A new approach for measuring space-time-activity-exposure patterns of children

When measuring the effects of noise on health, we often take the noise level at home as a reference value for the exposure response functions. However, how valid is this assumption? Looking specifically at children, exposure to noise not only varies throughout the day, but also depends on their space-time-activity pattern. With increasing age, children’s activity space quickly changes and enlarges due to the exploration of new environments. During the day, different locations are used for a variety of activities. The sensitivity to noise exposure is
influenced by the type of activities performed. Finally, the activity may be
influenced by social circumstances like role expectations. In other words, measuring the noise level at home may not be sufficient to capture the whole picture. In this study, our goal is to describe noise exposure through actual used spaces and explore the social influences on children’s spacetime-activity-exposure patterns to shed light on the root of health inequalities. This paper
presents a new approach for measuring space-time-activity-exposure patterns for children aged 0-21 years old using GPS tracking, activity diaries and a combination of noise measurements.