Association of Neighborhood Walkability With Change in Overweight, Obesity, and Diabetes.

Science.gov (United States)

Creatore, Maria I; Glazier, Richard H; Moineddin, Rahim; Fazli, Ghazal S; Johns, Ashley; Gozdyra, Peter; Matheson, Flora I; Kaufman-Shriqui, Vered; Rosella, Laura C; Manuel, Doug G; Booth, Gillian L

Rates of obesity and diabetes have increased substantially in recent decades; however, the potential role of the built environment in mitigating these trends is unclear. To examine whether walkable urban neighborhoods are associated with a slower increase in overweight, obesity, and diabetes than less walkable ones. Time-series analysis (2001-2012) using annual provincial health care (N ≈ 3 million per year) and biennial Canadian Community Health Survey (N ≈ 5500 per cycle) data for adults (30-64 years) living in Southern Ontario cities. Neighborhood walkability derived from a validated index, with standardized scores ranging from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more walkability. Neighborhoods were ranked and classified into quintiles from lowest (quintile 1) to highest (quintile 5) walkability. Annual prevalence of overweight, obesity, and diabetes incidence, adjusted for age, sex, area income, and ethnicity. Among the 8777 neighborhoods included in this study, the median walkability index was 16.8, ranging from 10.1 in quintile 1 to 35.2 in quintile 5. Resident characteristics were generally similar across neighborhoods; however, poverty rates were higher in high- vs low-walkability areas. In 2001, the adjusted prevalence of overweight and obesity was lower in quintile 5 vs quintile 1 (43.3% vs 53.5%; P walkable neighborhoods (absolute change, 5.4% [95% CI, 2.1%-8.8%] in quintile 1, 6.7% [95% CI, 2.3%-11.1%] in quintile 2, and 9.2% [95% CI, 6.2%-12.1%] in quintile 3). The prevalence of overweight and obesity did not significantly change in areas of higher walkability (2.8% [95% CI, -1.4% to 7.0%] in quintile 4 and 2.1% [95% CI, -1.4% to 5.5%] in quintile 5). In 2001, the adjusted diabetes incidence was lower in quintile 5 than other quintiles and declined by 2012 from 7.7 to 6.2 per 1000 persons in quintile 5 (absolute change, -1.5 [95% CI, -2.6 to -0.4]) and 8.7 to 7.6 in quintile 4 (absolute change, -1.1 [95% CI, -2.2 to -0.05]). In

Development of a pedestrian audit tool to assess rural neighborhood walkability.

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Scanlin, Kathleen; Haardoerfer, Regine; Kegler, Michelle C; Glanz, Karen

2014-08-01

Recently, investigators have begun to refine audit instruments for use in rural areas. However, no studies have developed a walkability summary score or have correlated built environment characteristics with physical activity behavior. The Rural Pedestrian Environmental Audit Instrument was developed specifically for use in rural areas. Segments surrounding participant's homes were selected to represent neighborhood streets (N = 116). Interrater reliability was conducted on a subset of streets (N = 42). Rural-specific domain and walkability scores were developed and correlated with individual-level data on perceptions of the neighborhood and self-reported physical activity behavior. Interrater reliability for the instrument was substantial and all domains had high agreement. Walkability in the audited area was low with even the best segments demonstrating only moderate support for walking. There were no significant correlations between the neighborhood walkability score and self-reported neighborhood walkability, time spent walking, sedentary behavior, or BMI; however, a few correlations within the social/dynamic domain were significant. This study expands recent research refining audit instruments for rural areas. Findings suggest the usefulness of summarizing environmental data at the domain level and linking it to physical activity behavior to identify aspects of the neighborhood environment that are most strongly correlated with actual behavior.

Neighborhood Design, Physical Activity, and Wellbeing: Applying the Walkability Model

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Adriana A. Zuniga-Teran

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Neighborhood design affects lifestyle physical activity, and ultimately human wellbeing. There are, however, a limited number of studies that examine neighborhood design types. In this research, we examine four types of neighborhood designs: traditional development, suburban development, enclosed community, and cluster housing development, and assess their level of walkability and their effects on physical activity and wellbeing. We examine significant associations through a questionnaire (n = 486 distributed in Tucson, Arizona using the Walkability Model. Among the tested neighborhood design types, traditional development showed significant associations and the highest value for walkability, as well as for each of the two types of walking (recreation and transportation representing physical activity. Suburban development showed significant associations and the highest mean values for mental health and wellbeing. Cluster housing showed significant associations and the highest mean value for social interactions with neighbors and for perceived safety from crime. Enclosed community did not obtain the highest means for any wellbeing benefit. The Walkability Model proved useful in identifying the walkability categories associated with physical activity and perceived crime. For example, the experience category was strongly and inversely associated with perceived crime. This study provides empirical evidence of the importance of including vegetation, particularly trees, throughout neighborhoods in order to increase physical activity and wellbeing. Likewise, the results suggest that regular maintenance is an important strategy to improve mental health and overall wellbeing in cities.

Neighborhood walkability, income, and hour-by-hour physical activity patterns.

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Arvidsson, Daniel; Eriksson, Ulf; Lönn, Sara Larsson; Sundquist, Kristina

2013-04-01

This study aimed to investigate both the mean daily physical activity and the hour-by-hour physical activity patterns across the day using accelerometry and how they are associated with neighborhood walkability and individual income. Moderate physical activity (MPA) was assessed by accelerometry in 2252 adults in the city of Stockholm, Sweden. Neighborhood walkability (residential density, street connectivity, and land use mix) was objectively assessed within 1000m network buffers around the participants' residence and individual income was self-reported. Living in a high walkability neighborhood was associated with more mean daily MPA compared with living in a low walkability neighborhood on weekdays and weekend days. Hour-by-hour analyses showed that this association appeared mainly in the afternoon/early evening during weekdays, whereas it appeared across the middle of the day during weekend days. Individual income was associated with mean daily MPA on weekend days. On weekdays, the hour-by-hour analyses showed that high income was associated with more MPA around noon and in late afternoon/early evening, whereas low income was associated with more MPA at the hours before noon and in the early afternoon. During the weekend, high income was more consistently associated with higher MPA. Hour-by-hour accelerometry physical activity patterns provides a more comprehensive picture of the associations between neighborhood walkability and individual income and physical activity and the variability of these associations across the day.

Relationships between Neighborhood Walkability and Objectively Measured Physical Activity Levels in Hemodialysis Patients.

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Han, Maggie; Ye, Xiaoling; Preciado, Priscila; Williams, Schantel; Campos, Israel; Bonner, Marcee; Young, Candace; Marsh, Daniel; Larkin, John W; Usvyat, Len A; Maddux, Franklin W; Pecoits-Filho, Roberto; Kotanko, Peter

2018-01-01

Neighborhood walkability is associated with indicators of health in the general population. We explored the association between neighborhood walkability and daily steps in hemodialysis (HD) patients. We measured daily steps over 5 weeks using Fitbit Flex (Fitbit, San Francisco, CA, USA) and retrieved Walk Score® (WS) data by patient's home ZIP code (www.walkscore.com; 0 = poorest walkability; 100 = greatest walkability). HD patients took a mean of 6,393 ± 3,550 steps/day (n = 46). Median WS of the neighborhood where they resided was 28. Patients in an above-median WS (n = 27) neighborhood took significantly more daily steps compared to those (n = 19) in a below-median WS neighborhood (7,514 ± 3,900 vs. 4,800 ± 2,228 steps/day; p walkability and the actual steps taken. These results should be considered when designing initiatives to increase and improvise exercise routines in HD populations. © 2018 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Validation of walk score for estimating neighborhood walkability: an analysis of four US metropolitan areas.

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Duncan, Dustin T; Aldstadt, Jared; Whalen, John; Melly, Steven J; Gortmaker, Steven L

2011-11-01

Neighborhood walkability can influence physical activity. We evaluated the validity of Walk Score(®) for assessing neighborhood walkability based on GIS (objective) indicators of neighborhood walkability with addresses from four US metropolitan areas with several street network buffer distances (i.e., 400-, 800-, and 1,600-meters). Address data come from the YMCA-Harvard After School Food and Fitness Project, an obesity prevention intervention involving children aged 5-11 years and their families participating in YMCA-administered, after-school programs located in four geographically diverse metropolitan areas in the US (n = 733). GIS data were used to measure multiple objective indicators of neighborhood walkability. Walk Scores were also obtained for the participant's residential addresses. Spearman correlations between Walk Scores and the GIS neighborhood walkability indicators were calculated as well as Spearman correlations accounting for spatial autocorrelation. There were many significant moderate correlations between Walk Scores and the GIS neighborhood walkability indicators such as density of retail destinations and intersection density (p walkability. Correlations generally became stronger with a larger spatial scale, and there were some geographic differences. Walk Score(®) is free and publicly available for public health researchers and practitioners. Results from our study suggest that Walk Score(®) is a valid measure of estimating certain aspects of neighborhood walkability, particularly at the 1600-meter buffer. As such, our study confirms and extends the generalizability of previous findings demonstrating that Walk Score is a valid measure of estimating neighborhood walkability in multiple geographic locations and at multiple spatial scales.

Does perceived neighborhood walkability and safety mediate the association between education and meeting physical activity guidelines?

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Pratt, Michael; Yin, Shaoman; Soler, Robin; Njai, Rashid; Siegel, Paul Z; Liao, Youlian

2015-04-09

The role of neighborhood walkability and safety in mediating the association between education and physical activity has not been quantified. We used data from the 2010 and 2012 Communities Putting Prevention to Work Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System and structural equation modeling to estimate how much of the effect of education level on physical activity was mediated by perceived neighborhood walkability and safety. Neighborhood walkability accounts for 11.3% and neighborhood safety accounts for 6.8% of the effect. A modest proportion of the important association between education and physical activity is mediated by perceived neighborhood walkability and safety, suggesting that interventions focused on enhancing walkability and safety could reduce the disparity in physical activity associated with education level.

The impact of neighborhood walkability on walking: does it differ across adult life stage and does neighborhood buffer size matter?

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Villanueva, Karen; Knuiman, Matthew; Nathan, Andrea; Giles-Corti, Billie; Christian, Hayley; Foster, Sarah; Bull, Fiona

2014-01-01

We explored the impact of neighborhood walkability on young adults, early-middle adults, middle-aged adults, and older adults' walking across different neighborhood buffers. Participants completed the Western Australian Health and Wellbeing Surveillance System Survey (2003-2009) and were allocated a neighborhood walkability score at 200m, 400m, 800m, and 1600m around their home. We found little difference in strength of associations across neighborhood size buffers for all life stages. We conclude that neighborhood walkability supports more walking regardless of adult life stage and is relevant for small (e.g., 200m) and larger (e.g., 1600m) neighborhood buffers. © 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd All rights reserved.

Validation of Walk Score® for Estimating Neighborhood Walkability: An Analysis of Four US Metropolitan Areas

Science.gov (United States)

Duncan, Dustin T.; Aldstadt, Jared; Whalen, John; Melly, Steven J.; Gortmaker, Steven L.

2011-01-01

Neighborhood walkability can influence physical activity. We evaluated the validity of Walk Score® for assessing neighborhood walkability based on GIS (objective) indicators of neighborhood walkability with addresses from four US metropolitan areas with several street network buffer distances (i.e., 400-, 800-, and 1,600-meters). Address data come from the YMCA-Harvard After School Food and Fitness Project, an obesity prevention intervention involving children aged 5–11 years and their families participating in YMCA-administered, after-school programs located in four geographically diverse metropolitan areas in the US (n = 733). GIS data were used to measure multiple objective indicators of neighborhood walkability. Walk Scores were also obtained for the participant’s residential addresses. Spearman correlations between Walk Scores and the GIS neighborhood walkability indicators were calculated as well as Spearman correlations accounting for spatial autocorrelation. There were many significant moderate correlations between Walk Scores and the GIS neighborhood walkability indicators such as density of retail destinations and intersection density (p walkability. Correlations generally became stronger with a larger spatial scale, and there were some geographic differences. Walk Score® is free and publicly available for public health researchers and practitioners. Results from our study suggest that Walk Score® is a valid measure of estimating certain aspects of neighborhood walkability, particularly at the 1600-meter buffer. As such, our study confirms and extends the generalizability of previous findings demonstrating that Walk Score is a valid measure of estimating neighborhood walkability in multiple geographic locations and at multiple spatial scales. PMID:22163200

A Model for Assessing the Level of Walkability in Urban Neighborhoods in Sri Lanka

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Gayani Ranasinghe

2015-11-01

Full Text Available The quality of the neighboring environment plays a major role in encouraging people to walk when attending their daily needs. Although past studies have identified a relationship between neighborhood design factors and the level of walkability, this interdependence is poorly understood in urban planning in Sri Lanka. The purpose of this study is to determine factors and conditions that influence walkability in a selected neighborhood in the town of Panadura and develop a model to predict what design factors enhance walkability in the neighborhood area. Ninety three (93 factors that affect the walkability in urban neighborhood were identified as the findings of the literature review of this study. Seventy six (76 walkability factors identified through perception surveys were examined within a 100m radius of 70 buffered circles representing 140 participants’ residences through a questionnaire survey and field observations. Chi-square and Bivariate correlation analysis were carried out to identify the most decisive factors for walkability. Multiple Linear Regression analysis was applied to develop a model to assess the level of walkability of residents in the selected area based on the most significant factors. The study has identified main nine variables that determine the level of walkability. Based on the significant values the model can be used to assess the level of walkability of the people in Sri Lankan context.

An Australian Version of the Neighborhood Environment Walkability Scale: Validity Evidence

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Cerin, Ester; Leslie, Eva; Owen, Neville; Bauman, Adrian

2008-01-01

This study examined validity evidence for the Australian version of the Neighborhood Environment Walkability Scale (NEWS-AU). A stratified two-stage cluster sampling design was used to recruit 2,650 adults from Adelaide (Australia). The sample was drawn from residential addresses within eight high-walkable and eight low-walkable suburbs matched…

Does Perceived Neighborhood Walkability and Safety Mediate the Association Between Education and Meeting Physical Activity Guidelines?

OpenAIRE

Pratt, Michael; Yin, Shaoman; Soler, Robin; Njai, Rashid; Siegel, Paul Z.; Liao, Youlian

2015-01-01

The role of neighborhood walkability and safety in mediating the association between education and physical activity has not been quantified. We used data from the 2010 and 2012 Communities Putting Prevention to Work Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System and structural equation modeling to estimate how much of the effect of education level on physical activity was mediated by perceived neighborhood walkability and safety. Neighborhood walkability accounts for 11.3% and neighborhood safet...

The association between objective walkability, neighborhood socio-economic status, and physical activity in Belgian children.

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D'Haese, Sara; Van Dyck, Delfien; De Bourdeaudhuij, Ilse; Deforche, Benedicte; Cardon, Greet

2014-08-23

Objective walkability is an important correlate of adults' physical activity. Studies investigating the relation between walkability and children's physical activity are scarce. However, in order to develop effective environmental interventions, a profound investigation of this relation is needed in all age groups. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between objective walkability and different domains of children's physical activity, and to investigate the moderating effect of neighborhood socio-economic status in this relation. Data were collected between December 2011 and May 2013 as part of the Belgian Environmental Physical Activity Study in children. Children (9-12 years old; n = 606) were recruited from 18 elementary schools in Ghent (Belgium). Children together with one of their parents completed the Flemish Physical Activity Questionnaire and wore an accelerometer for 7 consecutive days. Children's neighborhood walkability was calculated using geographical information systems. Multilevel cross-classified modeling was used to determine the relationship between children's PA and objectively measured walkability and the moderating effect of neighborhood SES in this relation. In low SES neighborhoods walkability was positively related to walking for transportation during leisure time (β = 0.381 ± 0.124; 95% CI = 0.138, 0.624) and was negatively related to sports during leisure time (β = -0.245 ± 0.121; 95% CI = -0.482, -0.008). In high socio-economic status neighborhoods, walkability was unrelated to children's physical activity. No relations of neighborhood walkability and neighborhood socio-economic status with cycling during leisure time, active commuting to school and objectively measured moderate- to vigorous-intensity physical activity were found. No univocal relation between neighborhood walkability and physical activity was found in 9-12 year old children. Results from international adult studies

Association of Walkability With Obesity in Baltimore City, Maryland

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Gittelsohn, Joel; Zonderman, Alan B.; Evans, Michele K.; Gary-Webb, Tiffany L.

2011-01-01

Objectives. To investigate the association between walkability and obesity, we studied adults residing in Baltimore City, Maryland, in neighborhoods of varying racial and socioeconomic composition. Methods. We conducted a cross-sectional study of 3493 participants from the study Healthy Aging in Neighborhoods of Diversity across the Life Span. We used the Pedestrian Environment Data Scan to measure neighborhood walkability in 34 neighborhoods of diverse racial and socioeconomic composition in which the study participants lived. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to determine walkability scores. Multilevel modeling was used to determine prevalence ratios for the association between walkability and obesity. Results. Among individuals living in predominately White and high-socioeconomic status (SES) neighborhoods, residing in highly walkable neighborhoods was associated with a lower prevalence of obesity when compared with individuals living in poorly walkable neighborhoods, after adjusting for individual-level demographic variables (prevalence ratio–[PR] = 0.58; P = walkability and obesity for individuals living in low-SES neighborhoods was not significant after accounting for main mode of transportation (PR = 0.85; P = .060). Conclusions. Future research is needed to determine how differences in associations by neighborhood characteristics may contribute to racial disparities in obesity. PMID:21164099

Designing healthy communities: Testing the walkability model

OpenAIRE

Zuniga-Teran, Adriana; Orr, Barron; Gimblett, Randy; Chalfoun, Nader; Marsh, Stuart; Guertin, David; Going, Scott

2017-01-01

Research from multiple domains has provided insights into how neighborhood design can be improved to have a more favorable effect on physical activity, a concept known as walkability. The relevant research findings/hypotheses have been integrated into a Walkability Framework, which organizes the design elements into nine walkability categories. The purpose of this study was to test whether this conceptual framework can be used as a model to measure the interactions between the built environme...

Neighborhood Walkability and Adiposity in the Women's Health Initiative Cohort.

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Sriram, Urshila; LaCroix, Andrea Z; Barrington, Wendy E; Corbie-Smith, Giselle; Garcia, Lorena; Going, Scott B; LaMonte, Michael J; Manson, JoAnn E; Sealy-Jefferson, Shawnita; Stefanick, Marcia L; Waring, Molly E; Seguin, Rebecca A

2016-11-01

Neighborhood environments may play a role in the rising prevalence of obesity among older adults. However, research on built environmental correlates of obesity in this age group is limited. The current study aimed to explore associations of Walk Score, a validated measure of neighborhood walkability, with BMI and waist circumference in a large, diverse sample of older women. This study linked cross-sectional data on 6,526 older postmenopausal women from the Women's Health Initiative Long Life Study (2012-2013) to Walk Scores for each participant's address (collected in 2012). Linear and logistic regression models were used to estimate associations of BMI and waist circumference with continuous and categorical Walk Score measures. Secondary analyses examined whether these relationships could be explained by walking expenditure or total physical activity. All analyses were conducted in 2015. Higher Walk Score was not associated with BMI or overall obesity after adjustment for sociodemographic, medical, and lifestyle factors. However, participants in highly walkable areas had significantly lower odds of abdominal obesity (waist circumference >88 cm) as compared with those in less walkable locations. Observed associations between walkability and adiposity were partly explained by walking expenditure. Findings suggest that neighborhood walkability is linked to abdominal adiposity, as measured by waist circumference, among older women and provide support for future longitudinal research on associations between Walk Score and adiposity in this population. Copyright © 2016 American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Association between neighborhood walkability and GPS-measured walking, bicycling and vehicle time in adolescents.

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Carlson, Jordan A; Saelens, Brian E; Kerr, Jacqueline; Schipperijn, Jasper; Conway, Terry L; Frank, Lawrence D; Chapman, Jim E; Glanz, Karen; Cain, Kelli L; Sallis, James F

2015-03-01

To investigate relations of walking, bicycling and vehicle time to neighborhood walkability and total physical activity in youth. Participants (N=690) were from 380 census block groups of high/low walkability and income in two US regions. Home neighborhood residential density, intersection density, retail density, entertainment density and walkability were derived using GIS. Minutes/day of walking, bicycling and vehicle time were derived from processing algorithms applied to GPS. Accelerometers estimated total daily moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). Models were adjusted for nesting of days (N=2987) within participants within block groups. Walking occurred on 33%, active travel on 43%, and vehicle time on 91% of the days observed. Intersection density and neighborhood walkability were positively related to walking and bicycling and negatively related to vehicle time. Residential density was positively related to walking. Increasing walking in youth could be effective in increasing total physical activity. Built environment findings suggest potential for increasing walking in youth through improving neighborhood walkability. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Neighborhood walkability: field validation of geographic information system measures.

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Hajna, Samantha; Dasgupta, Kaberi; Halparin, Max; Ross, Nancy A

2013-06-01

Given the health benefits of walking, there is interest in understanding how physical environments favor walking. Although GIS-derived measures of land-use mix, street connectivity, and residential density are commonly combined into indices to assess how conducive neighborhoods are to walking, field validation of these measures is limited. To assess the relationship between audit- and GIS-derived measures of overall neighborhood walkability and between objective (audit- and GIS-derived) and participant-reported measures of walkability. Walkability assessments were conducted in 2009. Street-level audits were conducted using a modified version of the Pedestrian Environmental Data Scan. GIS analyses were used to derive land-use mix, street connectivity, and residential density. Participant perceptions were assessed using a self-administered questionnaire. Audit, GIS, and participant-reported indices of walkability were calculated. Spearman correlation coefficients were used to assess the relationships between measures. All analyses were conducted in 2012. The correlation between audit- and GIS-derived measures of overall walkability was high (R=0.7 [95% CI=0.6, 0.8]); the correlations between objective (audit and GIS-derived) and participant-reported measures were low (R=0.2 [95% CI=0.06, 0.3]; R=0.2 [95% CI=0.04, 0.3], respectively). For comparable audit and participant-reported items, correlations were higher for items that appeared more objective (e.g., sidewalk presence, R=0.4 [95% CI=0.3, 0.5], versus safety, R=0.1 [95% CI=0.003, 0.3]). The GIS-derived measure of walkability correlated well with the in-field audit, suggesting that it is reasonable to use GIS-derived measures in place of more labor-intensive audits. Interestingly, neither audit- nor GIS-derived measures correlated well with participants' perceptions of walkability. Copyright © 2013 American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Promoting Active Urban Aging: A Measurement Approach to Neighborhood Walkability for Older Adults

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Rachael L. Weiss

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Understanding the role of the built environment on physical activity behavior among older adults is an important public health goal, but evaluating these relationships remains complicated due to the difficulty of measuring specific attributes of the environment. As a result, there is conflicting evidence regarding the association between perceived and objectively measured walkability and physical activity among urban-dwelling older adults. This suggests that both actual environmental features and perceptions of these attributes influence walking behavior. The purpose of this pilot project is to create an Objective Walkability Index (OWI by census block using a Geographic Information System (GIS and supplement the results with resident perceptions thus more accurately characterizing the context of walkability. Computerized Neighborhood Environment Tracking (ComNET was used to systematically assess environmental risks impacting activity patterns of older adults in two New York City neighborhoods. In addition, the Senior Center Evaluation of the Neighborhood Environment (SCENE survey was administered to older adults attending two senior centers located within the target neighborhoods. The results indicate that there is substantial variation in OWI score both between and within the neighborhoods suggesting that residence in some communities may increase the risk of inactivity among older adults. Also, low walkability census blocks were clustered within each neighborhood providing an opportunity for targeted investigation into localized threats to walkability. A lack of consensus regarding the association between the built environment and physical activity among older adults is a consequence of the problems inherent in measuring these determinants. Further empirical evidence evaluating the complex relationships between the built environment and physical activity is an essential step towards creating active communities.

Promoting Active Urban Aging: A Measurement Approach to Neighborhood Walkability for Older Adults.

