Table 1 Summary of studies

Kim, J. H., et al. (2016)

Reference number: [30]

Green and blue spaces & Perception

Cross-sectional

Inner-City Neighborhoods in Houston, Texas, USA

Hispanic children (9–11 years)

92

Objectively measured: landscape spatial patterns

Self-reported: neighborhood environmental perception (accessibility, safety, comfort, attractiveness, satisfaction)

Self- and parent reported Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL) [5]

Larger and greater number of tree areas/forests were positively associated with Quality of Life (QoL), as well as longer distances between tree patches.

Neighborhood disorder and barriers to walking were negatively associated, but self-reported access to schools and open spaces and existence of parks were positively associated with QoL.

Good

Martin, G., et al. (2021)

Reference number: [31]

Perception

Cross-sectional

Schools (Grade 5–8) in Northwestern and Southwestern Ontario, Canada

8–14 years

754–758

Self-reported perceived neighborhood safety (NEWS-Y Survey item, interpersonal safety, traffic safety)

Self-reported Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL) [5]

Traffic safety was not significantly associated with QoL & active school travel.

Neighborhood traffic safety was positively correlated with subscales of QoL (emotional and psychosocial functioning), but not with all domains of QoL.

Good

McCracken, D. S., et al. (2016)

Reference number: [32]

Green and blue spaces

Cross-sectional

Primary schools in Edinburgh, United Kingdom

8–11 years

287

Objectively measured quantity of green space in neighborhood (ArcGIS, 500 m buffer)

Self-reported Kid-KINDL [6]

Greater greenspace use was associated with better QoL

Percentage of greenspace not significantly associated with QoL.

Good

Tillmann, S., et al. (2018)

Reference number: [33]

Green and blue spaces

Cross-sectional

Schools (Grade 5–8) in Northwestern and Southwestern Ontario, Canada

8–14 years

851

Objectively measured natural environment: Accessibility to nature, percentage of park/water areas, landscape spatial patterns, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index

Self-reported Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL) [5]

Percentage of park space was positively associated with QoL. Percentage of water/grass/shrubbery was negatively associated with QoL in urban areas, but not in rural areas. Lack of clinically significant relationship.

Good

Weigl, K., et al. (2018)

Reference number: [34]

Infrastructure

Cross-sectional

Kindergarten to School in Bavaria (Bamberg, Munich, Ingolstadt, Schwandorf, and Günzburg) in Germany

Mean age: 6 years

3,744

Parent-reported environmental factors (including crowded housing, outside places to play, pollution)

Parent-reported Kiddy-KINDL [6]

Positive relationship between place to play outside and QoL.

Good

Wu, X. Y., et al. (2010)

Reference number: [35]

Green and blue spaces, perception

Cross-sectional

Elementary Schools (Grade 5) in Alberta, Canada

10–11 years

3,421

Parent-reported survey: place of residency, neighborhood satisfaction, neighborhood safety, neighborhood playgrounds and parks

Self-reported

EuroQoL 5 Dimensions Youth Version (EQ-5D-Y) [46]

Neighborhood satisfaction was positively associated with QoL.

No statistically significant relationship between sidewalks/parks or neighborhood safety and QoL.

Good

Mastorci, F., et al. (2021)

Reference number: [36]

Green and blue spaces, infrastructure

Longitudinal

Middle Schools in Central and Northern Italy (Tuscane, Liguria Friuli Venezia Giulia)

10–14 years

1,289

Self-reported online questionnaire on environment and housing situation (including presence or absence of green spaces or terraces)

Self-reported KIDSCREEN-52 [38]

Having green space or terraces is associated with better QoL.

Living in city and not having green space associated with reduced physical health domain of QoL.

Good

Nagata et al. (2021)

Reference number: [37]

Green and blue spaces

Mixed Methods

Parks in Lower Manhattan, New York, New York United States

3–13 years

174

Parent-reported questionnaire on importance of urban farm, frequency of visits to green space, time spent in green space, and proximity to green space

Parent-reported Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System’s Positive Affect and Life Satisfaction scales [47]

Access to urban farms positively associated with QoL. Residential proximity to blue space associated with better QoL.

