Background: Little is known about neighbourhood environments and children's sedentary behaviour outside school hours.
Purpose: This study aims to examine the associations between public open spaces (POS), parent perceptions of the neighbourhood and children's sedentary behaviours.
Methods: Parents reported their child's television viewing and computer/electronic game time and their perceptions of the physical and social neighbourhood. Children's sedentary time was objectively assessed. The closest POS was audited.
Results: Cross-sectionally, living near a POS with a water feature and greater parental satisfaction with POS quality were negatively associated with computer/e-games; greater POS area was negatively associated with TV viewing. Longitudinally, living in a cul-de-sac and greater satisfaction with POS quality were negatively associated with computer/e-games and TV viewing, respectively. A walking path in the POS was positively associated with computer/e-games.
Conclusion: Neighbourhood features appear to positively and negatively influence children's sedentary behaviours, highlighting the complexity of urban planning on behaviour. Further age- and context-specific studies are required.