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Weiss, Rachael L; Maantay, Juliana A; Fahs, Marianne

2010-01-01

Understanding the role of the built environment on physical activity behavior among older adults is an important public health goal, but evaluating these relationships remains complicated due to the difficulty of measuring specific attributes of the environment. As a result, there is conflicting evidence regarding the association between perceived and objectively measured walkability and physical activity among urban-dwelling older adults. This suggests that both actual environmental features and perceptions of these attributes influence walking behavior. The purpose of this pilot project is to create an Objective Walkability Index (OWI) by census block using a Geographic Information System (GIS) and supplement the results with resident perceptions thus more accurately characterizing the context of walkability. Computerized Neighborhood Environment Tracking (ComNET) was used to systematically assess environmental risks impacting activity patterns of older adults in two New York City neighborhoods. In addition, the Senior Center Evaluation of the Neighborhood Environment (SCENE) survey was administered to older adults attending two senior centers located within the target neighborhoods. The results indicate that there is substantial variation in OWI score both between and within the neighborhoods suggesting that residence in some communities may increase the risk of inactivity among older adults. Also, low walkability census blocks were clustered within each neighborhood providing an opportunity for targeted investigation into localized threats to walkability. A lack of consensus regarding the association between the built environment and physical activity among older adults is a consequence of the problems inherent in measuring these determinants. Further empirical evidence evaluating the complex relationships between the built environment and physical activity is an essential step towards creating active communities.

Promoting walking in older adults: Perceived neighborhood walkability influences the effectiveness of motivational messages.

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Notthoff, Nanna; Carstensen, Laura L

2017-06-01

Positively framed messages seem to promote walking in older adults better than negatively framed messages. This study targeted elderly people in communities unfavorable to walking. Walking was measured with pedometers during baseline (1 week) and intervention (4 weeks). Participants ( n = 74) were informed about either the benefits of walking or the negative consequences of not walking. Perceived neighborhood walkability was assessed with a modified version of the Neighborhood Walkability Scale. When perceived walkability was high, positively framed messages were more effective than negatively framed messages in promoting walking; when perceived walkability was low, negatively framed messages were comparably effective to positively framed messages.

Do Inequalities in Neighborhood Walkability Drive Disparities in Older Adults' Outdoor Walking?

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Zandieh, Razieh; Flacke, Johannes; Martinez, Javier; Jones, Phil; van Maarseveen, Martin

2017-07-07

Older residents of high-deprivation areas walk less than those of low-deprivation areas. Previous research has shown that neighborhood built environment may support and encourage outdoor walking. The extent to which the built environment supports and encourages walking is called "walkability". This study examines inequalities in neighborhood walkability in high- versus low-deprivation areas and their possible influences on disparities in older adults' outdoor walking levels. For this purpose, it focuses on specific neighborhood built environment attributes (residential density, land-use mix and intensity, street connectivity, and retail density) relevant to neighborhood walkability. It applied a mixed-method approach, included 173 participants (≥65 years), and used a Geographic Information System (GIS) and walking interviews (with a sub-sample) to objectively and subjectively measure neighborhood built environment attributes. Outdoor walking levels were measured by using the Geographic Positioning System (GPS) technology. Data on personal characteristics was collected by completing a questionnaire. The results show that inequalities in certain land-use intensity (i.e., green spaces, recreation centers, schools and industries) in high- versus low-deprivation areas may influence disparities in older adults' outdoor walking levels. Modifying neighborhood land use intensity may help to encourage outdoor walking in high-deprivation areas.

Physical activity as a mediator of the associations between neighborhood walkability and adiposity in Belgian adults.

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Van Dyck, Delfien; Cerin, Ester; Cardon, Greet; Deforche, Benedicte; Sallis, James F; Owen, Neville; de Bourdeaudhuij, Ilse

2010-09-01

This study examined whether physical activity (PA) and sedentary behavior mediated the relationship of neighborhood walkability with two measures of adiposity: body mass index (BMI) and waist-to-height ratio (WHTR). Twenty-four neighborhoods in Ghent, Belgium were selected, stratified by objectively assessed walkability and by socio-economic status. Participants (1200 adults aged 20-65 years) completed the International Physical Activity Questionnaire and wore an accelerometer for 7 days. Weight and height were self-reported and waist circumference was objectively measured. Accelerometer-assessed moderate-to-vigorous PA and self-reported cycling for transport mediated the associations of walkability with BMI and WHTR. Moreover, walking for transport and recreational walking significantly mediated the relationship between walkability and BMI. Sedentary behavior did not mediate associations of walkability with BMI or WHTR. These findings suggest that PA, but not sedentary behavior, is a mechanism by which walkability may affect adults' adiposity. Planning for neighborhoods to be high in walkability could have favorable effects on physical activity and weight status. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Neighborhood walkability moderates the association between low back pain and physical activity: A co-twin control study.

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Zadro, J R; Shirley, D; Pinheiro, M B; Bauman, A; Duncan, G E; Ferreira, P H

2017-06-01

The aim of this study was to investigate whether neighborhood walkability moderates the association between low back pain (LBP) and physical activity (PA), using a co-twin design to control for genetics and shared environmental factors. A cross-sectional analysis was performed on 10,228 twins from the Washington State Twin Registry with available data on LBP from recruitment surveys between 2009 and 2013. LBP within the past 3months was our exposure variable. Our outcome variables were sufficient moderate or vigorous-intensity PA (MVPA, defined as at least 75min of vigorous-intensity PA, or 150min of moderate-intensity PA per week), and walking (≥150min per week). Neighborhood walkability, estimated using the commercially available Walk Score®, was our moderator variable. After controlling for the influence of genetics and shared environment, individuals reporting LBP were significantly less likely to engage in sufficient MVPA if they lived in a neighborhood with high walkability (OR=0.59, 95%CI: 0.36-0.96). There was no association between LBP and sufficient MVPA for individuals living in a neighborhood with low walkability (OR=1.27, 95%CI: 0.93-1.72), demonstrating that walkability is a significant moderator of the association between LBP and PA (interaction p=0.013). These findings were similar for the association between LBP and walking (high walkability OR=0.42, 95%CI: 0.22-0.78; low walkability OR=0.71, 95%CI: 0.46-1.12), although the interaction was not significant (p=0.700). Neighborhood walkability moderates the association between LBP and PA. Our results highlight the importance of targeting interventions promoting PA towards individuals with LBP living in a neighborhood with good walkable access to amenities. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Perceived neighborhood walkability and physical exercise: An examination of casual communication in a social process.

Science.gov (United States)

Yamamoto, Masahiro; Jo, Hyerim

2018-05-01

Despite the accumulated evidence for the environmental correlates of physical activity, social processes underlying this association are not entirely clear. This study positions communication characterized by weak ties as a social mechanism linking neighborhood walkability with physical exercise. Data from a survey of Chicago residents show that perceived neighborhood walkability is positively related to frequency of weak-tie communication. Frequency of weak-tie communication is related positively to perceived social cohesion and negatively to anonymity, both of which are significantly related to frequency of physical exercise in the neighborhood. Data also show a sequential indirect relationship involving perceived neighborhood walkability, weak-tie communication, anonymity, and physical exercise. Implications are discussed in terms of the role of communication in promoting locality-based physical exercise. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Associations between Perceived Neighborhood Walkability and Walking Time, Wellbeing, and Loneliness in Community-Dwelling Older Chinese People in Hong Kong.

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Yu, Ruby; Cheung, Osbert; Lau, Kevin; Woo, Jean

2017-10-09

This study examined the cross-sectional associations between perceived neighborhood walkability and walking time, physical activity, wellbeing, and loneliness, and examined which components of walkability were most strongly associated with better wellbeing and less loneliness in older adults. Participants were community-dwelling Chinese adults aged 60+ ( n = 181). Walkability was measured using nine items selected from the Chinese version of the abbreviated Neighborhood Environment Walkability Scales (NEWS) and NEWS for Chinese Seniors. Outcomes were walking time, physical activity, wellbeing (life satisfaction, happiness, sense of purpose and meaning in life), and loneliness. The mean age of the participants was 71.7 ± 7.8 years. Walkability was positively associated with walking time ( p = 0.001, p for trend walkable had higher scores for life satisfaction ( p = 0.002) and happiness ( p = 0.002), and lower scores for loneliness ( p = 0.019), compared with those who perceived their neighborhoods as less walkable. However, perceived neighborhood walkability was not associated with sense of purpose and meaning in life. Among components of walkability, land use mix-access, infrastructure and safety for walking, and traffic safety showed the strongest associations with the measures of wellbeing. The results of this study support the importance of neighborhood walkability for health behavior and wellbeing of older adults. The wellbeing of older adults may be enhanced through the improvement of land use mix-access, infrastructure for walking, and traffic safety.

The moderating effect of psychosocial factors in the relation between neighborhood walkability and children's physical activity.

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D'Haese, Sara; Gheysen, Freja; De Bourdeaudhuij, Ilse; Deforche, Benedicte; Van Dyck, Delfien; Cardon, Greet

2016-12-09

The study aimed to investigate if psychosocial factors moderate the association between objective walkability and different domains of children's physical activity (PA). A second aim of the study was to investigate the direct associations between psychosocial factors and children's PA. Based on previous literature, it was hypothesized that walkability would be more strongly related to PA among children with negative psychosocial profiles. Data were collected between December 2011 and May 2013 as part of the Belgian Environmental Physical Activity Study in children (BEPAS-child). In total, data from 494 children and one of their parents were included in the study. Children wore an accelerometer for 7 consecutive days and together with one of their parents, they completed the Flemish Physical Activity Questionnaire. Parents filled out a questionnaire concerning their child's psychosocial factors toward PA (i.e. parental attitude toward their child's PA, parental social norm toward their child's PA, parental support, friend support, children's self-efficacy, and perceived benefits and barriers toward sports and PA). Neighborhood walkability was calculated using geographical information systems (GIS). Multilevel cross-classified analyses were conducted. Of the 42 investigated interactions between neighborhood walkability and psychosocial factors in relation to PA among children, only 7 significant interactions were found of which 3 were only significant among children from low-income neighborhoods. Parental support and self-efficacy were positive correlates of children's PA in high- and low-income neighborhoods independent of the level of walkability, but effect sizes were small. The hypothesis that walkability would be more strongly related to PA among children with negative psychosocial profiles could not be confirmed and in general, psychosocial factors and objective walkability did not interact in relation to children's PA. Focusing on parental support and self

Aging in Neighborhoods Differing in Walkability and Income: Associations with Physical Activity and Obesity in Older Adults

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King, Abby C.; Sallis, James F.; Frank, Lawrence D.; Saelens, Brian E.; Cain, Kelli; Conway, Terry L.; Chapman, James E.; Ahn, David K.; Kerr, Jacqueline

2011-01-01

While there is a growing literature on the relations between neighborhood design and health factors such as physical activity and obesity, less focus has been placed on older adults, who may be particularly vulnerable to environmental influences. This study evaluates the relations among objectively measured neighborhood design, mobility impairment, and physical activity and body weight in two U.S. regional samples of community dwelling older adults living in neighborhoods differing in walkability and income levels. An observational design involving two time points six months apart was employed between 2005–2008. U.S. Census block groups in Seattle-King County, Washington and Baltimore. Maryland-Washington DC regions were selected via geographic information systems to maximize variability in walkability and income. Participants were 719 adults ages 66 years and older who were able to complete surveys in English and walk at least 10 feet continuously. Measurements included reported walking or bicycling for errands (i.e., transport activity) and other outdoor aerobic activities measured via the CHAMPS questionnaire: accelerometry-based moderate-to-vigorous physical activity; reported body mass index; and reported lower-extremity mobility impairment measured via the Late-Life Function and Disability Instrument. Across regions, time, and neighborhood income, older adults living in more walkable neighborhoods had more transport activity and moderate-to- vigorous physical activity and lower body mass index relative to those living in less walkable neighborhoods. The most mobility-impaired adults living in more walkable neighborhoods reported transport activity levels that were similar to less mobility-impaired adults living in less walkable neighborhoods. The results add to the small literature aimed at understanding how neighborhood design may influence physical activity and related aspects of health linked with day-to-day function and independence as people age. PMID

Validity of Walk Score® as a measure of neighborhood walkability in Japan.

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Koohsari, Mohammad Javad; Sugiyama, Takemi; Hanibuchi, Tomoya; Shibata, Ai; Ishii, Kaori; Liao, Yung; Oka, Koichiro

2018-03-01

Objective measures of environmental attributes have been used to understand how neighborhood environments relate to physical activity. However, this method relies on detailed spatial data, which are often not easily available. Walk Score® is a free, publicly available web-based tool that shows how walkable a given location is based on objectively-derived proximity to several types of local destinations and street connectivity. To date, several studies have tested the concurrent validity of Walk Score as a measure of neighborhood walkability in the USA and Canada. However, it is unknown whether Walk Score is a valid measure in other regions. The current study examined how Walk Score is correlated with objectively-derived attributes of neighborhood walkability, for residential addresses in Japan. Walk Scores were obtained for 1072 residential addresses in urban and rural areas in Japan. Five environmental attributes (residential density, intersection density, number of local destinations, sidewalk availability, and access to public transportation) were calculated using geographic information systems for each address. Pearson's correlation coefficients between Walk Score and these environmental attributes were calculated (conducted in May 2017). Significant positive correlations were observed between Walk Score and environmental attributes relevant to walking. Walk Score was most closely associated with intersection density ( r  = 0.82) and with the number of local destinations ( r  = 0.77). Walk Score appears to be a valid measure of neighborhood walkability in Japan. Walk Score will allow urban designers and public health practitioners to identify walkability of local areas without relying on detailed geographic data.

Neighborhood walkability and cardiometabolic risk factors in Australian adults: an observational study.

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Müller-Riemenschneider, Falk; Pereira, Gavin; Villanueva, Karen; Christian, Hayley; Knuiman, Matthew; Giles-Corti, Billie; Bull, Fiona C

2013-08-15

Studies repeatedly highlight associations between the built environment and physical activity, particularly walking. Fewer studies have examined associations with cardiometabolic risk factors, with associations with obesity inconsistent and scarce evidence examining associations with other cardiometabolic risk factors. We aim to investigate the association between neighborhood walkability and the prevalence of obesity, hypertension, hypercholesterolaemia, and type-2 diabetes mellitus. Cross-sectional study of 5,970 adults in Western Australia. Walkability was measured objectively for a 1,600 m and 800 m neighborhood buffer. Logistic regression was used to assess associations overall and by sex, adjusting for socio-demographic factors. Mediation by physical activity and sedentary behavior was investigated. Individuals living in high compared with less walkable areas were less likely to be obese (1,600 m OR: 0.84, 95% CI: 0.7 to 1; 800 m OR: 0.75, 95% CI: 0.62 to 0.9) and had lower odds of type-2 diabetes mellitus at the 800 m buffer (800 m OR: 0.69, 95% CI: 0.51 to 0.93). There was little evidence for an association between walkability and hypertension or hypercholesterolaemia. The only significant evidence of any difference in the associations in men and women was a stronger association with type-2 diabetes mellitus at the 800 m buffer in men. Associations with obesity and diabetes attenuated when additionally adjusting for physical activity and sedentary behavior but the overall association with obesity remained significant at the 800 m buffer (800 m OR: 0.78, 95% CI: 0.64 to 0.96). A protective association between neighborhood walkability and obesity was observed. Neighborhood walkability may also be protective of type-2 diabetes mellitus, particularly in men. No association with hypertension or hypercholesterolaemia was found. This warrants further investigation. Findings contribute towards the accumulating evidence that city planning and policy related

Associations between Perceived Neighborhood Walkability and Walking Time, Wellbeing, and Loneliness in Community-Dwelling Older Chinese People in Hong Kong

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Ruby Yu

2017-10-01

Full Text Available This study examined the cross-sectional associations between perceived neighborhood walkability and walking time, physical activity, wellbeing, and loneliness, and examined which components of walkability were most strongly associated with better wellbeing and less loneliness in older adults. Participants were community-dwelling Chinese adults aged 60+ (n = 181. Walkability was measured using nine items selected from the Chinese version of the abbreviated Neighborhood Environment Walkability Scales (NEWS and NEWS for Chinese Seniors. Outcomes were walking time, physical activity, wellbeing (life satisfaction, happiness, sense of purpose and meaning in life, and loneliness. The mean age of the participants was 71.7 ± 7.8 years. Walkability was positively associated with walking time (p = 0.001, p for trend <0.001 but not with physical activity. After adjusting for socio-demographic characteristics, health conditions, lifestyle, and negative life events, those who perceived their neighborhoods as walkable had higher scores for life satisfaction (p = 0.002 and happiness (p = 0.002, and lower scores for loneliness (p = 0.019, compared with those who perceived their neighborhoods as less walkable. However, perceived neighborhood walkability was not associated with sense of purpose and meaning in life. Among components of walkability, land use mix-access, infrastructure and safety for walking, and traffic safety showed the strongest associations with the measures of wellbeing. The results of this study support the importance of neighborhood walkability for health behavior and wellbeing of older adults. The wellbeing of older adults may be enhanced through the improvement of land use mix-access, infrastructure for walking, and traffic safety.

Neighborhood Walkability and Walking for Transport Among South Asians in the MASALA Study.

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Kelley, Elizabeth A; Kandula, Namratha R; Kanaya, Alka M; Yen, Irene H

2016-05-01

The neighborhood built environment can have a strong influence on physical activity levels, particularly walking for transport. In examining racial/ethnic differences in physical activity, one important and understudied group is South Asians. This study aims to describe the association between neighborhood walkability and walking for transport among South Asian men and women in the United States in the Mediators of Atherosclerosis in South Asians Living in America (MASALA) Study. A cross-sectional study was conducted in 2014 using the baseline dataset of the MASALA study (N = 906). Mean age was 55 years old and 54% of the sample was male. Weekly minutes spent walking for transport was assessed using a questionnaire adapted from the Cross-Cultural Activity Participation Study. Neighborhood walkability was measured using Walk Score, a composite index of walkability. After adjusting for covariates, with each 10-point increase in Walk Score, South Asian American men engaged in 13 additional minutes per week of walking for transport (P = .008). No association was observed between walkability and walking for transport in South Asian American women. Results provide new evidence for how the effects of environmental influences on walking for transport may vary between South Asian men and women.

Association between Neighborhood Walkability, Cardiorespiratory Fitness and Body-Mass Index

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Hoehner, Christine M.; Handy, Susan L.; Yan, Yan; Blair, teven N.; Berrigan, David

2011-01-01

Many studies have found cross-sectional associations between characteristics of the neighborhood built environment and physical activity (PA) behavior. However, most are based on self-reported PA, which is known to result in overestimation of PA and differential misclassification by demographic and biological characteristics. Cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) is an objective marker of PA because it is primarily determined by PA. Furthermore, it is causally related to long-term health outcomes. Therefore, analyses of the association between CRF and built environment could strengthen arguments for the importance of built environment influences on health. We examined the association between neighborhood walkability and CRF and body-mass index (BMI). This cross-sectional analysis included 16,543 adults (5,017 women, 11,526 men) aged 18–90 years with home addresses in Texas who had a comprehensive clinical examination between 1987 and 2005. Outcomes included CRF from total duration on a maximal exercise treadmill test and measured BMI. Three neighborhood walkability factors emerged from principal components analyses of block-group measures derived from the U.S. Census. In multilevel adjusted analyses, the neighborhood walkability factors were significantly associated with CRF and BMI among men and women in the expected direction. An interaction between one of the neighborhood factors and age was also observed. The interaction suggested that living in neighborhoods with older homes and with residents traveling shorter distances to work was more strongly positively associated with CRF among younger adults and more strongly negatively associated with BMI among older adults. In conclusion, neighborhood characteristics hypothesized to support more PA and less driving were associated with higher levels of CRF and lower BMI. Demonstration of an association between built environment characteristics and CRF is a significant advance over past studies based on self-reported PA

Neighborhood walkability and active travel (walking and cycling) in New York City.

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Freeman, Lance; Neckerman, Kathryn; Schwartz-Soicher, Ofira; Quinn, James; Richards, Catherine; Bader, Michael D M; Lovasi, Gina; Jack, Darby; Weiss, Christopher; Konty, Kevin; Arno, Peter; Viola, Deborah; Kerker, Bonnie; Rundle, Andrew G

2013-08-01

Urban planners have suggested that built environment characteristics can support active travel (walking and cycling) and reduce sedentary behavior. This study assessed whether engagement in active travel is associated with neighborhood walkability measured for zip codes in New York City. Data were analyzed on engagement in active travel and the frequency of walking or biking ten blocks or more in the past month, from 8,064 respondents to the New York City 2003 Community Health Survey (CHS). A neighborhood walkability scale that measures: residential, intersection, and subway stop density; land use mix; and the ratio of retail building floor area to retail land area was calculated for each zip code. Data were analyzed using zero-inflated negative binomial regression incorporating survey sample weights and adjusting for respondents' sociodemographic characteristics. Overall, 44 % of respondents reported no episodes of active travel and among those who reported any episode, the mean number was 43.2 episodes per month. Comparing the 75th to the 25th percentile of zip code walkability, the odds ratio for reporting zero episodes of active travel was 0.71 (95 % CI 0.61, 0.83) and the exponentiated beta coefficient for the count of episodes of active travel was 1.13 (95 % CI 1.06, 1.21). Associations between lower walkability and reporting zero episodes of active travel were significantly stronger for non-Hispanic Whites as compared to non-Hispanic Blacks and to Hispanics and for those living in higher income zip codes. The results suggest that neighborhood walkability is associated with higher engagement in active travel.

Perceived and Objective Measures of Neighborhood Walkability and Physical Activity among Adults in Japan: A Multilevel Analysis of a Nationally Representative Sample.

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Hanibuchi, Tomoya; Nakaya, Tomoki; Yonejima, Mayuko; Honjo, Kaori

2015-10-23

Although associations between a person's neighborhood and their health have been studied internationally, most studies have been limited to a few cities or towns. Therefore, we used a nationally representative sample to explore whether perceived and objective neighborhood walkability was associated with the physical activity of residents. Data were analyzed from the Japanese General Social Surveys of 2010 (n = 2395; 1114 men and 1281 women). Perceived walkability was scored using factor analysis for the respondents' perceptions of neighborhood conditions, while objective walkability was measured using the geographic information system approach. Finally, multilevel logistic regression analysis was performed to examine whether neighborhood walkability was associated with the frequency of leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) among respondents. We found that perceived walkability was positively associated with the frequency of LTPA (odds ratio of the highest quartile was 1.53 (1.14-2.05) compared with the lowest quartile); however, objective walkability showed no association. When stratified by gender, an association between perceived walkability and LTPA was observed among women, but only a marginally significant association was present between objective walkability and LTPA among men. We conclude that the association between neighborhood walkability and LTPA can be partially generalized across Japan.

What’s the Score? Walkable Environments and Subsidized Households

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Young-Jae Kim

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Neighborhood walkability can influence individual health, social interactions, and environmental quality, but the relationships between subsidized households and their walkable environment have not been sufficiently examined in previous empirical studies. Focusing on two types of subsidized housing developments (Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC and Public Housing (PH in Austin, Texas, this study evaluates the neighborhood walkability of place-based subsidized households, utilizing objectively measured Walk Score and walking-related built environment data. We also used U.S. Census block group data to account for the socio-demographic covariates. Based on various data, we employed bivariate and multivariate analyses to specify the relationships between subsidized households and their neighborhood walkable environment. The results of our bivariate analyses show that LIHTC households tend to be located in car-dependent neighborhoods and have more undesirable walking-related built environment conditions compared with non-LIHTC neighborhoods. Our regression results also represent that LIHTC households are more likely to be exposed to neighborhoods with low Walk Score, less sidewalk coverage, and more highways and major roads, while there are no significant associations for PH households. These findings imply that more attention and effort toward reducing the inequitable distributions of walkable neighborhood features supporting rather than hindering healthy lifestyles must be provided to subsidized households.

