but also a positive correlation between the distribution of schools and FFRs’ clustering. The study supports the improvement of the built environment around Macau’s schools from a public health perspective and enhances the development of Macau as a healthy city in the future.