BEACHES: Built Environments and Child Health in WalEs and AuStralia

2021–2023

The BEACHES project, a three-year joint initiative between universities in Australia and Wales in the United Kingdom, will examine how places and spaces created or modified by people – such as buildings, parks and transport systems – influence physical activity and childhood obesity.

We will identify and understand how complex and interacting factors in the built environment (BE) influence modifiable risk factors (physical inactivity, sedentary time, unhealthy diet, overweight/obesity) for non-communicable diseases (NCD) across childhood. A better understanding of how the BE drives overweight/obesity by either promoting or inhibiting modifiable risk factors will inform evidence-based planning policy and practice strategies to prevent the rise in NCDs in future generations.

The Australian arm to this project is being led by A/Prof Hayley Christian (Telethon Kids Institute) and is funded by the UK Research and Innovation’s Medical Research Council (MRC) and Australia’s National Health Medial Research Council (NHMRC).

Relevant publications

  • Turner, S., Pouliou, T., Fry, R., Walker, I., Beck, B., Thwaites, O., & Lyons, R. A. (2025). Safeguarding children on Welsh roads: the 20 mph policy and the road ahead. BMJ Paediatrics Open, 9(1), e003274. doi.org/10.1136/bmjpo-2024-003274
  • Pouliou, T., Pedrick-Case, R., Bailey, R., Rawlings, A., Mizen, A., Davies, J., Stratton, G., Lyons, R., Beck, B., Christian, H., & others. (2024). Neighbourhood walkability and body mass index in children: Evidence from the Millennium Cohort Study in Wales. Journal of Transport & Health, 38, 101855. doi.org/10.1016/j.jth.2024.101855
  • Robinson, T., Boruff, B., Duncan, J., Murray, K., Schipperijn, J., Nathan, A., Beck, B., Stratton, G., Griffiths, L., Fry, R., & others. (2024). Understanding variations in the built environment over time to inform longitudinal studies of young children's physical activity behaviour: The BEACHES project. Health & Place, 90, 103345. doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2024.103345
  • Henry, A., Fried, L., Nathan, A., Dhamrait, G., Boruff, B., Schipperijn, J., Cross, D., Beck, B., Trapp, G., & Christian, H. (2024). The built environment and child obesity: A review of Australian policies. Obesity Reviews, 25(1), e13650. doi.org/10.1111/obr.13650
  • Pedrick-Case, R., Bailey, R., Beck, B., Beesley, B., Boruff, B., Brophy, S., Cross, D., Dhamrait, G., Duncan, J., Gething, P., & others. (2022). Built Environments And Child Health in WalEs and AuStralia (BEACHES): A study protocol. BMJ Open, 12(10), e061978.  doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2022-061978