Designing healthy communities: A walkability analysis of LEED-ND

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Adriana A. Zuniga-Teran

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Prevailing city design in many countries has created sedentary societies that depend on automobile use. Consequently, architects, urban designers, and land planners have developed new urban design theories, which have been incorporated into the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for Neighborhood Development (LEED-ND certification system. The LEED-ND includes design elements that improve human well-being by facilitating walking and biking, a concept known as walkability. Despite these positive developments, relevant research findings from other fields of study have not been fully integrated into the LEED-ND. According to Zuniga-Teran (2015, relevant walkability research findings from multiple disciplines were organized into a walkability framework (WF that organizes design elements related to physical activity into nine categories, namely, connectivity, land use, density, traffic safety, surveillance, parking, experience, greenspace, and community. In this study, we analyze walkability in the LEED-ND through the lens of the nine WF categories. Through quantitative and qualitative analyses, we identify gaps and strengths in the LEED-ND and propose potential enhancements to this certification system that reflects what is known about enhancing walkability more comprehensively through neighborhood design analysis. This work seeks to facilitate the translation of research into practice, which can ultimately lead to more active and healthier societies.

Effects of Neighborhood Walkability on Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior Long-Term Post-Bariatric Surgery.

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Reid, Ryan E R; Carver, Tamara E; Reid, Tyler G R; Picard-Turcot, Marie-Aude; Andersen, Kathleen M; Christou, Nicolas V; Andersen, Ross E

2017-06-01

ᅟ: Chronic inactivity and weight regain are serious health concerns following bariatric surgery. Neighborhood walkability is associated with higher physical activity and lower obesity rates in normal weight populations. Explore the influence of neighborhood walkability on physical activity and sedentarism among long-term post-bariatric surgery patients. Fifty-eight adults aged 50.5 ± 9.1 years, with a BMI of 34.6 ± 9.7 kg/m 2 having undergone surgery 9.8 ± 3.15 years earlier participated in this study. Participants were asked to wear an ActivPAL™ tri-axial accelerometer attached to their mid-thigh for 7-consecutive days, 24 hours/day. The sample was separated into those that live in Car-Dependent (n = 23), Somewhat Walkable (n = 14), Very Walkable (n = 16), and Walker's Paradise (n = 5) neighborhoods as defined using Walk Score®. ANCOVA was performed comparing Walk Score® categories on steps and sedentary time controlling for age and sex. Neighborhood walkability did not influence either daily steps (F (3, 54) = 0.921, p = 0.437) or sedentary time (F (3, 54) = 0.465, p = 0.708), Car-Dependent (6359 ± 2712 steps, 9.54 ± 2.46 hrs), Somewhat Walkable (6563 ± 2989 steps, 9.07 ± 2.70 hrs), Very Walkable (5261 ± 2255 steps, 9.97 ± 2.06 hrs), and Walker's Paradise (6901 ± 1877 steps, 10.14 ± 0.815 hrs). Walkability does not appear to affect sedentary time or physical activity long-term post-surgery. As the built-environment does not seem to influence activity, sedentarism, or obesity as it does with a normal weight population, work needs to be done to tailor physical activity programming after bariatric surgery.

A retrospective study on changes in residents' physical activities, social interactions, and neighborhood cohesion after moving to a walkable community.

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Zhu, Xuemei; Yu, Chia-Yuan; Lee, Chanam; Lu, Zhipeng; Mann, George

2014-12-01

This study is to examine changes in residents' physical activities, social interactions, and neighborhood cohesion after they moved to a walkable community in Austin, Texas. Retrospective surveys (N=449) were administered in 2013-2014 to collect pre- and post-move data about the outcome variables and relevant personal, social, and physical environmental factors. Walkability of each resident's pre-move community was measured using the Walk Score. T tests were used to examine the pre-post move differences in the outcomes in the whole sample and across sub-groups with different physical activity levels, neighborhood conditions, and neighborhood preferences before the move. After the move, total physical activity increased significantly in the whole sample and all sub-groups except those who were previously sufficiently active; lived in communities with high walkability, social interactions, or neighborhood cohesion; or had moderate preference for walkable neighborhoods. Walking in the community increased in the whole sample and all subgroups except those who were previously sufficiently active, moved from high-walkability communities, or had little to no preference for walkable neighborhoods. Social interactions and neighborhood cohesion increased significantly after the move in the whole sample and all sub-groups. This study explored potential health benefits of a walkable community in promoting physically and socially active lifestyles, especially for populations at higher risk of obesity. The initial result is promising, suggesting the need for more work to further examine the relationships between health and community design using pre-post assessments. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Neighborhood walkability, deprivation and incidence of type 2 diabetes: a population-based study on 512,061 Swedish adults.

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Sundquist, Kristina; Eriksson, Ulf; Mezuk, Briana; Ohlsson, Henrik

2015-01-01

Neighborhood walkability has been associated with increased physical activity, but only a few studies have explored the association between walkability and health outcomes related to physical activity, such as type 2 diabetes. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between objectively assessed neighborhood walkability and the 4-year incidence of type 2 diabetes in a sample of 512,061 Swedish adults aged 18 years and older. Neighborhoods were defined by 408 administratively defined geographical areas in the city of Stockholm. We found a negative association between walkability and type 2 diabetes (OR=1.33, 95% CI=1.13-1.55) that remained significant after adjusting for neighborhood deprivation. This association, however, no longer remained statistically significant after adjusting for individual socio-demographic factors. These results were also confirmed using a co-sibling design. Future studies are encouraged to further explore the potential effect of a broader array of the neighborhood built environment on health outcomes related to physical activity. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Interactions between Neighborhood Social Environment and Walkability to Explain Belgian Older Adults’ Physical Activity and Sedentary Time

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Veerle Van Holle

2016-06-01

Full Text Available This study examined associations between neighborhood social factors and physical activity (PA and sedentary behavior (SB in older adults. Furthermore, possible moderating effects of neighborhood walkability were explored. Data from 431 community-dwelling Belgian older adults (≥65 years were analyzed. Neighborhood social factors included measures of neighboring, social trust and cohesion and social diversity. Neighborhood walkability was measured objectively. Outcome measures were self-reported weekly minutes of domain-specific walking and TV viewing, and accelerometer-assessed weekly minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA and overall SB. A higher frequency of talking to neighbors was associated with higher levels of self-reported walking for transport and for recreation. Moderation analyses showed that only in highly-walkable neighborhoods, higher social diversity of the neighborhood environment was associated with more transport walking; and talking to neighbors and social interactions among neighbors were negatively associated with overall SB and television viewing, respectively. Findings suggest that a combination of a favorable neighborhood social and physical environment are important to promote older adults’ PA and limit SB.

Relationship between neighborhood walkability and older adults' physical activity: results from the Belgian Environmental Physical Activity Study in Seniors (BEPAS Seniors).

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Van Holle, Veerle; Van Cauwenberg, Jelle; Van Dyck, Delfien; Deforche, Benedicte; Van de Weghe, Nico; De Bourdeaudhuij, Ilse

2014-08-23

Adequate knowledge on environmental correlates of physical activity (PA) in older adults is needed to develop effective health promotion initiatives. However, research in this age group is scarce and most existing studies were conducted in North America. The present study aimed to examine relationships between GIS-based neighborhood walkability and objective and self-reported PA in community-dwelling Belgian older adults. Furthermore, moderating effects of neighborhood income levels were investigated. The Belgian Environmental Physical Activity Study (BEPAS) for Seniors is a cross-sectional study in older adults (≥65 yrs) and was conducted between October 2010 and September 2012. Data from 438 older adults living in 20 neighborhoods across Ghent (Belgium) were analyzed. Stratification of selected neighborhoods was based upon objective walkability and neighborhood income. Participants wore an accelerometer during seven consecutive days to obtain objective levels of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). Self-reported levels of transportation walking/cycling and recreational walking/cycling were assessed using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (long, last 7 days version) adapted for the elderly. Multi-level regression analyses were conducted. Findings showed a positive relationship between neighborhood walkability and weekly minutes of older adults' self-reported walking for transportation (B = 4.63 ± 1.05;p walkability and accelerometer-derived low-light PA (B = -1.38 ± 0.62;p = 0.025). Walkability was not related to any measure of recreational PA. A walkability x income interaction was found for accelerometer-derived MVPA (B = -1.826 ± 1.03;p = 0.075), showing only a positive association between walkability and MVPA in low-income neighborhood residents. This was the first European study to examine walkability-PA relationships in older adults. These Belgian findings suggest that a high neighborhood walkability relates to higher levels

Single-Family Housing Value Resilience of Walkable Versus Unwalkable Neighborhoods During a Market Downturn: Causal Evidence and Policy Implications.

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Xu, Minjie; Yu, Chia-Yuan; Lee, Chanam; Frank, Lawrence D

2018-01-01

This study investigated the resilience of single-family housing values in walkable versus unwalkable neighborhoods during the economic downturn from 2008 to 2012 in Dallas, Texas. Using propensity score matching and difference in differences methods, this study established a natural experimental design to compare before-and-after value changes of single-family (SF) homes in walkable neighborhoods with unwalkable neighborhoods during the Great Recession. Two thousand seven hundred ninety-nine SF homes within 18 Tax Increment Financing (TIF) districts were categorized into walkable (Walk Score ≥50) and unwalkable (economic benefit. Increased awareness of the sustained value of walkable communities can be used by lenders who finance and by policy makers who regulate placemaking. Results from this study can be integrated with research that demonstrates health-care cost savings of walkable environments to create an even more comprehensive set of evidence-based interventions to increase their supply.

Quasi-causal associations of physical activity and neighborhood walkability with body mass index: a twin study.

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Duncan, Glen E; Cash, Stephanie Whisnant; Horn, Erin E; Turkheimer, Eric

2015-01-01

Physical activity, neighborhood walkability, and body mass index (BMI, kg/m(2)) associations were tested using quasi-experimental twin methods. We hypothesized that physical activity and walkability were independently associated with BMI within twin pairs, controlling for genetic and environmental background shared between them. Data were from 6376 (64% female; 58% identical) same-sex pairs, University of Washington Twin Registry, 2008-2013. Neighborhood walking, moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), and BMI were self-reported. Residential address was used to calculate walkability. Phenotypic (non-genetically informed) and biometric (genetically informed) regression was employed, controlling for age, sex, and race. Walking and MVPA were associated with BMI in phenotypic analyses; associations were attenuated but significant in biometric analyses (PsWalkability was not associated with BMI, however, was associated with walking (but not MVPA) in both phenotypic and biometric analyses (Pswalkability is not associated with BMI, it is associated with neighborhood walking (but not MVPA) accounting for shared background, suggesting a causal relationship between them. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Exploring Neighborhood Unit’s Planning Elements and Configuration Methods in Seoul and Singapore from a Walkability Perspective

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Jeeun Lee

2018-03-01

Full Text Available This paper is to explore how the neighborhood-unit concept, which had been initially promoted by North America and the United Kingdom, was adopted and utilized in the Asian cities of high-density developments, such as Seoul and Singapore from a walkability perspective. Among various environmental elements of walkability in a given neighborhood unit, 10 planning elements, as well as their configuration methods, were drawn from the review of the existing studies, which became an analytical framework for this paper. The findings of the analysis are as follows. First, there were similarities, yet also marked distinctions between the cases of Seoul and Singapore, on the one hand, and those in North America and the UK on the other, with respect to the configuration methods, categorized into four groups of typologies: ‘Neighborhood Size’, ‘Neighborhood Structure’, ‘Neighborhood Network’, and ‘Neighborhood Facilities’. The differences largely resulted from the high-density developments in Seoul and Singapore. In the years since the 1990s, however, when the concept of sustainable development was strengthened, the configuration methods, related to ‘Neighborhood Structure’ and to ‘Neighborhood Facilities’ in most cases, were enhanced to suit more neighborhood walking. The initial concept of the neighborhood unit was actively modified to accommodate the high-density urban situations in Seoul and Singapore, having both positive and negative impacts on neighborhood walkability.

Do Inequalities in Neighborhood Walkability Drive Disparities in Older Adults’ Outdoor Walking?

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Razieh Zandieh

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Older residents of high-deprivation areas walk less than those of low-deprivation areas. Previous research has shown that neighborhood built environment may support and encourage outdoor walking. The extent to which the built environment supports and encourages walking is called “walkability”. This study examines inequalities in neighborhood walkability in high- versus low-deprivation areas and their possible influences on disparities in older adults’ outdoor walking levels. For this purpose, it focuses on specific neighborhood built environment attributes (residential density, land-use mix and intensity, street connectivity, and retail density relevant to neighborhood walkability. It applied a mixed-method approach, included 173 participants (≥65 years, and used a Geographic Information System (GIS and walking interviews (with a sub-sample to objectively and subjectively measure neighborhood built environment attributes. Outdoor walking levels were measured by using the Geographic Positioning System (GPS technology. Data on personal characteristics was collected by completing a questionnaire. The results show that inequalities in certain land-use intensity (i.e., green spaces, recreation centers, schools and industries in high- versus low-deprivation areas may influence disparities in older adults’ outdoor walking levels. Modifying neighborhood land use intensity may help to encourage outdoor walking in high-deprivation areas.

One size doesn't fit all: cross-sectional associations between neighborhood walkability, crime and physical activity depends on age and sex of residents.

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Richardson, Andrea S; Troxel, Wendy M; Ghosh-Dastidar, Madhumita B; Beckman, Robin; Hunter, Gerald P; DeSantis, Amy S; Colabianchi, Natalie; Dubowitz, Tamara

2017-01-19

Low-income African American adults are disproportionately affected by obesity and are also least likely to engage in recommended levels of physical activity (Flegal et al. JAMA 303(3):235-41, 2010; Tucker et al. Am J Prev Med 40(4):454-61, 2011). Moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) is an important factor for weight management and control, as well as for reducing disease risk (Andersen et al. Lancet 368(9532):299-304, 2006; Boreham and Riddoch J Sports Sci 19(12):915-29, 2001; Carson et al. PLoS One 8(8):e71417, 2013). While neighborhood greenspace and walkability have been associated with increased MVPA, evidence also suggests that living in areas with high rates of crime limits MVPA. Few studies have examined to what extent the confluence of neighborhood greenspace, walkability and crime might impact MVPA in low-income African American adults nor how associations may vary by age and sex. In 2013 we collected self-reported data on demographics, functional limitations, objective measures of MVPA (accelerometry), neighborhood greenspace (geographic information system), and walkability (street audit) in 791 predominantly African-American adults (mean age 56 years) living in two United States (U.S.) low-income neighborhoods. We also acquired data from the City of Pittsburgh on all crime events within both neighborhoods. To examine cross-sectional associations of neighborhood-related variables (i.e., neighborhood greenspace, walkability and crime) with MVPA, we used zero-inflated negative binomial regression models. Additionally, we examined potential interactions by age (over 65 years) and sex on relationships between neighborhood variables and MVPA. Overall, residents engaged in very little to no MVPA regardless of where they lived. However, for women, but not men, under the age of 65 years, living in more walkable neighborhoods was associated with more time engaged in MVPA in (β = 0.55, p = 0.007) as compared to their counterparts living in less

One size doesn’t fit all: cross-sectional associations between neighborhood walkability, crime and physical activity depends on age and sex of residents

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Andrea S. Richardson

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Low-income African American adults are disproportionately affected by obesity and are also least likely to engage in recommended levels of physical activity (Flegal et al. JAMA 303(3:235-41, 2010; Tucker et al. Am J Prev Med 40(4:454-61, 2011. Moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA is an important factor for weight management and control, as well as for reducing disease risk (Andersen et al. Lancet 368(9532:299-304, 2006; Boreham and Riddoch J Sports Sci 19(12:915-29, 2001; Carson et al. PLoS One 8(8:e71417, 2013. While neighborhood greenspace and walkability have been associated with increased MVPA, evidence also suggests that living in areas with high rates of crime limits MVPA. Few studies have examined to what extent the confluence of neighborhood greenspace, walkability and crime might impact MVPA in low-income African American adults nor how associations may vary by age and sex. Methods In 2013 we collected self-reported data on demographics, functional limitations, objective measures of MVPA (accelerometry, neighborhood greenspace (geographic information system, and walkability (street audit in 791 predominantly African-American adults (mean age 56 years living in two United States (U.S. low-income neighborhoods. We also acquired data from the City of Pittsburgh on all crime events within both neighborhoods. Exposure: To examine cross-sectional associations of neighborhood-related variables (i.e., neighborhood greenspace, walkability and crime with MVPA, we used zero-inflated negative binomial regression models. Additionally, we examined potential interactions by age (over 65 years and sex on relationships between neighborhood variables and MVPA. Results Overall, residents engaged in very little to no MVPA regardless of where they lived. However, for women, but not men, under the age of 65 years, living in more walkable neighborhoods was associated with more time engaged in MVPA in (β = 0.55, p = 0

Do Inequalities in Neighborhood Walkability Drive Disparities in Older Adults’ Outdoor Walking?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zandieh, Razieh; Flacke, J.; Martínez-Martín, J.A.; Jones, Phil; Van Maarseveen, Martin

2017-01-01

Older residents of high-deprivation areas walk less than those of low-deprivation areas. Previous research has shown that neighborhood built environment may support and encourage outdoor walking. The extent to which the built environment supports and encourages walking is called "walkability". This

Walkability and Physical Activity

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Reis, Rodrigo Siqueira; Hino, Adriano Akira Ferreira; Rech, Cassiano Ricardo; Kerr, Jacqueline; Hallal, Pedro Curi

2013-01-01

Background Evidence from developing countries is limited on how income level for a given neighborhood is related to physical activity among its residents. Purpose The goal of the study was to examine the association between walkability and physical activity outcomes, and the effect of income on the relationship between walkability and physical activity in adults. Methods The Spaces for Physical Activity in Adults Study (ESPACOS Project) took place in Curitiba, Brazil. Data were collected in 2010 in 32 census tracts selected to vary in income and walkability, as measured by GIS. Participants were 697 individuals aged 18–65 years (52.0% were women) randomly sampled from the selected neighborhoods. The International Physical Activity Questionnaire was used to measure physical activity. All analyses were conducted in 2012. Results The proportion of those who walked for transportation for ≥150 minutes/week was 21.1% in low-walkability areas, and ranged from 33.5% to 35.0% in high-walkability areas. A total of 12.6% of residents were found to walk for leisure for ≥150 minutes/week; this result did not vary across quadrants of walkability and income level. The prevalence of leisure-time moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) was 7.1–10.5 percentage points higher in high-compared to low-walkability areas. After adjusting for all individual confounders, walkability showed an independent association with walking for transport (OR=2.10, 95% CI=1.31, 3.37, p=0.002) and leisure-time MVPA (OR=1.57; 95% CI=1.06, 2.32; p=0.024). Neighborhood income level was independently associated with leisure-time MVPA (OR=1.70; 95% CI=1.06, 2.74, p=0.029). No association was found between walkability and walking for leisure. No interaction was found between walkability and neighborhood income level. Conclusions This study, among adults living in Curitiba, Brazil, confirms findings from studies of high-income countries showing that walkability is positively associated with

Metode Penilaian Walkability Permukiman di Perkotaan: Sebuah Kajian Literatur Sistematis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alva F.P. Sondakh

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Neighborhood Walkability is an important factor in urban life. The purpose of this systematic review is to identify the variables used in the measurements, to identify the methods of data collection, to identify the research instruments, and to identify the methods of data analysis used by previous researchs on Neighborhood Walkability. This review used a systematic literature review method on 19 articles about Neighborhood Walkability. Results of analysis and interpretation has shown that a combination of measuring factual condition and perceptual opinion is best to describe the Neighborhood Walkability. Keywords: assesment method, neighborhood walkability, neighborhood accessibility, urban quality of life.

Physical activity and concordance between objective and perceived walkability.

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Arvidsson, Daniel; Kawakami, Naomi; Ohlsson, Henrik; Sundquist, Kristina

2012-02-01

The study's purpose was to investigate concordance between objective and perceived neighborhood walkability, their associations with self-reported walking and objective physical activity, and sociodemographic characteristics of individuals in neighborhoods with objectively assessed high walkability who misperceive it as low. In 1925 individuals age 20-66 yr of both high and low neighborhood walkability recruited from administrative areas in the city of Stockholm, Sweden, objective neighborhood walkability was assessed within a 1000-m radius of each individual's residential address using geographic information systems. Perceived walkability was based on the Neighborhood Environment Walkability Scale. Walking was assessed using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire, and total physical activity and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) were assessed by an accelerometer (ActiGraph). Sociodemographic characteristics were self-reported. Objective and perceived neighborhood walkability agreed in 67.0% of the individuals, with κ = 0.34 (95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.30-0.38). One-third of the individuals in neighborhoods with objectively assessed high walkability misperceived it as low. This nonconcordance was more common among older and married/cohabiting individuals. After adjustment for sociodemographic characteristics, high objective neighborhood walkability was associated with 35.0 (95% CI = 14.6-64.6) and 10.5 (95% CI = -5.2 to 28.5) more minutes per week of walking for transportation and leisure, respectively, and 2.8 (95% CI = 0.9-5.0) more minutes per day of MVPA. High perceived neighborhood walkability was associated with 41.5 (95% CI = 15.8-62.9) and 21.8 (95% CI = 2.8-40.0) more minutes per week of walking for transportation and leisure, respectively, and 1.7 (95% CI = -0.3 to 3.7) more minutes per day of MVPA. Objective and perceived neighborhood walkability both contribute to the amount of walking and objective physical activity. Both

Neighborhood Environmental Health and Premature Death From Cardiovascular Disease.

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Gaglioti, Anne H; Xu, Junjun; Rollins, Latrice; Baltrus, Peter; O'Connell, Laura Kathryn; Cooper, Dexter L; Hopkins, Jammie; Botchwey, Nisha D; Akintobi, Tabia Henry

2018-02-01

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death in the United States and disproportionately affects racial/ethnic minority groups. Healthy neighborhood conditions are associated with increased uptake of health behaviors that reduce CVD risk, but minority neighborhoods often have poor food access and poor walkability. This study tested the community-driven hypothesis that poor access to food at the neighborhood level and poor neighborhood walkability are associated with racial disparities in premature deaths from CVD. We examined the relationship between neighborhood-level food access and walkability on premature CVD mortality rates at the census tract level for the city of Atlanta using multivariable logistic regression models. We produced maps to illustrate premature CVD mortality, food access, and walkability by census tract for the city. We found significant racial differences in premature CVD mortality rates and geographic disparities in food access and walkability among census tracts in Atlanta. Improved food access and walkability were associated with reduced overall premature CVD mortality in unadjusted models, but this association did not persist in models adjusted for census tract population composition and poverty. Census tracts with high concentrations of minority populations had higher levels of poor food access, poor walkability, and premature CVD mortality. This study highlights disparities in premature CVD mortality and neighborhood food access and walkability at the census tract level in the city of Atlanta. Improving food access may have differential effects for subpopulations living in the same area. These results can be used to calibrate neighborhood-level interventions, and they highlight the need to examine race-specific health outcomes.

Neighborhood Environmental Health and Premature Death From Cardiovascular Disease

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Xu, Junjun; Rollins, Latrice; Baltrus, Peter; O’Connell, Laura Kathryn; Cooper, Dexter L.; Hopkins, Jammie; Botchwey, Nisha D.; Akintobi, Tabia Henry

2018-01-01

Introduction Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death in the United States and disproportionately affects racial/ethnic minority groups. Healthy neighborhood conditions are associated with increased uptake of health behaviors that reduce CVD risk, but minority neighborhoods often have poor food access and poor walkability. This study tested the community-driven hypothesis that poor access to food at the neighborhood level and poor neighborhood walkability are associated with racial disparities in premature deaths from CVD. Methods We examined the relationship between neighborhood-level food access and walkability on premature CVD mortality rates at the census tract level for the city of Atlanta using multivariable logistic regression models. We produced maps to illustrate premature CVD mortality, food access, and walkability by census tract for the city. Results We found significant racial differences in premature CVD mortality rates and geographic disparities in food access and walkability among census tracts in Atlanta. Improved food access and walkability were associated with reduced overall premature CVD mortality in unadjusted models, but this association did not persist in models adjusted for census tract population composition and poverty. Census tracts with high concentrations of minority populations had higher levels of poor food access, poor walkability, and premature CVD mortality. Conclusion This study highlights disparities in premature CVD mortality and neighborhood food access and walkability at the census tract level in the city of Atlanta. Improving food access may have differential effects for subpopulations living in the same area. These results can be used to calibrate neighborhood-level interventions, and they highlight the need to examine race-specific health outcomes. PMID:29389312

Refining The Grain: Using Resident-Based Walkability Audits To Better Understand Walkable Urban Form.