Good

Feng et al. (2017)

Reference number: [38]

Green and blue spaces

Longitudinal

Neighborhoods in Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia

4–5 years and 12–13 years

4,968

Objectively measured: Greenspace quantity (percentage of land use)

Parent-reported quality of parks using a Likert scale

Parent-reported Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) [48]

Dose-response relationship was found: the more green space and the better quality of green space the better QoL. But plateau effect: gains in QoL appeared to top out for participants with 21–40% of the residential land-use designated as green space

Fair

González-Carrasco et al. (2019)

Reference number: [39]

Perception

Cross-sectional

Neighborhoods in Spain, Algeria, South Africa, Israel

< 13 years

9,262

Self-reported questionnaire on neighborhood satisfaction and perceived safety

Self-reported overall satisfaction with life, Students’ Life Satisfaction Scale (SLSS; 5 instead of 11 items) and Brief Multidimensional Students’ Life Satisfaction Scale (BMSLSS) (5 items instead of 40 items) [49, 50]

Higher satisfaction with safety associated with higher QoL.

Fair

Nordbø et al. (2020)

Reference number: [40]

Green and blue spaces, infrastructure

Cross-sectional

Densely populated, urban neighborhoods in Norway

8 years

21,019

Objectively measured built environment features including number of facilities/amenities, number of playgrounds, area of green space, and access to/presence of park within buffer

Self-reported Short Mood & Feelings Questionnaire (SMFQ) [51]

Organized activities mediate the relationship between green space, access to parks and greater QoL. Surprising finding: Greater access to parks was negatively correlated with child wellbeing. Greater total green space was associated with greater QoL

Good

de Macêdo et al. (2021)

Reference number: [41]

Infrastructure

Cross-sectional

Commute between home and school in state capitals in Brazil (Curitiba, Florianopolis, Porto Alegre, Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo)

9–14 years

1,787

Self-reported questionnaire on public transportation, active commute with or without supervision, and surrounding streets/street connectivity

Self-reported Children’s World International Survey of Children’s Well-Being (ISCWeB) [52]

Playing in streets/parks associated higher QoL, going to/from school with adult was associated higher QoL, using public transportation without adult was associated with lower QoL.

Fair

Lee & Yoo (2015)

Reference number: [42]

Infrastructure, Perception

Cross-sectional

Urban neighborhoods across 11 countries (Algeria, Brazil, Chile, England, Israel, Romania, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Uganda, United States)

12 years

12,077

Self-reported survey on community factors including access to areas to play and neighborhood safety

Self-reported General Domain Satisfaction Index (GDSI) [53]

Community factors explain 7% of child’s QoL with more places to play outside and higher perceived safety to walk around in neighborhood associated with greater QoL. Country-specific variation, but for each country on their own, these factors remain significant for child’s QoL.

Good

de Bont et al. (2021)

Reference number: [29]

Green and blue spaces, infrastructure

Cross-sectional

Primary Schools in Sabadell, Spain

9–12 years

2,213

Objectively measured, including green space availability and accessibility, street connectivity, facility density, walkability, road traffic (traffic load, traffic density, traffic noise)

Self-reported KIDSCREEN-27 [38]

Different built environment clusters had no impact on QoL but were associated with obesity which could be a mediator to QoL. School or social environment may play a role in explaining this relationship.

Good

Wallner et al. (2018)

Reference number: [43]

Green and blue spaces

Intervention study

Urban parks in Vienna, Austria

16–18 years

64

Intervention: Exposure during lunch break to either (a) small urban park, (b) large urban park, or (c) forest setting

Self-reported Self-condition scale by Nitsch [54]

Significant differences between time points on QoL. QoL was highest after 1 h (before leaving). Forest settings consistently (across all time points) exceeded the results from small and large urban parks regarding QoL.

Good

Mitra et al. (2021)

Reference number: [44]

Infrastructure

Cross-sectional

Online survey targeting urban neighborhoods in Canada

9–15 years

800

Self-reported physical environment including places to play, access to park or other shared outdoor space

Self-reported adopted Russell’s theorization of psychological construct of emotions [55]

Not enough places to play both indoor and outdoor, were associated with reduced QoL. Social component relevant, places to socialize seem to be more important than just places to play.

Good

Forrester et al. (2022)

Reference number: [45]

Perception

Cross-sectional

Urban elementary schools in a Mid-Atlantic state in the United States

Mean age: 9.32 years

63

Self-reported neighborhood quality, neighborhood satisfaction, and places to play in neighborhood

Self-reported Overall Life Satisfaction (OLS), Student Life Satisfaction (SLSS), and domain-specific Personal Wellbeing Index for School Children (PWI-SC) [49, 52, 56]

Neighborhood quality and neighborhood satisfaction was significantly associated with Personal Wellbeing and Student Life Satisfaction. Neighborhood quality accounted for 17.4% of variance in Student Life Satisfaction.

Good