- Data, Statistics and AI for Well-Being of People and Organisations
- A cura di Luigi Fabbris, Alberto Franci, Pietro Renzi
Relationship between lifestyles, urban environment and prevention perceived by secondary school students and their families
- Marco Alioni
- Barbara Badiani
- Silvia Golia
- Giulia Lanza
- Marco Sandri
- © 2026 Author(s) |
- CC BY 4.0
- DOI: 10.36253/979-12-215-1062-1.3
There is a wide scientific literature investigating the relationship between lifestyles and the urban environment in order to develop preventive strategies, primarily for non-communicable diseases. Nevertheless, there remains uncertainty regarding the most effective prevention initiatives, the relevant sectors for their implementation, and the appropriate levels at which to intervene. This uncertainty is even more pronounced when adolescents are the target population, with the literature offering limited guidance for practical prevention strategies. This contribution seeks to explore these dynamics through a statistical lens, focusing on data from a survey administered to a sample of secondary school students (aged 11–14) and their families residing in the city of Brescia, within the framework of the Prevent Together project, funded by Fondazione Cariplo ("Food and Health: Research on Childhood Obesity for the Promotion of Healthier Lifestyles" call). The analysis centres on two key questions posed to parents: (1) the motivations behind the choice of transportation mode used for the home-to-school journey; and (2) the perceived benefits of walking or cycling along that route. The methodological focus lies in the use of advanced clustering techniques tailored to the nature of the data — ordinal (first question) and ranking (second question) — incorporating distance metrics appropriate for preference structures. This analytical framework enables the identification of latent behavioural profiles among caregivers, which can be mapped against urban characteristics and health-related behaviours. The results underscore the statistical value of combining structured and preference-based data in segmentation analyses, and contribute to a deeper understanding of how urban design and parental decision-making interact in shaping children’s mobility habits. These insights may support evidence-informed planning and targeted interventions aimed at promoting healthier lifestyles among adolescents.
- Keywords:
- Children’s mobility habits,
- Cluster analysis,
- Ordinal data,
- Ranking data,
University of Brescia, Italy - ORCID: 0000-0002-4828-444X
University of Brescia, Italy - ORCID: 0000-0002-4831-627X
University of Brescia, Italy - ORCID: 0000-0003-0015-8126
University of Brescia, Italy
University of Brescia, Italy - ORCID: 0000-0002-1422-5695
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Informazioni sul capitolo
Titolo del capitolo
Relationship between lifestyles, urban environment and prevention perceived by secondary school students and their families
Autori
Marco Alioni, Barbara Badiani, Silvia Golia, Giulia Lanza, Marco Sandri
Lingua
Inglese
DOI
10.36253/979-12-215-1062-1.3
Opera sottoposta a peer review
Anno di pubblicazione
2026
Copyright
© 2026 Author(s)
Licenza d'uso
Licenza dei metadati
Informazioni bibliografiche
Titolo del libro
Data, Statistics and AI for Well-Being of People and Organisations
Curatori
Luigi Fabbris, Alberto Franci, Pietro Renzi
Opera sottoposta a peer review
Numero di pagine
420
Anno di pubblicazione
2026
Copyright
© 2026 Author(s)
Licenza d'uso
Licenza dei metadati
Editore
Firenze University Press
DOI
10.36253/979-12-215-1062-1
ISBN Print
979-12-215-1061-4
eISBN (pdf)
979-12-215-1062-1
eISBN (xml)
979-12-215-1063-8
Collana
Applied Statistics Series