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Schlossberg, Marc; Johnson-Shelton, Deb; Evers, Cody; Moreno, Geraldine

Researchers use measures of street connectivity to assess neighborhood walkability and many studies show a relationship between neighborhood design and walking activity. Yet, the core of those connectivity measures are based on constructs designed for analyzing automobile mobility - the street network - not pedestrian movement. This paper examines the effect of a finer grained characterization of street connectivity and illustrates the idea using parent ratings of street and intersection walkability for children throughout a suburban school district in Oregon. Several policy and practice recommendations are presented, including a discussion that extends Michael Southworth's (1993; 2005) foundational representation of streets and the walkable city using a refined, more pedestrian-centered approach to visualizing connectivity and walkable urban form.

Neighborhood walkability, fear and risk of falling and response to walking promotion: The Easy Steps to Health 12-month randomized controlled trial.

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Merom, D; Gebel, K; Fahey, P; Astell-Burt, T; Voukelatos, A; Rissel, C; Sherrington, C

2015-01-01

In older adults the relationships between health, fall-related risk factors, perceived neighborhood walkability, walking behavior and intervention impacts are poorly understood. To determine whether: i) health and fall-related risk factors were associated with perceptions of neighborhood walkability; ii) perceived environmental attributes, and fall-related risk factors predicted change in walking behavior at 12 months; and iii) perceived environmental attributes and fall-related risk factors moderated the effect of a self-paced walking program on walking behavior. Randomized trial on walking and falls conducted between 2009 and 2012 involving 315 community-dwelling inactive adults ≥ 65 years living in Sydney, Australia. Measures were: mobility status, fall history, injurious fall and fear of falling (i.e., fall-related risk factors), health status, walking self-efficacy and 11 items from the neighborhood walkability scale and planned walking ≥ 150 min/week at 12 months. Participants with poorer mobility, fear of falling, and poor health perceived their surroundings as less walkable. Walking at 12 months was significantly greater in "less greenery" (AOR = 3.3, 95% CI: 1.11-9.98) and "high traffic" (AOR = 1.98, 95% CI: 1.00-3.91) neighborhoods. The intervention had greater effects in neighborhoods perceived to have poorer pedestrian infrastructure (p for interaction = 0.036). Low perceived walkability was shaped by health status and did not appear to be a barrier to walking behavior. There appears to be a greater impact of, and thus, need for, interventions to encourage walking in environments perceived not to have supportive walking infrastructure. Future studies on built environments and walking should gather information on fall-related risk factors to better understand how these characteristics interact.

Construct Validity of the Neighborhood Environment Walkability Scale for Africa.

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Oyeyemi, Adewale L; Conway, Terry L; Adedoyin, Rufus A; Akinroye, Kingsley K; Aryeetey, Richmond; Assah, Felix; Cain, Kelli L; Gavand, Kavita A; Kasoma, Sandra S; Kolbe-Alexander, Tracy L; Lambert, Estelle V; Larouche, Richard; Moss, Sarah J; Ocansey, Reginald; Onywera, Vincent O; Prista, Antonio; Tremblay, Mark S; Sallis, James F

2017-03-01

The development of valid measures of built environments relevant for physical activity is an important step toward controlling the global epidemic of physical inactivity-related noncommunicable diseases and deaths. This study assessed the construct validity of a self-report neighborhood environment walkability scale adapted for Africa (NEWS-Africa), by examining relationships with self-reported walking for transportation and recreation using pooled data from six sub-Saharan African countries. NEWS was systematically adapted to assess urban, periurban, and rural environments in sub-Saharan Africa. Adults (n = 469, 18-85 yr, 49.7% women) from Cameroon, Ghana, Mozambique, Nigeria, South Africa, and Uganda were purposively recruited from neighborhoods varying in walkability and socioeconomic status, with some from villages. Participants completed the 76-item (13 subscales) NEWS-Africa by structured interview and reported weekly minutes of walking for transport and recreation using items from the International Physical Activity Questionnaire. The overall "walkability" index had a positive relationship with both walking for transportation (η = 0.020, P = 0.005) and recreation (η = 0.013, P = 0.028) in the pooled analyses. The mixed-use access and stranger danger scales were positively related with transport walking (η = 0.020, P = 0.006 and η = 0.021, P = 0.040, respectively). Proximity of recreational facilities (η = 0.016, P = 0.015), road/path connectivity (η = 0.025, P = 0.002), path infrastructure (η = 0.021, P = 0.005), and overall places for walking and cycling (η = 0.012, P = 0.029) scales were positively related to recreational walking. Country-specific results were mostly nonsignificant except for South Africa and Uganda. Of 14 NEWS-Africa scales, 7 were significantly related to walking behavior in pooled analyses, providing partial support for the construct validity of NEWS-Africa. However, effect sizes appeared to be lower than those from other

A Disadvantaged Advantage in Walkability: Findings from ...

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Urban form-the structure of the built environment-can influence physical activity, yet little is known about how walkable design differs according to neighborhood sociodemographic composition. We studied how walkable urban form varies by neighborhood sociodemographic composition, region, and urbanicity across the United States. Using linear regression models and 2000-2001 US Census data, we investigated the relationship between 5 neighborhood census characteristics (income, education, racial/ethnic composition, age distribution, and sex) and 5 walkability indicators in almost 65,000 census tracts in 48 states and the District of Columbia. Data on the built environment were obtained from the RAND Corporation's (Santa Monica, California) Center for Population Health and Health Disparities (median block length, street segment, and node density) and the US Geological Survey's National Land Cover Database (proportion open space and proportion highly developed). Disadvantaged neighborhoods and those with more educated residents were more walkable (i.e., shorter block length, greater street node density, more developed land use, and higher density of street segments). However, tracts with a higher proportion of children and older adults were less walkable (fewer street nodes and lower density of street segments), after adjustment for region and level of urbanicity. Research and policy on the walkability-health link should give nuanced attention to the gap between perso

Walkability and physical activity: findings from Curitiba, Brazil.

Science.gov (United States)

Siqueira Reis, Rodrigo; Hino, Adriano Akira Ferreira; Ricardo Rech, Cassiano; Kerr, Jacqueline; Curi Hallal, Pedro

2013-09-01

Evidence from developing countries is limited on how income level for a given neighborhood is related to physical activity among its residents. The goal of the study was to examine the association between walkability and physical activity outcomes, and the effect of income on the relationship between walkability and physical activity in adults. The Spaces for Physical Activity in Adults Study (ESPACOS Project) took place in Curitiba, Brazil. Data were collected in 2010 in 32 census tracts selected to vary in income and walkability, as measured by GIS. Participants were 697 individuals aged 18-65 years (52.0% were women) randomly sampled from the selected neighborhoods. The International Physical Activity Questionnaire was used to measure physical activity. All analyses were conducted in 2012. The proportion of those who walked for transportation for ≥ 150 minutes/week was 21.1% in low-walkability areas, and ranged from 33.5% to 35.0% in high-walkability areas. A total of 12.6% of residents were found to walk for leisure for ≥ 150 minutes/week; this result did not vary across quadrants of walkability and income level. The prevalence of leisure-time moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) was 7.1-10.5 percentage points higher in high-compared to low-walkability areas. After adjusting for all individual confounders, walkability showed an independent association with walking for transport (OR=2.10, 95% CI=1.31, 3.37, p=0.002) and leisure-time MVPA (OR=1.57, 95% CI=1.06, 2.32, p=0.024). Neighborhood income level was independently associated with leisure-time MVPA (OR=1.70, 95% CI=1.06, 2.74, p=0.029). No association was found between walkability and walking for leisure. No interaction was found between walkability and neighborhood income level. This study, among adults living in Curitiba, Brazil, confirms findings from studies of high-income countries showing that walkability is positively associated with physical activity. People living in high-walkability

Correlates of non-concordance between perceived and objective measures of walkability.

Science.gov (United States)

Gebel, Klaus; Bauman, Adrian; Owen, Neville

2009-04-01

Objective and self-reported physical environmental attributes have been related to physical activity. We examined the characteristics of adults who are resident in objectively identified high walkable neighborhoods but whose perceptions of neighborhood attributes are not concordant with objective attributes relating to high walkability. Neighborhood built-environment attributes relating to walkability (dwelling density, intersection density, land use mix, and net retail area) were determined objectively, using Geographic Information System databases; data on corresponding perceptions of local environment attributes (from the Neighborhood Environment Walkability Scale) were derived from a self-completion survey of a socially diverse sample of 2,650 adults aged 19 to 65. Objective and perceived walkability attributes were categorized using median splits, and correlates of non-concordance were determined using multiple logistic regression models. There was a fair overall agreement between objectively determined walkability and perceived walkability (Kappa = 0.35, 95% CI = 0.31-0.39). Among those resident in objectively assessed high walkable areas (n = 1,063), 32.1% perceived them to be low walkable; conversely, 32.7% (n = 1,021) resident in objectively determined low walkability areas perceived them to be high. For residents of objectively determined high walkable areas, the characteristics that differentiated those with perceptions of low walkability (non-concordant perceptions) from those with concordant perceptions of high walkability were: not being university-educated (OR = 1.47, 95% CI = 1.06-2.04); having lower household incomes (OR = 1.54, 95% CI = 1.09-2.17); being overweight (OR = 1.46, 95% CI = 1.03-2.07); and walking fewer days per week for transport (OR = 1.75, 95% CI = 1.11-2.70). Higher walking times and more positive cognitive variables were noted among participants who lived in a neighborhood with low walkability that was perceived as high compared

Exposures to Walkability and Particulate Air Pollution in a Nationwide Cohort of Women

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James, Peter; Hart, Jaime E.; Laden, Francine

2015-01-01

Background Features of neighborhoods associated with walkability (i.e., connectivity, accessibility, and density) may also be correlated with levels of ambient air pollution, which would attenuate the health benefits of walkability. Objectives We examined the relationship between neighborhood walkability and ambient air pollution in a cross-sectional analysis of a cohort study spanning the entire United States using residence-level exposure assessment for ambient air pollution and the built environment. Methods Using data from the Nurses’ Health Study, we used linear regression to estimate the association between a neighborhood walkability index, combining neighborhood intersection count, business count, and population density (defined from Census data, infoUSA business data, and StreetMap USA data), and air pollution, defined from a GIS-based spatiotemporal PM2.5 model. Results After adjustment for Census tract median income, median home value, and percent with no high school education, the highest tertile of walkability index, intersection count, business count, and population density was associated with a with 1.58 (95% CI 1.54, 1.62), 1.20 (95% CI 1.16, 1.24), 1.31 (95% CI 1.27, 1.35), and 1.84 (95% CI 1.80, 1.88) μg/m3 higher level of PM2.5 respectively, compared to the lowest tertile. Results varied somewhat by neighborhood socioeconomic status and greatly by region. Conclusions This nationwide analysis showed a positive relationship between neighborhood walkability and modeled air pollution levels, which were consistent after adjustment for neighborhood-level socioeconomic status. Regional differences in the air pollution-walkability relationship demonstrate that there are factors that vary across region that allow for walkable neighborhoods with low levels of air pollution. PMID:26397775

Residents’ Perceptions of Walkability Attributes in Mainland China: Reliability and Validity

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Ye, Yang; Fei, Teng; Mei, Hongyuan

2017-12-01

To test the influence of urban built environment on walkability in mainland Chinese cities, this study developed a questionnaire to perceive the residents’ perception of walkability around their neighborhood, which was based on the Neighborhood Environment Walkability Scale-Abbreviated (NEWS-A), and modified to reflect the characteristics of mainland Chinese built environment and people’s behavior mode. To perceive the final version of Neighborhood Environment Walkability Scale for Mainland China (NEWS-MC), We made a pilot study which include 50 samples, then interview 350 residents from 4 selected residential districts in Harbin which were different in walkability attributes and economic status. The final version of the NEWS-MC included 8 subscales and 5 single items (81 items in total). Test-retest reliability showed moderate to high except 1 subscale. In total, the NEWS-MC could illustrate residents’ perceptions of walkability attributes in mainland Chinese cities and could be use in other Chinese urban attributes studies related to walking.

Designing healthy communities: creating evidence on metrics for built environment features associated with walkable neighbourhood activity centres.

Science.gov (United States)

Gunn, Lucy Dubrelle; Mavoa, Suzanne; Boulangé, Claire; Hooper, Paula; Kavanagh, Anne; Giles-Corti, Billie

2017-12-04

Evidence-based metrics are needed to inform urban policy to create healthy walkable communities. Most active living research has developed metrics of the environment around residential addresses, ignoring other important walking locations. Therefore, this study examined: metrics for built environment features surrounding local shopping centres, (known in Melbourne, Australia as neighbourhood activity centres (NACs) which are typically anchored by a supermarket); the association between NACs and transport walking; and, policy compliance for supermarket provision. In this observational study, cluster analysis was used to categorize 534 NACs in Melbourne, Australia by their built environment features. The NACS were linked to eligible Victorian Integrated Survey of Travel Activity 2009-2010 (VISTA) survey participants (n=19,984). Adjusted multilevel logistic regressions estimated associations between each cluster typology and two outcomes of daily walking: any transport walking; and, any 'neighbourhood' transport walking. Distance between residential dwellings and closest NAC was assessed to evaluate compliance with local planning policy on supermarket locations. Metrics for 19 built environment features were estimated and three NAC clusters associated with walkability were identified. NACs with significantly higher street connectivity (mean:161, SD:20), destination diversity (mean:16, SD:0.4); and net residential density (mean:77, SD:65) were interpreted as being 'highly walkable' when compared with 'low walkable' NACs, which had lower street connectivity (mean:57, SD:15); destination diversity (mean:11, SD:3); and net residential density (mean:10, SD:3). The odds of any daily transport walking was 5.85 times higher (95% CI: 4.22, 8.11), and for any 'neighborhood' transport walking 8.66 (95% CI: 5.89, 12.72) times higher, for residents whose closest NAC was highly walkable compared with those living near low walkable NACs. Only highly walkable NACs met the policy

Cross-validation of the factorial structure of the Neighborhood Environment Walkability Scale (NEWS) and its abbreviated form (NEWS-A)

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The Neighborhood Environment Walkability Scale (NEWS) and its abbreviated form (NEWS-A) assess perceived environmental attributes believed to influence physical activity. A multilevel confirmatory factor analysis (MCFA) conducted on a sample from Seattle, WA, showed that, at the respondent level, th...

Neighborhood walkability, physical activity, and walking for transportation: A cross-sectional study of older adults living on low income.

Science.gov (United States)

Chudyk, Anna M; McKay, Heather A; Winters, Meghan; Sims-Gould, Joanie; Ashe, Maureen C

2017-04-10

Walking, and in particular, outdoor walking, is the most common form of physical activity for older adults. To date, no study investigated the association between the neighborhood built environment and physical activity habits of older adults of low SES. Thus, our overarching aim was to examine the association between the neighborhood built environment and the spectrum of physical activity and walking for transportation in older adults of low socioeconomic status. Cross-sectional data were from the Walk the Talk Study, collected in 2012. Participants (n = 161, mean age = 74 years) were in receipt of a rental subsidy for low income individuals and resided in neighbourhoods across Metro Vancouver, Canada. We used the Street Smart Walk Score to objectively characterize the built environment main effect (walkability), accelerometry for objective physical activity, and the Community Healthy Activities Model Program for Seniors (CHAMPS) questionnaire to measure walking for transportation. We used regression analyses to examine associations of objectively measured physical activity [total volume, light intensity and moderate intensity physical activity (MVPA)] and self-reported walking for transportation (any, frequency, duration) with walkability. We adjusted analyses for person- and environment-level factors associated with older adult physical activity. Neighbourhood walkability was not associated with physical activity volume or intensity and self-reported walking for transportation, with one exception. Each 10-point increase in Street Smart Walk Score was associated with a 45% greater odds of any walking for transportation (compared with none; OR = 1.45, 95% confidence interval = 1.18, 1.78). Sociodemographic, physical function and attitudinal factors were significant predictors of physical activity across our models. The lack of associations between most of the explored outcomes may be due to the complexity of the relation between the person and

Active Transportation on a Complete Street: Perceived and Audited Walkability Correlates

OpenAIRE

Jensen, Wyatt A.; Brown, Barbara B.; Smith, Ken R.; Brewer, Simon C.; Amburgey, Jonathan W.; McIff, Brett

2017-01-01

Few studies of walkability include both perceived and audited walkability measures. We examined perceived walkability (Neighborhood Environment Walkability Scale—Abbreviated, NEWS-A) and audited walkability (Irvine–Minnesota Inventory, IMI) measures for residents living within 2 km of a “complete street”—one renovated with light rail, bike lanes, and sidewalks. For perceived walkability, we found some differences but substantial similarity between our final scales and those in a prior publish...

Construct Validity of the Neighborhood Environment Walkability Scale for Africa

Science.gov (United States)

Oyeyemi, Adewale L.; Conway, Terry L.; Adedoyin, Rufus A.; Akinroye, Kingsley K.; Aryeetey, Richmond; Assah, Felix; Cain, Kelli L.; Gavand, Kavita A.; Kasoma, Sandra S.; Kolbe-Alexander, Tracy L.; Lambert, Estelle V.; Larouche, Richard; Mos, Sarah J.; Ocansey, Reginald; Onywera, Vincent O.; Prista, Antonio; Tremblay, Mark S.; Sallis, James F.

2016-01-01

Purpose Development of valid measures of built environments relevant for physical activity is an important step toward controlling the global epidemic of physical inactivity-related noncommunicable diseases and deaths. This study assessed the construct validity of a self-report neighborhood environment walkability scale adapted for Africa (NEWS-Africa), by examining relationships with self-reported walking for transportation and recreation using pooled data from six sub-Saharan African countries. Methods NEWS was systematically adapted to assess urban, peri-urban and rural environments in sub-Saharan Africa. Adults (n=469, 18-85 years, 49.7% women) from Cameroon, Ghana, Mozambique, Nigeria, South Africa and Uganda were purposively recruited from neighborhoods varying in walkability and socioeconomic status, with some from villages. Participants completed the 76-item (13 subscales) NEWS-Africa by structured interview and reported weekly minutes of walking for transport and recreation using items from the International Physical Activity Questionnaire. Results The overall ‘walkability’ index had a positive relationship with both walking for transportation (eta2=0.020, p=0.005) and recreation (eta2=0.013, p=0.028) in the pooled analyses. The mixed-use access and stranger-danger scales were positively related with transport walking (eta2=0.020, p=0.006 and eta2=0.021, p=0.040, respectively). Proximity of recreational facilities (eta2=0.016, p=0.015), road/path connectivity (eta2=0.025, p=0.002), path infrastructure (eta2=0.021, p=0.005), and overall places for walking and cycling (eta2=0.012, p=0.029) scales were positively related to recreational walking. Country-specific results were mostly non-significant except for South Africa and Uganda. Conclusions Seven of 14 NEWS-Africa scales were significantly related to walking behavior in pooled analyses, providing partial support for the construct validity of NEWS-Africa. However, effect sizes appeared to be lower than

A Path Walkability Assessment Index Model for Evaluating and Facilitating Retail Walking Using Decision-Tree-Making (DTM Method

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Ali Keyvanfar

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Transportation is the major contributor of ever-increasing CO2 and Greenhouse Gas emissions in cities. The ever-increasing hazardous emissions of transportation and energy consumption have persuaded transportation and urban planners to motivate people to non-motorized mode of travel, especially walking. Currently, there are several urban walkability assessment models; however, coping with a limited range of walkability assessment variables make these models not fully able to promote inclusive walkable urban neighborhoods. In this regard, this study develops the path walkability assessment (PWA index model which evaluates and analyzes path walkability in association with the pedestrian’s decision-tree-making (DTM. The model converts the pedestrian’s DTM qualitative data to quantifiable values. This model involves ninety-two (92 physical and environmental walkability assessment variables clustered into three layers of DTM (Layer 1: features; Layer 2: Criteria; and Layer 3: Sub-Criteria, and scoped to shopping and retail type of walking. The PWA model as a global decision support tool can be applied in any neighborhood in the world, and this study implements it at Taman Universiti neighborhood in Skudai, Malaysia. The PWA model has established the walkability score index which determines the grading rate of walkability accomplishment for each walkability variable of the under-survey neighborhood. Using the PWA grading index enables urban designers to manage properly the financial resource allocation for inspiring walkability in the targeted neighborhood.

Walkable new urban LEED_Neighborhood-Development (LEED-ND community design and children's physical activity: selection, environmental, or catalyst effects?

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Stevens, Robert B

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Interest is growing in physical activity-friendly community designs, but few tests exist of communities explicitly designed to be walkable. We test whether students living in a new urbanist community that is also a pilot LEED_ND (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design-Neighborhood Development community have greater accelerometer-measured moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA across particular time periods compared to students from other communities. We test various time/place periods to see if the data best conform to one of three explanations for MVPA. Environmental effects suggest that MVPA occurs when individuals are exposed to activity-friendly settings; selection effects suggest that walkable community residents prefer MVPA, which leads to both their choice of a walkable community and their high levels of MVPA; catalyst effects occur when walking to school creates more MVPA, beyond the school commute, on schooldays but not weekends. Methods Fifth graders (n = 187 were sampled from two schools representing three communities: (1 a walkable community, Daybreak, designed with new urbanist and LEED-ND pilot design standards; (2 a mixed community (where students lived in a less walkable community but attended the walkable school so that part of the route to school was walkable, and (3 a less walkable community. Selection threats were addressed through controlling for parental preferences for their child to walk to school as well as comparing in-school MVPA for the walkable and mixed groups. Results Minutes of MVPA were tested with 3 × 2 (Community by Gender analyses of covariance (ANCOVAs. Community walkability related to more MVPA during the half hour before and after school and, among boys only, more MVPA after school. Boys were more active than girls, except during the half hour after school. Students from the mixed and walkable communities--who attended the same school--had similar in-school MVPA levels, and

Walkable new urban LEED_Neighborhood-Development (LEED-ND) community design and children's physical activity: selection, environmental, or catalyst effects?

Science.gov (United States)

2011-01-01

Background Interest is growing in physical activity-friendly community designs, but few tests exist of communities explicitly designed to be walkable. We test whether students living in a new urbanist community that is also a pilot LEED_ND (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design-Neighborhood Development) community have greater accelerometer-measured moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) across particular time periods compared to students from other communities. We test various time/place periods to see if the data best conform to one of three explanations for MVPA. Environmental effects suggest that MVPA occurs when individuals are exposed to activity-friendly settings; selection effects suggest that walkable community residents prefer MVPA, which leads to both their choice of a walkable community and their high levels of MVPA; catalyst effects occur when walking to school creates more MVPA, beyond the school commute, on schooldays but not weekends. Methods Fifth graders (n = 187) were sampled from two schools representing three communities: (1) a walkable community, Daybreak, designed with new urbanist and LEED-ND pilot design standards; (2) a mixed community (where students lived in a less walkable community but attended the walkable school so that part of the route to school was walkable), and (3) a less walkable community. Selection threats were addressed through controlling for parental preferences for their child to walk to school as well as comparing in-school MVPA for the walkable and mixed groups. Results Minutes of MVPA were tested with 3 × 2 (Community by Gender) analyses of covariance (ANCOVAs). Community walkability related to more MVPA during the half hour before and after school and, among boys only, more MVPA after school. Boys were more active than girls, except during the half hour after school. Students from the mixed and walkable communities--who attended the same school--had similar in-school MVPA levels, and community groups

Active Seattle: achieving walkability in diverse neighborhoods.

