• Login
    View Item 
    •   Home
    • Massey Documents by Type
    • Theses and Dissertations
    • View Item
    •   Home
    • Massey Documents by Type
    • Theses and Dissertations
    • View Item
    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

    Samoan kids in the city : the impact of Samoan parenting practices on Samoan children's independent mobility and physical activity : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Public Health at Massey University, SHORE & Whariki Research Centre, Auckland, New Zealand

    Icon
    View/Open Full Text
    01_front.pdf (123.8Kb)
    02_whole.pdf (2.046Mb)
    Export to EndNote
    Abstract
    Physical activity (PA) is vital to the optimal health and development of children and in turn, independent mobility (IM) - outdoor play and travelling to destinations unsupervised - is an essential component of PA for children. There is a growing body of research on the extent to which children’s daily IM and PA are influenced by parents’ experiences and perceptions of streets and public spaces as safe and desirable – or otherwise. However, little is known about Samoan parents’ experiences and perceptions of their social and physical surroundings and the associated impact on their children’s daily IM and PA. Extended families, traditional households and the village-based life of Samoan people are changing. For Samoan people in New Zealand, the transition from a traditional ad hoc and exchange-based way of life to a modern, more formal and cash-based socio-economic reality has seen Samoan parents increasingly living in a ‘rat race’. This modern reality has influenced Samoan parenting practices in New Zealand. This research is nested in and arose from the ‘Kids in the City’ (KITC) research project – a Health Research Council funded study of the independent mobility and physical activity of children, in relation to neighbourhood urban design and neighbourhood perceptions of safety in six Auckland neighbourhoods. The critical realism approach from KITC was used to identify the underlying mechanisms influencing Samoan parents’ parenting practices and children’s IM and PA behaviours. Three methods were used to collect the data: computer assisted telephone interviews (CATI) with parents (n=36); semi-structured interviews with parents (n=14), follow up interviews with parents (n=8), and key informant interviews (n=6); as well as 7-day selfreported travel diaries kept by the children (n=37). Triangulating the data collection methods allowed varied perspectives on the influences of Samoan parenting practices to be gathered, as well as information on how their perceptions of their neighbourhoods were shaped, and how these perceptions then informed their decision-making around their children’s activity behaviours. Key themes that emerged from the findings were: 1) Samoan parenting incorporates Samoan practices with Western practices and the values and beliefs that underpin these; 2) Samoan cultural affiliation impacts on how parents perceive their social and physical surroundings as positive or negative; and 3) parents’ perceptions of their surroundings largely informs where children are allowed to go and not go – unsupervised. The findings make it clear that cultural perceptions influence the decisions Samoan parents make about where they will allow their children go without adult supervision, thereby rendering notions of IM to be of little value. They do not see the value of IM when the developmental benefits of being physically active can be achieved through collective family, church and other activities. Further, Samoan ontology and epistemologies need to be valued and validated in urban planning and design to allow a better understanding of how and why Samoan children interact with their surrounding social and physical neighbourhoods – independently or otherwise.
    Date
    2017
    Author
    Fa'avale, Nicola Tava'e
    Rights
    The Author
    Publisher
    Massey University
    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/10179/12868
    Collections
    • Theses and Dissertations
    Metadata
    Show full item record

    Copyright © Massey University
    | Contact Us | Feedback | Copyright Take Down Request | Massey University Privacy Statement
    DSpace software copyright © Duraspace
    v5.7-2020.1-beta1
     

     

    Tweets by @Massey_Research
    Information PagesContent PolicyDepositing content to MROCopyright and Access InformationDeposit LicenseDeposit License SummaryTheses FAQFile FormatsDoctoral Thesis Deposit

    Browse

    All of MROCommunities & CollectionsBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsThis CollectionBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjects

    My Account

    LoginRegister

    Statistics

    View Usage Statistics

    Copyright © Massey University
    | Contact Us | Feedback | Copyright Take Down Request | Massey University Privacy Statement
    DSpace software copyright © Duraspace
    v5.7-2020.1-beta1