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Deehr, Rebecca C; Shumann, Amy

2009-12-01

The Active Living by Design project based in Seattle (Active Seattle) advocated for policies and projects in diverse communities supporting a more walkable city, while using social marketing and education to get more people walking more often. Walking audits were carried out in select diverse neighborhoods, resulting in recommendations for policy change and built-environment improvements. Advocacy for city-scale policies also occurred. Walking maps and other social-marketing products promoted behavior change. Major Safe Routes to School activities occurred and were made possible by separate funding sources. Positive results of Active Seattle included an increase in funding for pedestrian infrastructure, a pedestrian master plan, a Complete Streets policy, substantial increase in Safe Routes to School activity, and institutionalization of active living and active transportation within partner agencies. Challenges included institutional prioritization for improving pedestrian infrastructure, funding inequity, and a community need that was greater than could be fulfilled. Efforts to overcome funding inequities or other resistance to pedestrian-oriented physical projects will benefit from high-visibility campaigns that have a lasting impact on public perception and decision makers' political will. To reach vulnerable populations that have substantial barriers to increasing walking frequency, extensive staff time for outreach is needed. Changing the built environment to encourage walking may be a long-term solution in communities with diverse populations. Influencing and educating local government officials to make active living projects and policies a high budgetary priority is essential for large-scale impact and long-term change.

A Disadvantaged Advantage in Walkability: Findings from Socioeconomic and Geographic Analysis of National Built Environment Data in the United States.

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Urban form-the structure of the built environment-can influence physical activity, yet little is known about how walkable design differs according to neighborhood sociodemographic composition. We studied how walkable urban form varies by neighborhood sociodemographic composition,...

Neighborhood walkability scale (News - Brazil: Back translation and Reliability

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Jorge Both

2007-12-01

Full Text Available Existem, no Brasil, poucos instrumentos para avaliar a relação entre o ambiente físico e a prática de atividades físicas. O objetivo do estudo foi analisar a tradução, a retradução e a reprodutibilidade do questionário NEWS (Neighborhood Environment Walkability Scale para o português do Brasil. Os procedimentos metodológicos foram estruturados em duas etapas. Primeiramente, efetuou-se a tradução e a retradução do NEWS com o intuito de verificar a linguagem do instrumento. Em seguida, realizou-se a reprodutibilidade do questionário por meio de teste e re-teste. A amostra desta pesquisa teve a participação de 75 pessoas (45 mulheres e 30 homens, com média de 33 ± 15 anos. A correlação intraclasse, a fidedignidade para as dimensões, o teste de correlação de Spearman e a correlação intraclasse para os indicadores de cada dimensão deste instrumento foram analisados com o auxílio do pacote estatístico SPSS (versão 11.0. O nível de significância adotado foi de p ABSTRACT In Brazil, there are few validated scales that establish the relationship between environmental barriers and physical activity. Therefore, the aim of this study was to analyze the translation, back translation and reliability of the Neighborhood Environment Walkability Scale (NEWS into Brazilian Portuguese. The methodological procedures were structured in two phases. The first phase was to translate and back translate NEWS to verify the instrument language. The second phase was he test and re-test reliability of the questionnaire. The sample was composed of 75 people (45 women and 30 men, mean age of 33 ± 15 years. The statistical analyses to verify the Brazilian NEWS were performed with the SPSS program (version 11.0 for intra-class correlation and reliability for the dimensions; Spearman correlation test and intra-class correlation for all indicators from this questionnaire. The significance level adopted in this survey was p<0.05. The results in

Active Transportation on a Complete Street: Perceived and Audited Walkability Correlates.

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Jensen, Wyatt A; Brown, Barbara B; Smith, Ken R; Brewer, Simon C; Amburgey, Jonathan W; McIff, Brett

2017-09-05

Few studies of walkability include both perceived and audited walkability measures. We examined perceived walkability (Neighborhood Environment Walkability Scale-Abbreviated, NEWS-A) and audited walkability (Irvine-Minnesota Inventory, IMI) measures for residents living within 2 km of a "complete street"-one renovated with light rail, bike lanes, and sidewalks. For perceived walkability, we found some differences but substantial similarity between our final scales and those in a prior published confirmatory factor analysis. Perceived walkability, in interaction with distance, was related to complete street active transportation. Residents were likely to have active transportation on the street when they lived nearby and perceived good aesthetics, crime safety, and traffic safety. Audited walkability, analyzed with decision trees, showed three general clusters of walkability areas, with 12 specific subtypes. A subset of walkability items ( n = 11), including sidewalks, zebra-striped crosswalks, decorative sidewalks, pedestrian signals, and blank walls combined to cluster street segments. The 12 subtypes yielded 81% correct classification of residents' active transportation. Both perceived and audited walkability were important predictors of active transportation. For audited walkability, we recommend more exploration of decision tree approaches, given their predictive utility and ease of translation into walkability interventions.

Active Transportation on a Complete Street: Perceived and Audited Walkability Correlates

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Jensen, Wyatt A.; Smith, Ken R.; Brewer, Simon C.; Amburgey, Jonathan W.; McIff, Brett

2017-01-01

Few studies of walkability include both perceived and audited walkability measures. We examined perceived walkability (Neighborhood Environment Walkability Scale—Abbreviated, NEWS-A) and audited walkability (Irvine–Minnesota Inventory, IMI) measures for residents living within 2 km of a “complete street”—one renovated with light rail, bike lanes, and sidewalks. For perceived walkability, we found some differences but substantial similarity between our final scales and those in a prior published confirmatory factor analysis. Perceived walkability, in interaction with distance, was related to complete street active transportation. Residents were likely to have active transportation on the street when they lived nearby and perceived good aesthetics, crime safety, and traffic safety. Audited walkability, analyzed with decision trees, showed three general clusters of walkability areas, with 12 specific subtypes. A subset of walkability items (n = 11), including sidewalks, zebra-striped crosswalks, decorative sidewalks, pedestrian signals, and blank walls combined to cluster street segments. The 12 subtypes yielded 81% correct classification of residents’ active transportation. Both perceived and audited walkability were important predictors of active transportation. For audited walkability, we recommend more exploration of decision tree approaches, given their predictive utility and ease of translation into walkability interventions. PMID:28872595

Are immigrant enclaves healthy places to live? The Multi-ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis.

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Osypuk, Theresa L; Diez Roux, Ana V; Hadley, Craig; Kandula, Namratha R

2009-07-01

The growing size and changing composition of the foreign-born population in the USA highlights the importance of examining the health consequences of living in neighborhoods with higher proportions of immigrants. Using data from the Multi-ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis in four US cities, we examined whether neighborhood immigrant composition was associated with health behaviors (diet, physical activity) among Hispanic and Chinese Americans (n=1902). Secondarily we tested whether neighborhoods with high proportions of immigrants exhibited better or worse neighborhood quality, and whether these dimensions of neighborhood quality were associated with healthy behaviors. Neighborhood immigrant composition was defined based on the Census 2000 tract percent of foreign-born from Latin-America, and separately, percent foreign-born from China. After adjustment for age, gender, income, education, neighborhood poverty, and acculturation, living in a tract with a higher proportion of immigrants was associated with lower consumption of high-fat foods among Hispanics and Chinese, but with being less physically active among Hispanics. Residents in neighborhoods with higher proportions of immigrants reported better healthy food availability, but also worse walkability, fewer recreational exercise resources, worse safety, lower social cohesion, and lower neighborhood-based civic engagement. Associations of neighborhood immigrant composition with diet persisted after adjustment for reported neighborhood characteristics, and associations with physical activity were attenuated. Respondent-reported neighborhood healthy food availability, walkability, availability of exercise facilities and civic participation remained associated with behaviors after adjusting for immigrant composition and other covariates. Results show that living in an immigrant enclave is not monolithically beneficial and may have different associations with different health behaviors.

A disadvantaged advantage in walkability: findings from socioeconomic and geographical analysis of national built environment data in the United States.

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King, Katherine E; Clarke, Philippa J

2015-01-01

Urban form-the structure of the built environment-can influence physical activity, yet little is known about how walkable design differs according to neighborhood sociodemographic composition. We studied how walkable urban form varies by neighborhood sociodemographic composition, region, and urbanicity across the United States. Using linear regression models and 2000-2001 US Census data, we investigated the relationship between 5 neighborhood census characteristics (income, education, racial/ethnic composition, age distribution, and sex) and 5 walkability indicators in almost 65,000 census tracts in 48 states and the District of Columbia. Data on the built environment were obtained from the RAND Corporation's (Santa Monica, California) Center for Population Health and Health Disparities (median block length, street segment, and node density) and the US Geological Survey's National Land Cover Database (proportion open space and proportion highly developed). Disadvantaged neighborhoods and those with more educated residents were more walkable (i.e., shorter block length, greater street node density, more developed land use, and higher density of street segments). However, tracts with a higher proportion of children and older adults were less walkable (fewer street nodes and lower density of street segments), after adjustment for region and level of urbanicity. Research and policy on the walkability-health link should give nuanced attention to the gap between persons living in walkable areas and those for whom walkability has the most to offer. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health 2014. This work is written by (a) US Government employee(s) and is in the public domain in the US.

Neighborhood walkability scale (news - brazilian version: validity and reliability

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Leticia de Matos Malavasi

2006-09-01

Full Text Available The lack of adherence to practice physical activities urges several researchers to ind answers for this matter. Among these researches, it is investigated how or what motivates people to perform any type of physical activity. Besides that, the environmental conditions are an important reason to establish a healthier lifestyle among individuals. In Brazil, the amount of validated scales about environmental barriers for physical activity in communities is restricted. The validation and the cultural adaptation of these instruments are important not only to compare with studies from other countries, but mainly for planning public politics to improve the adherence to practice physical activities. Thus, the present research aimed to analyze the validity and reliability of the Brazilian version of the Neighborhood EnvironmentWalkability Scale (NEWS. The methodological procedures were structured in three stages. The first stage had the following procedures: translation of NEWS and back-translation by bilingual specialists. The second stage was the adaptation of NEWS to the Brazilian reality through a pilot study and with reliability. The third stage, together with a professional urban panel indicating which neighborhoods had better or worse mobility, it was accomplished a application of the NEWS questionnaire to assure construct validation. The sample of this research were separated in two parts, 75persons for the reliability; and for the validity of the questionnaire 200 residents from the four neighborhoods pointed by the specialists of the city of Florianópolis (SC. Through the NEWS the subjects answered questions about the neighborhoods regarding: type of residences, stores and trade proximity, perception of access to these places, streets characteristics, facilities to walk and ride bicycle, and safety related to traffic and crimes. The statistical analysis was made in the SPSS 11.0 version for the intra-class correlation and reliability for the

Variations in active transport behavior among different neighborhoods and across adult life stages

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christiansen, Lars Breum; Madsen, Thomas; Schipperijn, Jasper

2014-01-01

OBJECTIVE: Built environment characteristics are closely related to transport behavior, but observed variations could be due to residents own choice of neighborhood called residential self-selection. The aim of this study was to investigate differences in neighborhood walkability and residential...... self-selection across life stages in relation to active transport behavior. METHODS: The IPEN walkability index, which consists of four built environment characteristics, was used to define 16 high and low walkable neighborhoods in Aarhus, Denmark (250.000 inhabitants). Transport behavior was assessed...... using the IPAQ questionnaire. Life stages were categorized in three groups according to age and parental status. A factor analysis was conducted to investigate patterns of self-selection. Multivariable logistic regression analyses were carried out to evaluate the association between walkability...

The associations between objectively-determined and self-reported urban form characteristics and neighborhood-based walking in adults.

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Jack, Elizabeth; McCormack, Gavin R

2014-06-04

Self-reported and objectively-determined neighborhood built characteristics are associated with physical activity, yet little is known about their combined influence on walking. This study: 1) compared self-reported measures of the neighborhood built environment between objectively-determined low, medium, and high walkable neighborhoods; 2) estimated the relative associations between self-reported and objectively-determined neighborhood characteristics and walking and; 3) examined the extent to which the objectively-determined built environment moderates the association between self-reported measures of the neighborhood built environment and walking. A random cross-section of 1875 Canadian adults completed a telephone-interview and postal questionnaire capturing neighborhood walkability, neighborhood-based walking, socio-demographic characteristics, walking attitudes, and residential self-selection. Walkability of each respondent's neighborhood was objectively-determined (low [LW], medium [MW], and high walkable [HW]). Covariate-adjusted regression models estimated the associations between weekly participation and duration in transportation and recreational walking and self-reported and objectively-determined walkability. Compared with objectively-determined LW neighborhoods, respondents in HW neighborhoods positively perceived access to services, street connectivity, pedestrian infrastructure, and utilitarian and recreation destination mix, but negatively perceived motor vehicle traffic and crime related safety. Compared with residents of objectively-determined LW neighborhoods, residents of HW neighborhoods were more likely (p spend more time, per week (193 min/wk) transportation walking. Perceived access to services, street connectivity, motor vehicle safety, and mix of recreational destinations were also significantly associated with transportation walking. With regard to interactions, HW x utilitarian destination mix was positively associated with

Neighborhood Walkable Urban Form and C-Reactive Protein

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Background: Walkable urban form predicts physical activity and lower body mass index, which lower C-reactive protein (CRP). However, urban form is also related to pollution, noise, social and health behavior, crowding, and other stressors, which may complement or contravene walka...

Population density, distance to public transportation, and health of women in low-income neighborhoods.

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DeGuzman, Pamela B; Merwin, Elizabeth I; Bourguignon, Cheryl

2013-01-01

The purpose of this research was to determine the impact of two neighborhood walkability (the extent to which the built environment is pedestrian friendly) metrics on health outcomes of women living in low-income urban neighborhoods, both before and after accounting for individual and neighborhood factors. A cross-sectional, retrospective design was used. The sample of 1800 low-income women was drawn from Welfare, Children and Families: A Three-City Study (a study of low-income women from three U.S. cities). Using multilevel modeling and geographic information systems, the study sought to determine the effect of distance to public transportation and residential density on health status, mental health symptoms, and health-related limitations. No significant relationship was found between the two walkability metrics and health outcomes. Instead, neighborhood problems that affect crime and safety impacted health status and mental health symptoms. As cities make changes to the built environment with the hope of affecting residents' health outcomes, public health nurses need to be aware that changing walkability characteristics in a neighborhood may not affect the health of residents of high crime, low-income neighborhoods. Without first addressing neighborhood crime, efforts to improve walkability in low-income neighborhoods may fail. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Equity in Microscale Urban Design and Walkability: A Photographic Survey of Six Pittsburgh Streetscapes

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Bradley Bereitschaft

2017-07-01

Full Text Available This paper explores inequity in neighborhood walkability at the micro-scale level by qualitatively examining six streetscapes in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. A photographic survey is used to highlight differences in the quality and design of the built environment among pairs of streetscapes with high or low social vulnerability but approximately equal quantitative Walk Scores®. The survey revealed discernable differences in the quality and maintenance of the built environment among those in more and less disadvantaged neighborhoods. This was true of several characteristics expected to affect walkability, including enclosure, transparency, complexity, and tidiness. Streetscapes in neighborhoods with high social vulnerability exhibited less contiguous street walls, fewer windows and less transparent storefronts, less well maintained infrastructure, fewer street cafés, and overall less complexity than those in neighborhoods with low social vulnerability. Implications for planning and policy are discussed.

Interrelationships Between Walkability, Air Pollution, Greenness, and Body Mass Index.

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James, Peter; Kioumourtzoglou, Marianthi-Anna; Hart, Jaime E; Banay, Rachel F; Kloog, Itai; Laden, Francine

2017-11-01

Recent studies have linked urban environmental factors and body mass index (BMI); however, such factors are often examined in isolation, ignoring correlations across exposures. Using data on Nurses' Health Study participants living in the Northeastern United States in 2006, we estimated associations between neighborhood walkability (a composite of population density, street connectivity, and business access), greenness (from satellite imagery), and ambient air pollution (from satellite-based spatiotemporally resolved PM2.5 predictions and weighted monthly average concentrations of NO2 from up to five nearest monitors) and self-reported BMI using generalized additive models, allowing for deviations from linearity using penalized splines. Among 23,435 women aged 60-87 years, we observed nonlinear associations between walkability and BMI and between PM2.5 and BMI in single-exposure models adjusted for age, race, and individual- and area-level socioeconomic status. When modeling all exposures simultaneously, only the association between walkability and BMI remained nonlinear and nonmonotonic. Increasing walkability was associated with increasing BMI at lower levels of walkability (walkability index walkability was linked to lower BMI in areas of higher walkability (walkability index >1.8). A 10 percentile increase in walkability, right above 1.8 was associated with a 0.84% decrease in log BMI. The relationship between walkability and BMI existed only among younger participants (walkability was nonlinearly linked to lower BMI independent of air pollution and greenness. Our findings highlight the importance of accounting for nonlinear confounding by interrelated urban environmental factors when investigating associations between the environment and BMI.

Neighborhood built environment and socioeconomic status in relation to physical activity, sedentary behavior, and weight status of adolescents.

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Sallis, James F; Conway, Terry L; Cain, Kelli L; Carlson, Jordan A; Frank, Lawrence D; Kerr, Jacqueline; Glanz, Karen; Chapman, James E; Saelens, Brian E

2018-05-01

The study examined the association of neighborhood walkability to multiple activity-related outcomes and BMI among adolescents and evaluated socioeconomic status as an effect modifier. Cross-sectional study, with adolescents recruited from neighborhoods that met criteria for a 2 × 2 matrix defined by high/low GIS-defined walkability and high/low median income. Adolescents aged 12-16 years (n = 928) were recruited from selected neighborhoods in Maryland and King County, Washington regions in 2009-2011. There were 50.4% girls, and 66.3% were non-Hispanic white, with no medical restrictions on physical activity (PA) or diets. Total PA and sedentary time was assessed by 7 days of accelerometer monitoring. Adolescents self-reported active transport, time spent on 6 sedentary behaviors, and height and weight, used to compute BMI percentiles. Mixed model linear and logistic regressions examined outcomes for association with walkability and income, adjusting for demographic covariates and clustering within block groups. Walkability was positively and significantly related to objectively-measured PA (p < .001) and more frequent walking for transportation (p < .001). Total self-reported sedentary time (p = .048) and TV time (p < .007) were negatively related to walkability. Time in vehicles was negatively related to walkability only among higher-income adolescents. Neighborhood walkability was strongly and consistently associated with adolescents' objectively-assessed total physical activity and reported active transportation. A novel finding was that adolescents living in walkable neighborhoods reported less television time and less time in vehicles. Most results were similar across income categories. Results strengthen the rationale for recommendations to improve walkability. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Place matters: A longitudinal analysis measuring the association between neighbourhood walkability and walking by age group and population center size in Canada.

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Wasfi, Rania; Steinmetz-Wood, Madeleine; Kestens, Yan

2017-01-01

This study examined the influence of walkability on walking behaviour and assessed whether associations varied according to life-stage and population center (PC) size. Walkability scores were obtained for the six-digit postal codes of residential neighbourhoods of 11,200 Canadians, who participated in biennial assessments of the National Population Health Survey from 1994 to 2010. Participants were stratified by age-group. Mixed-effects logistic regression models were used to estimate the influence of cumulative exposure to neighborhood walkability on utilitarian and exercise walking by PC size and life-stage. Associations of neighbourhood walkability with utilitarian and exercise walking varied according to age-group and PC size. Exposure to high walkable neighborhoods was associated with utilitarian walking in younger and older adults in all PC sizes, except for older adults living in a medium PC. Living in a highly walkable neighborhood in a large PC was associated with walking for exercise in younger (OR: 1.42; 95%CI: 1.20-1.67) and older adults (OR: 2.09; 95%CI: 1.51-2.89). Living in highly walkable neighbourhood in a medium PC was associated with walking for exercise in older adults (OR: 1.62; 95%CI: 1.15-2.29). These results emphasize the need to consider the size and nature of every community, and the age-group of a population when implementing strategies to promote walking.

ATTRIBUTES OF FORM IN THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT THAT INFLUENCE PERCEIVED WALKABILITY.

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Oreskovic, Nicolas M; Charles, Pablina Roth Suzanne Lanyi; Shepherd, Dido Tsigaridi Kathrine; Nelson, Kerrie P; Bar, Moshe

2014-01-01

A recent focus of design and building regulations, including form-based codes and the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for Neighborhood Development rating system, has been on promoting pedestrian activity. This study assessed perceptions of walkability for residential and commercial streetscapes with different design attributes in order to inform form-based regulations and codes that aim to impact walkability. We scored 424 images on four design attributes purported to influence walkability: variation in building height, variation in building plane, presence of ground-floor windows, and presence of a street focal point. We then presented the images to 45 adults, who were asked to rate the images for walkability. The results showed that perceived walkability varied according to the degree to which a particular design attribute was present, with the presence of ground-floor windows and a street focal point most consistently associated with a space's perceived walkability. Understanding if and which design attributes are most related to walkability could allow planners and developers to focus on the most salient built-environment features influencing physical activity, as well as provide empirical scientific evidence for form-based regulations and zoning codes aimed at impacting walkabilit.

Assessing Built Environment Walkability using Activity-Space Summary Measures.

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Tribby, Calvin P; Miller, Harvey J; Brown, Barbara B; Werner, Carol M; Smith, Ken R

There is increasing emphasis on active transportation, such as walking, in transportation planning as a sustainable form of mobility and in public health as a means of achieving recommended physical activity and better health outcomes. A research focus is the influence of the built environment on walking, with the ultimate goal of identifying environmental modifications that invite more walking. However, assessments of the built environment for walkability are typically at a spatially disaggregate level (such as street blocks) or at a spatially aggregate level (such as census block groups). A key issue is determining the spatial units for walkability measures so that they reflect potential walking behavior. This paper develops methods for assessing walkability within individual activity spaces : the geographic region accessible to an individual during a given walking trip. We first estimate street network-based activity spaces using the shortest path between known trip starting/ending points and a travel time budget that reflects potential alternative paths. Based on objective walkability measures of the street blocks, we use three summary measures for walkability within activity spaces: i) the average walkability score across block segments (representing the general level of walkability in the activity space); ii) the standard deviation (representing the walkability variation), and; iii) the network autocorrelation (representing the spatial coherence of the walkability pattern). We assess the method using data from an empirical study of built environment walkability and walking behavior in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA. We visualize and map these activity space summary measures to compare walkability among individuals' trips within their neighborhoods. We also compare summary measures for activity spaces versus census block groups, with the result that they agree less than half of the time.

Associations between a walkability index and bicycle use in Denmark

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Madsen, T.; Christiansen, L.; Nielsen, Thomas Alexander Sick

2012-01-01

/day, and important health benefits can accrue from regular commuting cycling. Studies have shown a positive correlation between walkability attributes of neighborhood environments (street connectivity, and use mix, residential density, retail floor area ratio) and cycling. Results from Australia/Belgium show...... associations between measures of walkability and bicycle use for transport and the present study focuses on exploring whether these findings can be applied to a Danish setting where cycling culture differs and bicycle share is much higher (17% of all trips are by bicycle)...

Cross-validation of the factorial structure of the Neighborhood Environment Walkability Scale (NEWS and its abbreviated form (NEWS-A

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Cerin Ester

2009-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The Neighborhood Environment Walkability Scale (NEWS and its abbreviated form (NEWS-A assess perceived environmental attributes believed to influence physical activity. A multilevel confirmatory factor analysis (MCFA conducted on a sample from Seattle, WA showed that, at the respondent level, the factor-analyzable items of the NEWS and NEWS-A measured 11 and 10 constructs of perceived neighborhood environment, respectively. At the census blockgroup (used by the US Census Bureau as a subunit of census tracts level, the MCFA yielded five factors for both NEWS and NEWS-A. The aim of this study was to cross-validate the individual- and blockgroup-level measurement models of the NEWS and NEWS-A in a geographical location and population different from those used in the original validation study. Methods A sample of 912 adults was recruited from 16 selected neighborhoods (116 census blockgroups in the Baltimore, MD region. Neighborhoods were stratified according to their socio-economic status and transport-related walkability level measured using Geographic Information Systems. Participants self-completed the NEWS. MCFA was used to cross-validate the individual- and blockgroup-level measurement models of the NEWS and NEWS-A. Results The data provided sufficient support for the factorial validity of the original individual-level measurement models, which consisted of 11 (NEWS and 10 (NEWS-A correlated factors. The original blockgroup-level measurement model of the NEWS and NEWS-A showed poor fit to the data and required substantial modifications. These included the combining of aspects of building aesthetics with safety from crime into one factor; the separation of natural aesthetics and building aesthetics into two factors; and for the NEWS-A, the separation of presence of sidewalks/walking routes from other infrastructure for walking. Conclusion This study provided support for the generalizability of the individual

Neighbourhood Walkability and Daily Steps in Adults with Type 2 Diabetes.

Science.gov (United States)

Hajna, Samantha; Ross, Nancy A; Joseph, Lawrence; Harper, Sam; Dasgupta, Kaberi

2016-01-01

There is evidence that greater neighbourhood walkability (i.e., neighbourhoods with more amenities and well-connected streets) is associated with higher levels of total walking in Europe and in Asia, but it remains unclear if this association holds in the Canadian context and in chronic disease populations. We examined the relationships of different walkability measures to biosensor-assessed total walking (i.e., steps/day) in adults with type 2 diabetes living in Montreal (QC, Canada). Participants (60.5±10.4 years; 48.1% women) were recruited through McGill University-affiliated clinics (June 2006 to May 2008). Steps/day were assessed once per season for one year with pedometers. Neighbourhood walkability was evaluated through participant reports, in-field audits, Geographic Information Systems (GIS)-derived measures, and the Walk Score®. Relationships between walkability and daily steps were estimated using Bayesian longitudinal hierarchical linear regression models (n = 131). Participants who reported living in the most compared to the least walkable neighbourhoods completed 1345 more steps/day (95% Credible Interval: 718, 1976; Quartiles 4 versus 1). Those living in the most compared to the least walkable neighbourhoods (based on GIS-derived walkability) completed 606 more steps per day (95% CrI: 8, 1203). No statistically significant associations with steps were observed for audit-assessed walkability or the Walk Score®. Adults with type 2 diabetes who perceived their neighbourhoods as more walkable accumulated more daily steps. This suggests that knowledge of local neighborhood features that enhance walking is a meaningful predictor of higher levels of walking and an important component of neighbourhood walkability.

Neighbourhood walkability, leisure-time and transport-related physical activity in a mixed urban-rural area.

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de Sa, Eric; Ardern, Chris I

2014-01-01

Objectives. To develop a walkability index specific to mixed rural/suburban areas, and to explore the relationship between walkability scores and leisure time physical activity. Methods. Respondents were geocoded with 500 m and 1,000 m buffer zones around each address. A walkability index was derived from intersections, residential density, and land-use mix according to built environment measures. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to quantify the association between the index and physical activity levels. Analyses used cross-sectional data from the 2007-2008 Canadian Community Health Survey (n = 1158; ≥18 y). Results. Respondents living in highly walkable 500 m buffer zones (upper quartiles of the walkability index) were more likely to walk or cycle for leisure than those living in low-walkable buffer zones (quartile 1). When a 1,000 m buffer zone was applied, respondents in more walkable neighbourhoods were more likely to walk or cycle for both leisure-time and transport-related purposes. Conclusion. Developing a walkability index can assist in exploring the associations between measures of the built environment and physical activity to prioritize neighborhood change.

Work and Home Neighborhood Design and Physical Activity.

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Carlson, Jordan A; Frank, Lawrence D; Ulmer, Jared; Conway, Terry L; Saelens, Brian E; Cain, Kelli L; Sallis, James F

2018-01-01

To investigate relations of perceived worksite neighborhood environments to total physical activity and active transportation, over and above home neighborhood built environments. Observational epidemiologic study. Baltimore, Maryland-Washington, DC, and Seattle-King County, Washington metropolitan areas. One thousand eighty-five adults (mean age = 45.0 [10.2]; 46% women) recruited from 32 neighborhoods stratified by high/low neighborhood income and walkability. The Neighborhood Environment Walkability Survey assessed perceptions of worksite and home neighborhood environments. Accelerometers assessed total moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). The International Physical Activity Questionnaire assessed total active transportation and active transportation to and around work. Mixed-effects regression tested relations of home and worksite neighborhood environments to each physical activity outcome, adjusted for demographics. Home and worksite mixed land use and street connectivity had the most consistent positive associations with physical activity outcomes. Worksite traffic and pedestrian safety were also associated with multiple physical activity outcomes. The worksite neighborhood explained additional variance in physical activity outcomes than explained by the home neighborhood. Worksite and home neighborhood environments interacted in explaining active transportation to work, with the greatest impacts occurring when both neighborhoods were activity supportive. Both worksite and home neighborhood environments were independently related to total MVPA and active transportation. Community design policies should target improving the physical activity supportiveness of worksite neighborhood environments and integrating commercial and residential development.

Neighborhood environment correlates of physical activity and sedentary behavior among Latino adults in Massachusetts.

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Silfee, Valerie J; Rosal, Milagros C; Sreedhara, Meera; Lora, Vilma; Lemon, Stephenie C

2016-09-13

U.S. Latinos experience high rates of cardio-metabolic diseases and have high rates of physical inactivity and sedentary behavior. Understanding the environmental factors associated with physical activity and sedentary behaviors among Latinos could inform future interventions. The purpose of this study is to explore the neighborhood environment correlates of physical activity and sedentary behavior in a sample of U.S. Latino adults. Cross-sectional study of 602 Latino adults in Lawrence, MA. Survey assessments of physical activity, sedentary behavior, and neighborhood environment were verbally administered. The neighborhood environment scale assessed violence, safety, aesthetic quality, walkability, availability of healthy foods, social cohesion, and activities with neighbors. After controlling forage, gender, education, body mass index (BMI), and smoking status, two variables were associated with the outcomes of interest. Living in more walkable neighborhoods was associated with an increased likelihood of engaging in adequate levels of physical activity (>150 min per week, as recommended by the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM)) (OR = 1.403, p = .018); and greater frequency of activities with neighbors was associated with greater sedentary behavior (β = .072, p = .05). There were different neighborhood environment correlates of physical activity and sedentary behavior in this Latino community. Focusing on a greater understanding of the distinct social and physical environmental correlates of physical activity and sedentary behavior may provide important insights for reducing CVD risk and health disparities among Latinos.

Neighborhood environment correlates of physical activity and sedentary behavior among Latino adults in Massachusetts

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Valerie J. Silfee

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background U.S. Latinos experience high rates of cardio-metabolic diseases and have high rates of physical inactivity and sedentary behavior. Understanding the environmental factors associated with physical activity and sedentary behaviors among Latinos could inform future interventions. The purpose of this study is to explore the neighborhood environment correlates of physical activity and sedentary behavior in a sample of U.S. Latino adults. Methods Cross-sectional study of 602 Latino adults in Lawrence, MA. Survey assessments of physical activity, sedentary behavior, and neighborhood environment were verbally administered. The neighborhood environment scale assessed violence, safety, aesthetic quality, walkability, availability of healthy foods, social cohesion, and activities with neighbors. Results After controlling forage, gender, education, body mass index (BMI, and smoking status, two variables were associated with the outcomes of interest. Living in more walkable neighborhoods was associated with an increased likelihood of engaging in adequate levels of physical activity (>150 min per week, as recommended by the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM (OR = 1.403, p = .018; and greater frequency of activities with neighbors was associated with greater sedentary behavior (β = .072, p = .05. Conclusions There were different neighborhood environment correlates of physical activity and sedentary behavior in this Latino community. Focusing on a greater understanding of the distinct social and physical environmental correlates of physical activity and sedentary behavior may provide important insights for reducing CVD risk and health disparities among Latinos.

Walkability and walking for transport: characterizing the built environment using space syntax.

Science.gov (United States)

Koohsari, Mohammad Javad; Owen, Neville; Cerin, Ester; Giles-Corti, Billie; Sugiyama, Takemi

2016-11-24

Neighborhood walkability has been shown to be associated with walking behavior. However, the availability of geographical data necessary to construct it remains a limitation. Building on the concept of space syntax, we propose an alternative walkability index, space syntax walkability (SSW). This study examined associations of the full walkability index and SSW with walking for transport (WT). Data were collected in 2003-2004 from 2544 adults living in 154 Census Collection Districts (CCD) in Adelaide, Australia. Participants reported past week WT frequency. Full walkability (consisting of net residential density, intersection density, land use mix, and net retail area ratio) and SSW (consisting of gross population density and a space syntax measure of street integration) were calculated for each CCD using geographic information systems and space syntax software. Generalized linear models with negative binomial variance and logarithmic link functions were employed to examine the associations of each walkability index with WT frequency, adjusting for socio-demographic variables. Two walkability indices were closely correlated (ρ = 0.76, p walkability and SSW with WT frequency were positive, with regression coefficients of 1.12 (95% CI: 1.08, 1.17) and 1.14 (95% CI: 1.10, 1.19), respectively. SSW employs readily-available geographic data, yet is comparable to full walkability in its association with WT. The concept and methods of space syntax provide a novel approach to further understanding how urban design influences walking behaviors.

Neighborhood Design for Walking and Biking

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Brown, Barbara B.; Smith, Ken R.; Hanson, Heidi; Fan, Jessie X.; Kowaleski-Jones, Lori; Zick, Cathleen D.

2013-01-01

Background Neighborhood designs often relate to physical activity and to BMI. Purpose Does neighborhood walkability/bikeability relate to BMI and obesity risk and does moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) account for some of the relationship? Methods Census 2000 provided walkability/bikeability measures—block group proportions of workers who walk or bike to work, housing age, and population density—and National Health and Nutrition Examination Study (NHANES 2003–2006) provided MVPA accelerometer measures. Regression analyses (2011–2012) adjusted for geographic clustering and multiple control variables. Results Greater density and older housing were associated with lower male BMI in bivariate analyses, but there were no density and housing age effects in multivariate models. For women, greater proportions of neighborhood workers who walk to work (M=0.02) and more MVPA was associated with lower BMI and lower obesity risk. For men, greater proportions of workers who bike to work (M=0.004) and more MVPA was associated with lower BMI and obesity risk. For both effects, MVPA partially mediated the relationships between walkability/bikeability and BMI. If such associations are causal, doubling walk and bike-to-work proportions (to 0.04 and 0.008) would have –0.3 and –0.33 effects on the average BMIs of adult women and men living in the neighborhood. This equates to 1.5 lbs for a 64” woman and 2.3 lbs for a 69” man. Conclusions Although walking/biking to work is rare in the U.S., greater proportions of such workers in neighborhoods relate to lower weight and higher MVPA. Bikeability merits greater attention as a modifiable activity-friendliness factor, particularly for men. PMID:23415119

A Longitudinal Analysis of the Influence of the Neighborhood Environment on Recreational Walking within the Neighborhood: Results from RESIDE

OpenAIRE

Christian, Hayley; Knuiman, Matthew; Divitini, Mark; Foster, Sarah; Hooper, Paula; Boruff, Bryan; Bull, Fiona; Giles-Corti, Billie

2017-01-01

Background: There is limited longitudinal evidence confirming the role of neighborhood environment attributes in encouraging people to walk more or if active people simply choose to live in activity-friendly neighborhoods. Natural experiments of policy changes to create more walkable communities provide stronger evidence for a causal effect of neighborhood environments on residents’ walking. Objectives: We aimed to investigate longitudinal associations between objective and perceived neighbor...

Neighbourhood walkability, leisure-time and transport-related physical activity in a mixed urban–rural area

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eric de Sa

2014-07-01

Full Text Available Objectives. To develop a walkability index specific to mixed rural/suburban areas, and to explore the relationship between walkability scores and leisure time physical activity.Methods. Respondents were geocoded with 500 m and 1,000 m buffer zones around each address. A walkability index was derived from intersections, residential density, and land-use mix according to built environment measures. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to quantify the association between the index and physical activity levels. Analyses used cross-sectional data from the 2007–2008 Canadian Community Health Survey (n = 1158; ≥18 y.Results. Respondents living in highly walkable 500 m buffer zones (upper quartiles of the walkability index were more likely to walk or cycle for leisure than those living in low-walkable buffer zones (quartile 1. When a 1,000 m buffer zone was applied, respondents in more walkable neighbourhoods were more likely to walk or cycle for both leisure-time and transport-related purposes.Conclusion. Developing a walkability index can assist in exploring the associations between measures of the built environment and physical activity to prioritize neighborhood change.

Walkability Index

Science.gov (United States)

The Walkability Index dataset characterizes every Census 2010 block group in the U.S. based on its relative walkability. Walkability depends upon characteristics of the built environment that influence the likelihood of walking being used as a mode of travel. The Walkability Index is based on the EPA's previous data product, the Smart Location Database (SLD). Block group data from the SLD was the only input into the Walkability Index, and consisted of four variables from the SLD weighted in a formula to create the new Walkability Index. This dataset shares the SLD's block group boundary definitions from Census 2010. The methodology describing the process of creating the Walkability Index can be found in the documents located at ftp://newftp.epa.gov/EPADataCommons/OP/WalkabilityIndex.zip. You can also learn more about the Smart Location Database at https://edg.epa.gov/data/Public/OP/Smart_Location_DB_v02b.zip.

Active transportation in adult survivors of childhood cancer and neighborhood controls.

Science.gov (United States)

Slater, Megan E; Kelly, Aaron S; Sadak, Karim T; Ross, Julie A

2016-02-01

Childhood cancer survivors (CCS) are at high risk of treatment-related late effects, including cardiovascular disease and diabetes, which can be exacerbated by inadequate physical activity (PA). Previous PA interventions targeting CCS have focused on the domain of leisure-time/recreational PA. Active transportation, another domain of PA, has not been described in CCS. Therefore, this study aimed to identify active transportation behaviors, barriers, and correlates in adult CCS. We recruited 158 adult CCS and 153 controls matched on age, sex, and neighborhood for a survey regarding active transportation behaviors and perceptions. Linear and logistic regression models accounting for correlation among matched participants were used. Adult CCS engaged in similar levels of active transportation as controls (2.72 vs. 2.32 h/week, P = 0.40) despite perceiving greater health-related barriers (1.88 vs. 1.65 (measured on four-point Likert scale), P = 0.01). Marital/relationship status (odds ratio (OR) = 0.30, 95 % confidence interval (CI) = 0.11-0.81), planning/psychosocial barriers (OR = 0.15, 95 % CI = 0.04-0.53), and perceived neighborhood walkability (OR = 2.55, 95 % CI = 1.14-5.66) were correlates of active transportation among adult CCS, while objective neighborhood walkability (OR = 1.03, 95 % CI = 1.01-1.05) was a correlate among controls. Results suggest adult CCS and controls utilize active transportation at approximately equal levels. Factors other than health, including perceived neighborhood walkability, are related to active transportation behaviors to a greater degree in adult CCS. Interventions might consider promoting active transportation as a way to incorporate more PA into the daily lives of adult CCS. Such interventions will not be likely successful, however, without existing or improved neighborhood walkability/bikeability.

Active Transportation in Adult Survivors of Childhood Cancer and Neighborhood Controls

Science.gov (United States)

Slater, Megan E.; Kelly, Aaron S.; Sadak, Karim T.; Ross, Julie A.

2015-01-01

Purpose Childhood cancer survivors (CCS) are at high risk of treatment-related late effects, including cardiovascular disease and diabetes, which can be exacerbated by inadequate physical activity (PA). Previous PA interventions targeting CCS have focused on the domain of leisure-time/recreational PA. Active transportation, another domain of PA, has not been described in CCS. Therefore, this study aimed to identify active transportation behaviors, barriers, and correlates in adult CCS. Methods We recruited 158 adult CCS and 153 controls matched on age, sex, and neighborhood for a survey regarding active transportation behaviors and perceptions. Linear and logistic regression models accounting for correlation among matched participants were used. Results Adult CCS engaged in similar levels of active transportation as controls (2.72 vs. 2.32 hours/week, P=0.40) despite perceiving greater health-related barriers (1.88 vs. 1.65 (measured on four-point Likert scale), P=0.01). Marital/relationship status (odds ratio (OR)=0.30, 95% confidence interval (CI)=0.11–0.81), planning/psychosocial barriers (OR=0.15, 95% CI=0.04–0.53), and perceived neighborhood walkability (OR=2.55, 95% CI=1.14–5.66) were correlates of active transportation among adult CCS, while objective neighborhood walkability (OR=1.03, 95% CI=1.01–1.05) was a correlate among controls. Conclusions Results suggest adult CCS and controls utilize active transportation at approximately equal levels. Factors other than health, including perceived neighborhood walkability, appear to influence active transportation behaviors to a greater degree in adult CCS. Implications for Cancer Survivors Interventions might consider promoting active transportation as a way to incorporate more PA into the daily lives of adult CCS. Such interventions will not be widely successful, however, without existing or improved neighborhood walkability/bikeability. PMID:25809159

Walkability Index

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — The Walkability Index dataset characterizes every Census 2010 block group in the U.S. based on its relative walkability. Walkability depends upon characteristics of...

Healthy and Unhealthy Food Prices across Neighborhoods and Their Association with Neighborhood Socioeconomic Status and Proportion Black/Hispanic.

Science.gov (United States)

Kern, David M; Auchincloss, Amy H; Robinson, Lucy F; Stehr, Mark F; Pham-Kanter, Genevieve

2017-08-01

This paper evaluates variation in food prices within and between neighborhoods to improve our understanding of access to healthy foods in urbanized areas and potential economic incentives and barriers to consuming a higher-quality diet. Prices of a selection of healthier foods (dairy, fruit juice, and frozen vegetables) and unhealthy foods (soda, sweets, and salty snacks) were obtained from 1953 supermarkets across the USA during 2009-2012 and were linked to census block group socio-demographics. Analyses evaluated associations between neighborhood SES and proportion Black/Hispanic and the prices of healthier and unhealthy foods, and the relative price of healthier foods compared with unhealthy foods (healthy-to-unhealthy price ratio). Linear hierarchical regression models were used to explore geospatial variation and adjust for confounders. Overall, the price of healthier foods was nearly twice as high as the price of unhealthy foods ($0.590 vs $0.298 per serving; healthy-to-unhealthy price ratio of 1.99). This trend was consistent across all neighborhood characteristics. After adjusting for covariates, no association was found between food prices (healthy, unhealthy, or the healthy-to-unhealthy ratio) and neighborhood SES. Similarly, there was no association between the proportion Black/Hispanic and healthier food price, a very small positive association with unhealthy price, and a modest negative association with the healthy-to-unhealthy ratio. No major differences were seen in food prices across levels of neighborhood SES and proportion Black/Hispanic; however, the price of healthier food was twice as expensive as unhealthy food per serving on average.

Neighborhood socioeconomic deprivation, perceived neighborhood factors, and cortisol responses to induced stress among healthy adults.

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Barrington, Wendy E; Stafford, Mai; Hamer, Mark; Beresford, Shirley A A; Koepsell, Thomas; Steptoe, Andrew

2014-05-01

Associations between measures of neighborhood socioeconomic deprivation and health have been identified, yet work is needed to uncover explanatory mechanisms. One hypothesized pathway is through stress, yet the few studies that have evaluated associations between characteristics of deprived neighborhoods and biomarkers of stress are mixed. This study evaluated whether objectively measured neighborhood socioeconomic deprivation and individual perceived neighborhood characteristics (i.e. social control and fear of crime) impacted cortisol responses to an induced stressor among older healthy adults. Data from Heart Scan, a sub-study of the Whitehall II cohort, were used to generate multilevel piecewise growth-curve models of cortisol trajectories after a laboratory stressor accounting for neighborhood and demographic characteristics. Neighborhood socioeconomic deprivation was significantly associated with individual perceptions of social control and fear of crime in the neighborhood while an association with blunted cortisol reactivity was only evidence among women. Social control was significantly associated with greater cortisol reactivity and mediation between neighborhood socioeconomic deprivation and cortisol reactivity was suggested among women. These findings support a gender-dependent role of neighborhood in stress process models of health. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Healthy Places for Healthy People

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Describes the Healthy Places for Healthy People technical assistance program that helps communities create walkable, healthy, economically vibrant places by engaging with local health care facility partners

Patterns of Walkability, Transit, and Recreation Environment for Physical Activity.

Science.gov (United States)

Adams, Marc A; Todd, Michael; Kurka, Jonathan; Conway, Terry L; Cain, Kelli L; Frank, Lawrence D; Sallis, James F

2015-12-01

Diverse combinations of built environment (BE) features for physical activity (PA) are understudied. This study explored whether patterns of GIS-derived BE features explained objective and self-reported PA, sedentary behavior, and BMI. Neighborhood Quality of Life Study participants (N=2,199, aged 20-65 years, 48.2% female, 26% ethnic minority) were sampled in 2001-2005 from Seattle / King County WA and Baltimore MD / Washington DC regions. Their addresses were geocoded to compute net residential density, land use mix, retail floor area ratio, intersection density, public transit, and public park and private recreation facility densities using a 1-km network buffer. Latent profile analyses (LPAs) were estimated from these variables. Multilevel regression models compared profiles on accelerometer-measured moderate to vigorous PA (MVPA) and self-reported PA, adjusting for covariates and clustering. Analyses were conducted in 2013-2014. Seattle region LPAs yielded four profiles, including low walkability/transit/recreation (L-L-L); mean walkability/transit/recreation (M-M-M); moderately high walkability/transit/recreation (MH-MH-MH); and high walkability/transit/recreation (H-HH). All measures were higher in the HHH than the LLL profile (difference of 17.1 minutes/day for MVPA, 146.5 minutes/week for walking for transportation, 58.2 minutes/week for leisure-time PA, and 2.2 BMI points; all pwalkability index. Copyright © 2015 American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Measuring the neighborhood environment: associations with young girls' energy intake and expenditure in a cross-sectional study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kushi Lawrence H

2010-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Neighborhood environments affect children's health outcomes. Observational methods used to assess neighborhoods can be categorized as indirect, intermediate, or direct. Direct methods, involving in-person audits of the neighborhoods conducted by trained observers, are recognized as an accurate representation of current neighborhood conditions. The authors investigated the associations of various neighborhood characteristics with young girls' diet and physical activity. Methods This study is based on a subset of participants in the Cohort Study of Young Girls' Nutrition, Environment and Transitions (CYGNET. In-person street audits were conducted within 215 girls' residential neighborhoods using a modified St. Louis Audit Tool. From the street audit data, exploratory factor analysis revealed five neighborhood scales: "mixed residential and commercial," "food and retail," "recreation," "walkability," and "physical disorder." A Neighborhood Deprivation Index was also derived from census data. The authors investigated if the five neighborhood scales and the Neighborhood Deprivation Index were associated with quartiles of total energy intake and expenditure (metabolic equivalent (MET hours/week at baseline, and whether any of these associations were modified by race/ethnicity. Results After adjustment for demographic characteristics, there was an inverse association between prevalence of "food and retail" destinations and total energy intake (for a one quartile increase, OR = 0.84, 95% CI 0.74, 0.96. Positive associations were also observed between the "recreation" and "walkability" scales with physical activity among Hispanic/Latina girls (for a one quartile increase in MET, OR = 1.94, 95% CI 1.31, 2.88 for recreation; OR = 1.71, 95% CI 1.11, 2.63 for walkability. Among African-American girls, there was an inverse association between "physical disorder" and physical activity (OR = 0.31, 95% CI 0.12, 0.80. Conclusions These results

Deconstructing Williamsburg: Using focus groups to examine residents' perceptions of the building of a walkable community

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sharratt Michael T

2010-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Components of the built environment are associated with active living behaviors, but research in this area has employed surveys and other quantitative methods almost exclusively. Qualitative approaches can provide additional detail about how neighborhoods influence physical activity, including informing the extent to which such relationships are causal in nature. The purpose of this study was to gain an in-depth understanding of residents' attitudinal and behavioral responses to living in a neighborhood designed to be walkable. Methods Focus groups were conducted with residents of a planned retail and residential development that was designed to embody many attributes of walkability and was located within a large city in southwestern Ontario. In total, 31 participants provided qualitative data about neighborhood resources and dynamics, use of local services, physical activity behavior, and other related issues. The data were transcribed and coded for themes relevant to the study purpose. Results Salient themes that emerged emphasized the importance of land use diversity, safety, parks and trails, aesthetics, and a sense of community, with the latter theme cutting across all others. The data also revealed mechanisms that explain relationships between the built environment and behavior and how sidewalks in the neighborhood facilitated diverse health behaviors and outcomes. Finally, residents recited several examples of changes in behavior, both positive and negative, since moving to their current neighborhood. Conclusions The results of this study confirmed and expanded upon current knowledge about built and social environment influences on physical activity and health. That many residents reported changes in their behaviors since moving to the neighborhood permitted tentative inferences about the causal impact of built and social environments. Future research should exploit diverse methods to more fully understand how

Walkability parameters, active transportation and objective physical activity: moderating and mediating effects of motor vehicle ownership in a cross-sectional study.

Science.gov (United States)

Eriksson, Ulf; Arvidsson, Daniel; Gebel, Klaus; Ohlsson, Henrik; Sundquist, Kristina

2012-10-05

Neighborhood walkability has been associated with physical activity in several studies. However, as environmental correlates of physical activity may be context specific, walkability parameters need to be investigated separately in various countries and contexts. Furthermore, the mechanisms by which walkability affects physical activity have been less investigated. Based on previous research, we hypothesized that vehicle ownership is a potential mediator. We investigated the associations between walkability parameters and physical activity, and the mediating and moderating effects of vehicle ownership on these associations in a large sample of Swedish adults. Residential density, street connectivity and land use mix were assessed within polygon-based network buffers (using Geographic Information Systems) for 2,178 men and women. Time spent in moderate to vigorous physical activity was assessed by accelerometers, and walking and cycling for transportation were assessed by the International Physical Activity Questionnaire. Associations were examined by linear regression and adjusted for socio-demographic characteristics. The product of coefficients approach was used to investigate the mediating effect of vehicle ownership. Residential density and land use mix, but not street connectivity, were significantly associated with time spent in moderate to vigorous physical activity and walking for transportation. Cycling for transportation was not associated with any of the walkability parameters. Vehicle ownership mediated a significant proportion of the association between the walkability parameters and physical activity outcomes. For residential density, vehicle ownership mediated 25% of the association with moderate to vigorous physical activity and 20% of the association with the amount of walking for transportation. For land use mix, the corresponding proportions were 34% and 14%. Vehicle ownership did not moderate any of the associations between the walkability

Walkability parameters, active transportation and objective physical activity: moderating and mediating effects of motor vehicle ownership in a cross-sectional study

Science.gov (United States)

2012-01-01

Background Neighborhood walkability has been associated with physical activity in several studies. However, as environmental correlates of physical activity may be context specific, walkability parameters need to be investigated separately in various countries and contexts. Furthermore, the mechanisms by which walkability affects physical activity have been less investigated. Based on previous research, we hypothesized that vehicle ownership is a potential mediator. We investigated the associations between walkability parameters and physical activity, and the mediating and moderating effects of vehicle ownership on these associations in a large sample of Swedish adults. Methods Residential density, street connectivity and land use mix were assessed within polygon-based network buffers (using Geographic Information Systems) for 2,178 men and women. Time spent in moderate to vigorous physical activity was assessed by accelerometers, and walking and cycling for transportation were assessed by the International Physical Activity Questionnaire. Associations were examined by linear regression and adjusted for socio-demographic characteristics. The product of coefficients approach was used to investigate the mediating effect of vehicle ownership. Results Residential density and land use mix, but not street connectivity, were significantly associated with time spent in moderate to vigorous physical activity and walking for transportation. Cycling for transportation was not associated with any of the walkability parameters. Vehicle ownership mediated a significant proportion of the association between the walkability parameters and physical activity outcomes. For residential density, vehicle ownership mediated 25% of the association with moderate to vigorous physical activity and 20% of the association with the amount of walking for transportation. For land use mix, the corresponding proportions were 34% and 14%. Vehicle ownership did not moderate any of the associations

Neighborhood design for walking and biking: physical activity and body mass index.

Science.gov (United States)

Brown, Barbara B; Smith, Ken R; Hanson, Heidi; Fan, Jessie X; Kowaleski-Jones, Lori; Zick, Cathleen D

2013-03-01

Neighborhood designs often relate to physical activity and to BMI. Does neighborhood walkability/bikeability relate to BMI and obesity risk and does moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) account for some of the relationship? Census 2000 provided walkability/bikeability measures-block group proportions of workers who walk or bike to work, housing age, and population density-and National Health and Nutrition Examination Study (NHANES 2003-2006) provided MVPA accelerometer measures. Regression analyses (2011-2012) adjusted for geographic clustering and multiple control variables. Greater density and older housing were associated with lower male BMI in bivariate analyses, but there were no density and housing age effects in multivariate models. For women, greater proportions of neighborhood workers who walk to work (M=0.02) and more MVPA was associated with lower BMI and lower obesity risk. For men, greater proportions of workers who bike to work (M=0.004) and more MVPA was associated with lower BMI and obesity risk. For both effects, MVPA partially mediated the relationships between walkability/bikeability and BMI. If such associations are causal, doubling walk and bike-to-work proportions (to 0.04 and 0.008) would have -0.3 and -0.33 effects on the average BMIs of adult women and men living in the neighborhood. This equates to 1.5 pounds for a 64-inch-tall woman and 2.3 pounds for a 69-inch-tall man. Although walking/biking to work is rare in the U.S., greater proportions of such workers in neighborhoods relate to lower weight and higher MVPA. Bikeability merits greater attention as a modifiable activity-friendliness factor, particularly for men. Copyright © 2013 American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Neighborhood environment and physical activity among older adults: Do the relationships differ by driving status?

OpenAIRE

Ding, Ding; Sallis, James F.; Norman, Gregory J.; Frank, Lawrence D.; Saelens, Brian; Kerr, Jaqueline; Conway, Terry L.; Cain, Kelli L.; Hovell, Melbourne Frank; Hofstetter, C. Richard; King, Abby C.

2013-01-01

Some attributes of neighborhood environments are associated with physical activity among older adults. This study examined whether the associations were moderated by driving status. Older adults from neighborhoods differing in walkability and income completed written surveys and wore accelerometers (N=880, mean age=75 years, 56% women). Neighborhood environments were measured by geographic information systems and validated questionnaires. Driving status was defined on the basis of a driver’s ...

Association between neighborhood walkability and GPS-measured walking, bicycling and vehicle time in adolescents

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Carlson, Jordan A.; Saelens, Brian E.; Kerr, Jacqueline

2015-01-01

, intersection density, retail density, entertainment density and walkability were derived using GIS. Minutes/day of walking, bicycling and vehicle time were derived from processing algorithms applied to GPS. Accelerometers estimated total daily moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). Models were adjusted...

GIS-measured walkability, transit, and recreation environments in relation to older Adults' physical activity: A latent profile analysis.

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Todd, Michael; Adams, Marc A; Kurka, Jonathan; Conway, Terry L; Cain, Kelli L; Buman, Matthew P; Frank, Lawrence D; Sallis, James F; King, Abby C

2016-12-01

An infrequently studied question is how diverse combinations of built environment (BE) features relate to physical activity (PA) for older adults. We derived patterns of geographic information systems- (GIS) measured BE features and explored how they accounted for differences in objective and self-reported PA, sedentary time, and BMI in a sample of older adults. Senior Neighborhood Quality of Life Study participants (N=714, aged 66-97years, 52.1% women, 29.7% racial/ethnic minority) were sampled in 2005-2008 from the Seattle-King County, WA and Baltimore, MD-Washington, DC regions. Participants' home addresses were geocoded, and net residential density, land use mix, retail floor area ratio, intersection density, public transit density, and public park and private recreation facility density measures for 1-km network buffers were derived. Latent profile analyses (LPAs) were estimated from these GIS-based measures. In multilevel regression models, profiles were compared on accelerometer-measured moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) and sedentary time and self-reported PA, adjusting for covariates and clustering. Analyses were conducted in 2014-2015. LPAs yielded three profiles: low walkability/transit/recreation (L-L-L); mean walkability/transit/recreation (M-M-M); and high walkability/transit/recreation (H-H-H). Three PA outcomes were more favorable in the HHH than the LLL profile group (difference of 7.2min/day for MVPA, 97.8min/week for walking for errands, and 79.2min/week for walking for exercise; all pswalkability index, suggesting that diverse BE features are important for healthy aging. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From digital earth to digital neighbourhood: A study of subjective measures of walkability attributes in objectively assessed digital neighbourhood

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Qureshi, S; Ho, C S

2014-01-01

According to IEA report (2011), about 23% of the World's CO 2 emissions result from transport and this is one of the few areas where emissions are still rapidly increasing. The use of private vehicles is one of the principle contributors to green house gas emissions from transport sector. Therefore this paper focuses on the shift to more sustainable and low carbon forms of transportation mode such as walking. Neighbourhood built environment attributes may influence walkability. For this study, the author used a modified version of the ''Neighbourhood Environment Walkability Scale'' to make comparison between respondents' perceptions regarding attributes of two neighborhoods of Putrajaya. The 21st Century really needs planners to use the Digital Earth Concept, to go from global to regional to national to very local issues, using integrated, advanced technologies such as earth observation, GIS, virtual reality, etc. For this research, two (2) neighborhoods of different densities (High and Low density) were selected. A sample total of 381(195 and 186) between 7 to 65 years old participants were selected For subjective measures we used 54 questions questionnaire survey where as for the objective measures we used desktop 9.3 version of Arc GIS soft ware. Our results shows that respondents who reside in high-walkable neighbourhood precinct 9 in Putrajaya rated factors such as residential density, land use mix, proximity to destination and street connectivity, consistently higher then did respondents of the low walkable neighbourhood precinct 8 in Putrajaya

Risk Profiles for Falls among Older Adults: New Directions for Prevention

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William A. Satariano

2017-08-01

Full Text Available ObjectiveTo address whether neighborhood factors, together with older adults’ levels of health and functioning, suggest new combinations of risk factors for falls and new directions for prevention. To explore the utility of Grade-of-Membership (GoM analysis to conduct this descriptive analysis.MethodThis is a cross-sectional, descriptive study of 884 people aged ≥65 years from Alameda County, CA, Cook County, IL, Allegheny County, PA, and Wake and Durham counties, NC. Interviews focused on neighborhood characteristics, physical and cognitive function, walking, and falls and injuries. Four risk profiles (higher order interactions of individual and neighborhood factors were derived from GoM analysis.ResultsProfiles 1 and 2 reflect previous results showing that frail older adults are likely to fall indoors (Profile 1; healthy older adults are likely to fall outdoors (Profile 2. Profile 3 identifies the falls risk for older with mild cognitive impairment living in moderately walkable neighborhoods. Profile 4 identifies the risk found for healthy older adults living in neighborhoods with low walkability.DiscussionNeighborhood walkability, in combination with levels of health and functioning, is associated with both indoor and outdoor falls. Descriptive results suggest possible research hypotheses and new directions for prevention, based on individual and neighborhood factors.

Neighborhood environment and walking for transport and recreation in Central European older adults

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Jana Pelclová

2012-12-01

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Neighborhood environment is an aspect that influences physical activity, mainly walking. Hence, built environment research may help to use environmental and policy strategies to increase physical activity. OBJECTIVE: This cross-sectional study aimed to investigate the association between perceived neighborhood environment and meeting the recommendation of at least 30 minutes of walking 5 or more days a week within active transportation and leisure-time domains in Central European older adults. METHODS: Four hundred and fifty six healthy ambulatory older adults filled out the modified and culturally adapted version of the Neighborhood Environment Walkability Scale (ANEWS for obtaining perceived environment information and the self-administrative long version of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ for assessing physical activity levels. RESULTS: Respondents living in high residential density neighborhoods (OR 1.87, living in flats (OR 2.09 and in location with ≤100,000 inhabitants (OR 1.63 were more likely to meet recommendation within walking for transportation. Owning a dog was associated with meeting recommendation within walking for leisure (OR 1.69. CONCLUSIONS: This study supported the specific impact of environment on meeting PA recommendations within transportation and leisure time walking in older adults. Out of all perceived neighborhood environmental attributes received from ANEWS questionnaire, only high residential density was positively associated with meeting recommendation within total walking and walking for transport.

Adaptation and Evaluation of the Neighborhood Environment Walkability Scale in India (NEWS-India

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Deepti Adlakha

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Physical inactivity is the fourth leading risk factor for global mortality, with most of these deaths occurring in low and middle-income countries (LMICs like India. Research from developed countries has consistently demonstrated associations between built environment features and physical activity levels of populations. The development of culturally sensitive and reliable measures of the built environment is a necessary first step for accurate analysis of environmental correlates of physical activity in LMICs. This study systematically adapted the Neighborhood Environment Walkability Scale (NEWS for India and evaluated aspects of test-retest reliability of the adapted version among Indian adults. Cultural adaptation of the NEWS was conducted by Indian and international experts. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with local residents and key informants in the city of Chennai, India. At baseline, participants (N = 370; female = 47.2% from Chennai completed the adapted NEWS-India surveys on perceived residential density, land use mix-diversity, land use mix-access, street connectivity, infrastructure and safety for walking and cycling, aesthetics, traffic safety, and safety from crime. NEWS-India was administered for a second time to consenting participants (N = 62; female = 53.2% with a gap of 2–3 weeks between successive administrations. Qualitative findings demonstrated that built environment barriers and constraints to active commuting and physical activity behaviors intersected with social ecological systems. The adapted NEWS subscales had moderate to high test-retest reliability (ICC range 0.48–0.99. The NEWS-India demonstrated acceptable measurement properties among Indian adults and may be a useful tool for evaluation of built environment attributes in India. Further adaptation and evaluation in rural and suburban settings in India is essential to create a version that could be used throughout India.

Walkability Explorer. An Evaluation and Design Support Tool for Walkability

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Ivan Blečić

2014-05-01

Full Text Available Walkability Explorer is a software tool for the evaluation of urban walkability which, we argue, is an important aspect of the quality of life in cities. Many conventional approaches to the assessment of quality of life measure the distribution, density and distances of different opportunities in space. But distance is not all there is. To reason in terms of urban capabilities of people we should also take into account the quality of pedestrian accessibility and of urban opportunities offered by the city. The software tool we present in this paper is an user-friendly implementation of such an evaluation approach to walkability. It includes several GIS and analysis features, and is interoperable with other standard GIS and data-analysis tools.

Neighborhood environment walkability and health-related quality of life among older adults in Hong Kong.

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Zhao, Yanan; Chung, Pak-Kwong

2017-11-01

This study examined the associations between walkability related environmental attributes (WREA) and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) among older adults in Hong Kong. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 340 participants (women = 233; mean age = 74.4 years) living in urban communities. Independent variables included residential density, land use mix-diversity, land use mix-access, street connectivity, infrastructure for walking, aesthetics, traffic hazards, crime, access to parking, lack of cul-de-sacs, hilliness, and physical barriers. Physical and mental dimensions of HRQoL were the dependent variables. Results revealed significant associations between WREA and HRQoL and demonstrated that aesthetics and physical barriers were significant determinants of physical health after adjusting age and sex, and crime and physical barriers were significant determinants of mental health after adjusting sex. This study provided empirical evidence that environmental walkability was associated with HRQoL among older adults in Hong Kong. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A Longitudinal Analysis of the Influence of the Neighborhood Environment on Recreational Walking within the Neighborhood: Results from RESIDE.

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Christian, Hayley; Knuiman, Matthew; Divitini, Mark; Foster, Sarah; Hooper, Paula; Boruff, Bryan; Bull, Fiona; Giles-Corti, Billie

2017-07-12

There is limited longitudinal evidence confirming the role of neighborhood environment attributes in encouraging people to walk more or if active people simply choose to live in activity-friendly neighborhoods. Natural experiments of policy changes to create more walkable communities provide stronger evidence for a causal effect of neighborhood environments on residents' walking. We aimed to investigate longitudinal associations between objective and perceived neighborhood environment measures and neighborhood recreational walking. We analyzed longitudinal data collected over 8 yr (four surveys) from the RESIDential Environments (RESIDE) Study (Perth, Australia, 2003-2012). At each time point, participants reported the frequency and total minutes of recreational walking/week within their neighborhood and neighborhood environment perceptions. Objective measures of the neighborhood environment were generated using a Geographic Information System (GIS). Local recreational walking was influenced by objectively measured access to a medium-/large-size park, beach access, and higher street connectivity, which was reduced when adjusted for neighborhood perceptions. In adjusted models, positive perceptions of access to a park and beach, higher street connectivity, neighborhood esthetics, and safety from crime were independent determinants of increased neighborhood recreational walking. Local recreational walking increased by 9 min/wk (12% increase in frequency) for each additional perceived neighborhood attribute present. Our findings provide urban planners and policy makers with stronger causal evidence of the positive impact of well-connected neighborhoods and access to local parks of varying sizes on local residents' recreational walking and health. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP823.

WALKABILITY FOR DIFFERENT URBAN GRANULARITIES

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D. Hollenstein

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The positive effects of low-intensity physical activity are widely acknowledged and in this context walking is often promoted as an active form of transport. Under the concept of walkability the role of the built environment in encouraging walking is investigated. For that purpose, walkability is quantified area-wise by measuring a varying set of built environment attributes. In purely GIS-based approaches to studying walkability, indices are generally built using existing and easily accessible data. These include street network design, population density, land use mix, and access to destinations. Access to destinations is usually estimated using either a fixed radius, or distances in the street network. In this paper, two approaches to approximate a footpath network are presented. The two footpath networks were built making different assumptions regarding the walkability of different street types with respect to more or less restrictive safety preferences. Information on sidewalk presence, pedestrian crossings, and traffic restrictions were used to build both networks. The first network comprises car traffic free areas only. The second network includes streets with low speed limits that have no sidewalks. Both networks are compared to the more commonly used street network in an access-to-distance analysis. The results suggest that for the generally highly walkable study area, access to destination mostly depends on destination density within the defined walkable distance. However, on single street segments access to destinations is diminished when only car traffic free spaces are assumed to be walkable.

Walkability for Different Urban Granularities

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Hollenstein, D.; Bleisch, S.

2016-06-01

The positive effects of low-intensity physical activity are widely acknowledged and in this context walking is often promoted as an active form of transport. Under the concept of walkability the role of the built environment in encouraging walking is investigated. For that purpose, walkability is quantified area-wise by measuring a varying set of built environment attributes. In purely GIS-based approaches to studying walkability, indices are generally built using existing and easily accessible data. These include street network design, population density, land use mix, and access to destinations. Access to destinations is usually estimated using either a fixed radius, or distances in the street network. In this paper, two approaches to approximate a footpath network are presented. The two footpath networks were built making different assumptions regarding the walkability of different street types with respect to more or less restrictive safety preferences. Information on sidewalk presence, pedestrian crossings, and traffic restrictions were used to build both networks. The first network comprises car traffic free areas only. The second network includes streets with low speed limits that have no sidewalks. Both networks are compared to the more commonly used street network in an access-to-distance analysis. The results suggest that for the generally highly walkable study area, access to destination mostly depends on destination density within the defined walkable distance. However, on single street segments access to destinations is diminished when only car traffic free spaces are assumed to be walkable.

Neighborhood Integration and Connectivity Predict Cognitive Performance and Decline

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Amber Watts PhD

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Objective: Neighborhood characteristics may be important for promoting walking, but little research has focused on older adults, especially those with cognitive impairment. We evaluated the role of neighborhood characteristics on cognitive function and decline over a 2-year period adjusting for measures of walking. Method: In a study of 64 older adults with and without mild Alzheimer’s disease (AD, we evaluated neighborhood integration and connectivity using geographical information systems data and space syntax analysis. In multiple regression analyses, we used these characteristics to predict 2-year declines in factor analytically derived cognitive scores (attention, verbal memory, mental status adjusting for age, sex, education, and self-reported walking. Results : Neighborhood integration and connectivity predicted cognitive performance at baseline, and changes in cognitive performance over 2 years. The relationships between neighborhood characteristics and cognitive performance were not fully explained by self-reported walking. Discussion : Clearer definitions of specific neighborhood characteristics associated with walkability are needed to better understand the mechanisms by which neighborhoods may impact cognitive outcomes. These results have implications for measuring neighborhood characteristics, design and maintenance of living spaces, and interventions to increase walking among older adults. We offer suggestions for future research measuring neighborhood characteristics and cognitive function.

Economic value of walkability

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Litman, T.

2004-10-12

Traditional transportation planning and evaluation practices treat walking as a minor transport mode. However, it is evident that walking is a critical component of the transport system. This paper presents a series of methods to evaluate the value of walking and walkability, which is defined as the quality of walking conditions, including safety, comfort and convenience. The socio-economic benefits of walking and walkability were discussed, including basic mobility, consumer cost savings and reduced external costs. Efficient land use, community livability, improved public health, economic development and support for equity objectives were also presented as potential benefits. It was concluded that walking receives less than its appropriate share of transportation resources, and that improvements in walkability can provide a high economic return on investment. Increased government funding to walking facilities and programs was recommended. Other recommendations included: shifting road space from traffic and parking lanes to sidewalks and paths; and policies to create more walkable safety and comfort. These recommendations comply with other transport and land use management reforms to reduce automobile dependency and create greater accessibility. refs., tabs., figs.

Walkability is Only Part of the Story: Walking for Transportation in Stuttgart, Germany

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Maren Reyer

2014-05-01

Full Text Available In modern Western societies people often lead inactive and sedentary lifestyles, even though there is no doubt that physical activity and health are related. From an urban planning point of view it would be highly desirable to develop built environments in a way that supports people in leading more active and healthy lifestyles. Within this context there are several methods, predominantly used in the US, to measure the suitability of built environments for walking and cycling. Empirical studies show that people living in highly walkable areas are more physically active (for example, walk more or cycle more. The question is, however, whether these results are also valid for European cities given their different urban planning characteristics and infrastructure standards. To answer this question we used the Walkability-Index and the Walk Score to empirically investigate the associations between walkability and active transportation in the city of Stuttgart, Germany. In a sample of household survey data (n = 1.871 we found a noticeable relationship between walkability and active transportation—the more walkable an area was, the more active residents were. Although the statistical effect is small, the health impact might be of relevance. Being physically active is multi-determined and not only affected by the walkability of an area. We highlight these points with an excursion into research that the health and exercise sciences contribute to the topic. We propose to strengthen interdisciplinary research between the disciplines and to specifically collect data that captures the influence of the environment on physical activity in the future.

Walkability is only part of the story: walking for transportation in Stuttgart, Germany.

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Reyer, Maren; Fina, Stefan; Siedentop, Stefan; Schlicht, Wolfgang

2014-05-30

In modern Western societies people often lead inactive and sedentary lifestyles, even though there is no doubt that physical activity and health are related. From an urban planning point of view it would be highly desirable to develop built environments in a way that supports people in leading more active and healthy lifestyles. Within this context there are several methods, predominantly used in the US, to measure the suitability of built environments for walking and cycling. Empirical studies show that people living in highly walkable areas are more physically active (for example, walk more or cycle more). The question is, however, whether these results are also valid for European cities given their different urban planning characteristics and infrastructure standards. To answer this question we used the Walkability-Index and the Walk Score to empirically investigate the associations between walkability and active transportation in the city of Stuttgart, Germany. In a sample of household survey data (n = 1.871) we found a noticeable relationship between walkability and active transportation-the more walkable an area was, the more active residents were. Although the statistical effect is small, the health impact might be of relevance. Being physically active is multi-determined and not only affected by the walkability of an area. We highlight these points with an excursion into research that the health and exercise sciences contribute to the topic. We propose to strengthen interdisciplinary research between the disciplines and to specifically collect data that captures the influence of the environment on physical activity in the future.

Self-reported physical activity in perceived neighborhood in Czech adults – national study

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Josef Mitáš

2013-06-01

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: International studies associate physical activity (PA to other factors such as the environment, culture, and policy. External influences on lifestyle and PA, such as the effect of the physical and built environment, are discussed. Neighborhood environments seem to be one of the important aspects in prevention of unhealthy lifestyle and physical inactivity research. OBJECTIVE: The main objective is to analyze the relationship between PA and neighborhood environment of the adult population of the Czech Republic. The study tries to define the basic correlates of PA in relation to environmental and other socio-demographic factors. METHODS: Nationwide data collection of adult PA was done regionally in the Czech Republic between the years 2005–2009 using the IPAQ (long and ANEWS questionnaires. RESULTS: The results show that males realize significantly more vigorous PA than females while females realize more moderate PA and walking than males. PA of residents of smaller communities is higher than those living in large cities. The level of weekly PA does not significantly affect the neighborhood walkability [H(3, 8708 = 19.60; p CONCLUSIONS: The results clearly indicate the need to connect multiple sectors that affect the lifestyle of the general population. Possible solution is an interdisciplinary approach to the evaluation of the fundamental environmental factors influencing the level of PA (walkability; SES; participation in organized and voluntary PA; neighborhood safety; type of transportation; size of the community.

Planning According to New Urbanism: the Ostadsara Neighborhood Case Study

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Nader Zali

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The modern urbanism activities have led to rupture of previous spatial structure of neighborhoods and destruction of their identity. The New Urbanism Movement, as one of the successful models in urbanization field attempts to revive this lost national-social identity through the project of returning to traditional structure of neighborhoods by applying modern urbanization models and methods. The current paper aims at evaluation and analysis of “the Ostadsara neighborhood's organization based on new urbanism principles” and representation of solutions for planning a successful neighborhood center considering these principles. In this regard, various methods including library method, observation, photography, questionnaire and interview with users of the environment were utilized. The results from identification and assessment of weaknesses and strengths and specification and analysis of potential threats and opportunities shows the possibility of applying walkability, connectivity and integration, improvement of public transportation, improvement of architecture quality and urban design, maintenance and improvement of public and green open spaces, maintenance and strengthening the structure of traditional neighborhood units and using cooperation of Ostadsara neighborhood's inhabitants. Finally, the current study will represent appropriate strategies for changing the mentioned neighborhood into a desirable and prosperous one.

Associations of neighbourhood walkability indices with weight gain.

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Koohsari, Mohammad Javad; Oka, Koichiro; Shibata, Ai; Liao, Yung; Hanibuchi, Tomoya; Owen, Neville; Sugiyama, Takemi

2018-04-03

Inconsistent associations of neighbourhood walkability with adults' body weight have been reported. Most studies examining the relationships of walkability and adiposity are cross-sectional in design. We examined the longitudinal relationships of two walkability indices - conventional walkability and space syntax walkability, and their individual components, with weight change among adults over four years. Data were from the Physical Activity in Localities and Community study in Adelaide, Australia. In 2003-2004, 2650 adults living in 154 Census Collection Districts (CCDs) returned baseline questionnaires; in 2007-2008, the follow-up survey was completed by 1098. Participants reported their weight at baseline and at follow-up. Neighbourhood walkability indices were calculated using geographic information systems and space syntax software. Linear marginal models using generalized estimating equations with robust standard errors were fitted to examine associations of the two walkability indices and their individual components with the weight at follow-up, adjusting for baseline weight, socio-demographic variables, and spatial clustering at the level of CCD. The overall mean weight gain over four years was 1.5 kg. The two walkability indices were closely correlated (r = 0.76, p walkability indices and weight change. Among walkability components, there was a marginally significant negative association between space syntax measure of street integration and weight change: one standard deviation increment in street integration was associated with 0.31 kg less weight gain (p = 0.09). Using a prospective study design and a novel space-syntax based measure of walkability, we were not able to identify relationships between neighbourhood walkability with weight gain. This is consistent with other inconclusive findings on the built environment and obesity. Research on the built environment and adults' weight gain may need to consider not just local environments but

Audit of workplace walkability in an Irish healthcare setting.

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Cronin, Judy

2016-12-01

Recent studies suggest that time spent sitting is associated with greater risks of all causes of mortality and cardiovascular disease even for those who live a healthy lifestyle. As part of a healthier worksite initiative, we conducted a worksite walkability audit and staff survey of a large hospital-based administrative campus with a high proportion of health staff working in largely office-based roles. The US Centre for Disease Control (CDC) Healthier Worksite Initiative Walkability Audit Tool was used to audit 20 walking segments. The audit further examined the walkability of segments most likely to be used by outpatients and the families of residents visiting and attending the campus. The second phase of this research involved an employee electronic survey to understand staff requirements from a workplace physical activity initiative. Overall, the campus scored a medium risk to walkability on the CDC audit tool. This means that with some key minor alterations the walking route could be made safe and attractive for walking. There was a 20% (n = 151) response rate to the staff survey with 66% of respondents sitting at their desk for most of the day with the majority spending 5-7 h a day sitting at work. Evidence suggests that reducing sedentary time may be important to public health. The worksite is an ideal location for targeting a large number of individuals. Key public health messages that promote daily recommended physical activity targets should also carry additional messages about reducing occupational sitting time. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Walkability and Urban Capabilities: evaluation and Planning Decision Support

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Ivan Blečić

2015-06-01

Full Text Available We propose a methodology for the evaluation of urban walkability, and the related software tool for decision and planning support. In the introduction, we discuss the relevance of the concept of walkability for urban quality of life, and attempt to place it within the framework of the capability approach. The central part of the article is dedicated to the presentation of the spatial multi-criteria evaluation model for walkability. Our construction of the walkability in the model proposes a certain change of perspective with regard to the methods suggested thus far: rather than evaluating how a place is walkable in itself, the walkability score we calculate reflects how and where to one can walk from that place, in other words, what is the walkability the place is endowed with. Therefore, the walkability score combines three components: (1 the number of available destinations (urban “opportunities” reachable by foot; (2 their distances; and (3 the quality of pedestrian routes towards those destinations. The quality of pedestrian routes is evaluated on different attributes relevant for walkability, related to the characteristics of the streets and their surrounding environment which contribute to render the route pleasant, secure and attractive. By way of example, in the third part we present an example application on the city of Alghero (Italy.

Walkability and connectivity: unpacking measures of the built environment

OpenAIRE

Shashank, Aateka Farah

2017-01-01

The creation and replication of walkability indices uses geographic information systems (GIS) and warrants exploration of assumptions made implicit by different research disciplines. Most methods of measuring walkability variables – residential density, street connectivity, and land-use mix – lack contextual rationale for inclusion in walkability indices. Furthermore, walkability indices used in contemporary literature themselves are in conflict not only with each other, but also with human s...

Neighborhood disparities in access to healthy foods and their effects on environmental justice

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Environmental justice is concerned with an equitable distribution of environmental burdens. These burdens comprise immediate health hazards as well as subtle inequities, such as limited access to healthy foods. We reviewed the literature on neighborhood disparities in access to fast-food outlets and...

Is walkability associated with a lower cardiometabolic risk?

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Coffee, Neil T; Howard, Natasha; Paquet, Catherine; Hugo, Graeme; Daniel, Mark

2013-05-01

Walkability of residential environments has been associated with more walking. Given the health benefits of walking, it is expected that people living in locations with higher measured walkability should have a lower risk of cardiometabolic diseases. This study tested the hypothesis that higher walkability was associated with a lower cardiometabolic risk (CMR) for two administrative spatial units and three road buffers. Data were from the North West Adelaide Health Study first wave of data collected between 2000 and 2003. CMR was expressed as a cumulative sum of six clinical risk markers, selected to reflect components of the metabolic syndrome. Walkability was based on an established methodology and operationalised as dwelling density, intersection density, land-use mix and retail footprint. Walkability was associated with lower CMR for the three road buffer representations of the built environment but not for the two administrative spatial units. This may indicate a limitation in the use of administrative spatial units for analyses of walkability and health outcomes. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Neighbourhood walkability, road density and socio-economic status in Sydney, Australia.

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Cowie, Christine T; Ding, Ding; Rolfe, Margaret I; Mayne, Darren J; Jalaludin, Bin; Bauman, Adrian; Morgan, Geoffrey G

2016-04-27

Planning and transport agencies play a vital role in influencing the design of townscapes, travel modes and travel behaviors, which in turn impact on the walkability of neighbourhoods and residents' physical activity opportunities. Optimising neighbourhood walkability is desirable in built environments, however, the population health benefits of walkability may be offset by increased exposure to traffic related air pollution. This paper describes the spatial distribution of neighbourhood walkability and weighted road density, a marker for traffic related air pollution, in Sydney, Australia. As exposure to air pollution is related to socio-economic status in some cities, this paper also examines the spatial distribution of weighted road density and walkability by socio-economic status (SES). We calculated walkability, weighted road density (as a measure of traffic related air pollution) and SES, using predefined and validated measures, for 5858 Sydney neighbourhoods, representing 3.6 million population. We overlaid tertiles of walkability and weighted road density to define "sweet-spots" (high walkability-low weighted road density), and "sour- spots" (low walkability-high weighted road density) neighbourhoods. We also examined the distribution of walkability and weighted road density by SES quintiles. Walkability and weighted road density showed a clear east-west gradient across the region. Our study found that only 4 % of Sydney's population lived in sweet-spot" neighbourhoods with high walkability and low weighted road density (desirable), and these tended to be located closer to the city centre. A greater proportion of neighbourhoods had health limiting attributes of high weighted road density or low walkability (about 20 % each), and over 5 % of the population lived in "sour-spot" neighbourhoods with low walkability and high weighted road density (least desirable). These neighbourhoods were more distant from the city centre and scattered more widely. There were

Using Social Media to Identify Sources of Healthy Food in Urban Neighborhoods.

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Gomez-Lopez, Iris N; Clarke, Philippa; Hill, Alex B; Romero, Daniel M; Goodspeed, Robert; Berrocal, Veronica J; Vinod Vydiswaran, V G; Veinot, Tiffany C

2017-06-01

An established body of research has used secondary data sources (such as proprietary business databases) to demonstrate the importance of the neighborhood food environment for multiple health outcomes. However, documenting food availability using secondary sources in low-income urban neighborhoods can be particularly challenging since small businesses play a crucial role in food availability. These small businesses are typically underrepresented in national databases, which rely on secondary sources to develop data for marketing purposes. Using social media and other crowdsourced data to account for these smaller businesses holds promise, but the quality of these data remains unknown. This paper compares the quality of full-line grocery store information from Yelp, a crowdsourced content service, to a "ground truth" data set (Detroit Food Map) and a commercially-available dataset (Reference USA) for the greater Detroit area. Results suggest that Yelp is more accurate than Reference USA in identifying healthy food stores in urban areas. Researchers investigating the relationship between the nutrition environment and health may consider Yelp as a reliable and valid source for identifying sources of healthy food in urban environments.

Formative research for a healthy diet intervention among inner-city adolescents: the importance of family, school and neighborhood environment.

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Dodson, Jennifer L; Hsiao, Ya-Chun; Kasat-Shors, Madhuri; Murray, Laura; Nguyen, Nga Kim; Richards, Adam K; Gittelsohn, Joel

2009-01-01

To understand influences on diet among low-income African-American adolescents in East Baltimore. Formative research was conducted for a food store-centered healthy diet intervention targeted to inner-city youth. Family, school and neighborhood influences on eating habits and health concepts were explored. Family structure, economic resources and past experiences influence what food means to adolescents. Healthy food in school and local stores is limited. Terminology to categorize foods was identified, including the term "home foods". Suggested adolescent nutritional interventions include promotion of home-based eating, improving availability of healthy foods in school and neighborhood stores, and targeted educational materials.

Equivalência semântica, de itens e conceitual da versão brasileira do Neighborhood Environment Walkability Scale for Youth (NEWS-Y

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Alex Vieira Lima

2013-12-01

Full Text Available O objetivo deste estudo foi descrever o processo de tradução e adaptação transcultural da versão brasileira do questionário Neighborhood Environment Walkability Scale for Youth (NEWS-Y. Foram realizadas traduções independentes para o português da versão original do NEWS-Y e respectivas retrotraduções para o inglês. A análise da adaptação semântica e conceitual foi realizada por um grupo de especialistas. A versão traduzida do NEWS-Y foi aplicada em amostra de oito adolescentes de ambos os sexos e apresentou fácil compreensão. Após discretas modificações apontadas nos processos de tradução, o grupo de especialistas considerou que a versão para o idioma português do NEWS-Y apresentou equivalências semântica e conceitual. A versão traduzida do NEWS-Y necessitou de poucos ajustes para garantir a adaptação conceitual, de itens e semântica. Sugere-se que estudos complementares sejam realizados para analisar as outras etapas da adaptação transcultural da versão do NEWS-Y em português no contexto brasileiro.

Evolving walkability of major cities in the People's Republic of China

OpenAIRE

Fan, Peilei; Wan, Guanghua; Xu, Lihua; Park, Hogeun; Xie, Yaowen; Liu, Yong; Yue, Wenze; Chen, Jiquan

2017-01-01

Context: Walkability is an important element for assessing urban sustainability. There are increased concerns that more cities in the People's Republic of China (PRC) have become less walkable. Objectives: We aim to develop a composite walkability index. We intend to use it to evaluate the spatio-temporal evolution of the walkability of PRC cities in the context of the rapid urbanization. Methods: We developed a comprehensive walkability index that integrates five aspects of the urban built e...

International variation in neighborhood walkability, transit, and recreation environments using geographic information systems: the IPEN adult study.

Science.gov (United States)

Adams, Marc A; Frank, Lawrence D; Schipperijn, Jasper; Smith, Graham; Chapman, James; Christiansen, Lars B; Coffee, Neil; Salvo, Deborah; du Toit, Lorinne; Dygrýn, Jan; Hino, Adriano Akira Ferreira; Lai, Poh-chin; Mavoa, Suzanne; Pinzón, José David; Van de Weghe, Nico; Cerin, Ester; Davey, Rachel; Macfarlane, Duncan; Owen, Neville; Sallis, James F

2014-10-25

The World Health Organization recommends strategies to improve urban design, public transportation, and recreation facilities to facilitate physical activity for non-communicable disease prevention for an increasingly urbanized global population. Most evidence supporting environmental associations with physical activity comes from single countries or regions with limited variation in urban form. This paper documents variation in comparable built environment features across countries from diverse regions. The International Physical Activity and the Environment Network (IPEN) study of adults aimed to measure the full range of variation in the built environment using geographic information systems (GIS) across 12 countries on 5 continents. Investigators in Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Colombia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, China, Mexico, New Zealand, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States followed a common research protocol to develop internationally comparable measures. Using detailed instructions, GIS-based measures included features such as walkability (i.e., residential density, street connectivity, mix of land uses), and access to public transit, parks, and private recreation facilities around each participant's residential address using 1-km and 500-m street network buffers. Eleven of 12 countries and 15 cities had objective GIS data on built environment features. We observed a 38-fold difference in median residential densities, a 5-fold difference in median intersection densities and an 18-fold difference in median park densities. Hong Kong had the highest and North Shore, New Zealand had the lowest median walkability index values, representing a difference of 9 standard deviations in GIS-measured walkability. Results show that comparable measures can be created across a range of cultural settings revealing profound global differences in urban form relevant to physical activity. These measures allow cities to be ranked more precisely than previously

Neighborhood environment and physical activity among older adults: do the relationships differ by driving status?

Science.gov (United States)

Ding, Ding; Sallis, James F; Norman, Gregory J; Frank, Lawrence D; Saelens, Brian E; Kerr, Jacqueline; Conway, Terry L; Cain, Kelli; Hovell, Melbourne F; Hofstetter, C Richard; King, Abby C

2014-07-01

Some attributes of neighborhood environments are associated with physical activity among older adults. This study examined whether the associations were moderated by driving status. Older adults from neighborhoods differing in walkability and income completed written surveys and wore accelerometers (N = 880, mean age = 75 years, 56% women). Neighborhood environments were measured by geographic information systems and validated questionnaires. Driving status was defined on the basis of a driver's license, car ownership, and feeling comfortable to drive. Outcome variables included accelerometer-based physical activity and self-reported transport and leisure walking. Multilevel generalized linear regression was used. There was no significant Neighborhood Attribute × Driving Status interaction with objective physical activity or reported transport walking. For leisure walking, almost all environmental attributes were positive and significant among driving older adults but not among nondriving older adults (five significant interactions at p driving status is likely to moderate the association between neighborhood environments and older adults' leisure walking.

A European perspective on GIS-based walkability and active modes of transport.

Science.gov (United States)

Grasser, Gerlinde; van Dyck, Delfien; Titze, Sylvia; Stronegger, Willibald J

2017-02-01

The association between GIS-based walkability and walking for transport is considered to be well established in USA and in Australia. Research on the association between walkability and cycling for transport in European cities is lacking. The aim of this study was to test the predictive validity of established walkability measures and to explore alternative walkability measures associated with walking and cycling for transport in a European context. Outcome data were derived from the representative cross-sectional survey ( n  = 843) ‘Radfreundliche Stadt’ of adults in the city of Graz (Austria). GIS-based walkability was measured using both established measures (e.g. gross population density, household unit density, entropy index, three-way intersection density, IPEN walkability index) and alternative measures (e.g. proportion of mixed land use, four-way intersection density, Graz walkability index). ANCOVAs were conducted to examine the adjusted association between walkability measures and outcomes. Household unit density, proportion of mixed land use, three-way intersection density and IPEN walkability index were positively associated with walking for transport, but the other measures were not. All walkability measures were positively associated with cycling for transport. The established walkability measures were applicable to a European city such as Graz. The alternative walkability measures performed well in a European context. Due to measurement issues the association between these walkability measures and walking for transport needs to be investigated further. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Public Health Association. All rights reserved.

Developing a research and practice tool to measure walkability: a demonstration project.

Science.gov (United States)

Giles-Corti, Billie; Macaulay, Gus; Middleton, Nick; Boruff, Bryan; Bull, Fiona; Butterworth, Iain; Badland, Hannah; Mavoa, Suzanne; Roberts, Rebecca; Christian, Hayley

2014-12-01

Growing evidence shows that higher-density, mixed-use, pedestrian-friendly neighbourhoods encourage active transport, including transport-related walking. Despite widespread recognition of the benefits of creating more walkable neighbourhoods, there remains a gap between the rhetoric of the need for walkability and the creation of walkable neighbourhoods. Moreover, there is little objective data to benchmark the walkability of neighbourhoods within and between Australian cities in order to monitor planning and design intervention progress and to assess built environment and urban policy interventions required to achieve increased walkability. This paper describes a demonstration project that aimed to develop, trial and validate a 'Walkability Index Tool' that could be used by policy makers and practitioners to assess the walkability of local areas; or by researchers to access geospatial data assessing walkability. The overall aim of the project was to develop an automated geospatial tool capable of creating walkability indices for neighbourhoods at user-specified scales. The tool is based on open-source software architecture, within the Australian Urban Research Infrastructure Network (AURIN) framework, and incorporates key sub-component spatial measures of walkability (street connectivity, density and land use mix). Using state-based data, we demonstrated it was possible to create an automated walkability index. However, due to the lack of availability of consistent of national data measuring land use mix, at this stage it has not been possible to create a national walkability measure. The next stage of the project is to increase useability of the tool within the AURIN portal and to explore options for alternative spatial data sources that will enable the development of a valid national walkability index. AURIN's open-source Walkability Index Tool is a first step in demonstrating the potential benefit of a tool that could measure walkability across Australia. It

Associations between neighbourhood walkability and cycling in Denmark

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Madsen, Thomas; Schipperijn, Jasper Jan; Troelsen, Jens

. Simple linear regression analysis on cycling showed that the walkability index scores had significant Pearson coefficients in relation to cycling (cycle kilometres: 0.15, plinear regression model (educational level...... to calculate a walkability index for each zone by combining z-scores for street connectivity, land use mix, residential density, and retail floor area ratio. Multiple linear regression and Pearson correlations were used to quantify the associations between walkability and walking, cycling, and passive...

Perceived Neighborhood Environmental Attributes Associated with Walking and Cycling for Transport among Adult Residents of 17 Cities in 12 Countries

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kerr, Jacqueline; Emond, Jennifer A; Badland, Hannah

2016-01-01

interventions. The aim of this study was to examine the strength and shape of the relationship between adults' neighborhood perceptions and walking and cycling for transport across diverse environments. METHODS: As part of the International Physical activity and Environment Network (IPEN) adult project, self......-report data were taken from 13,745 adults (18 - 65 years) living in physically and socially diverse neighborhoods in 17 cities across 12 countries. Neighborhood perceptions were measured using the Neighborhood Environment Walkability Scale, and walking and cycling for transport were measured using...... the International Physical Activity Questionnaire - Long Form. Generalized additive mixed models were used to model walking or cycling for transport during the last seven days with neighborhood perceptions. Interactions by city were explored. RESULTS: Walking for transport outcomes were significantly associated...

Neighborhood environments and its influence on physical activity in Olomouc and neighboring villages

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Michal Kohout

2014-03-01

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Modern society with development of new technologies greatly facilitates the activities of daily life and thus substantially eliminates human motion. This fact, together with a sedentary behavior is associated with considerable health risks, such as obesity, diabetes mellitus (type II, hypertension etc. A large part of the population is not aware of the negative consequences of physical inactivity, which may cause serious health problems. And this circumstance should be the main motivational factor to change lifestyle, including the environment. AIM: This study examines differences in the structure of physical activity in adults in Olomouc and neighboring villages within 15 km distance around Olomouc. The main objective was to determine how neighborhood environments affect physical activity of selected population groups. METHODS: All respondents were visited in person by authors and asked to participate in a research study using a Czech version of the questionnaire ANEWS. Data collection was carried out in May and June 2012 and data were obtained from 43 respondents aged 24-61 living in Olomouc and neighboring. RESULTS: The results showed that residents of urban areas are more physically active than nonurban residents. In the active area residents with higher walkability were associated with higher physical activity in urban residents, while the rural residents indicated higher physical activity in lower walkability areas. We found a significant difference in energy expenditure among respondents living in areas with higher and lower walkability in favor of the more walkable areas [H (1, 43 = 26.184, p ≤ .000]. CONCLUSIONS: Highest levels of physical activity represent men living in single-family houses and women living in multiple family houses. Participating respondents most frequently engaged in moderate physical activities. They spent more time sitting during work than sitting outside the workplace. Most frequently used

International variation in neighborhood walkability, transit, and recreation environments using geographic information systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Adams, Marc A; Frank, Lawrence D; Schipperijn, Jasper

2014-01-01

associations with physical activity comes from single countries or regions with limited variation in urban form. This paper documents variation in comparable built environment features across countries from diverse regions. METHODS: The International Physical Activity and the Environment Network (IPEN) study...... recreation facilities around each participant's residential address using 1-km and 500-m street network buffers. RESULTS: Eleven of 12 countries and 15 cities had objective GIS data on built environment features. We observed a 38-fold difference in median residential densities, a 5-fold difference in median......, and the United States followed a common research protocol to develop internationally comparable measures. Using detailed instructions, GIS-based measures included features such as walkability (i.e., residential density, street connectivity, mix of land uses), and access to public transit, parks, and private...

Walkable Communities

Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Podcasts

2008-04-18

This podcast is for a general audience and discusses the benefits of walkable communities, as they relate to health, the environment, and social interaction.  Created: 4/18/2008 by National Center for Environmental Health (NCEH), ATSDR.   Date Released: 5/8/2008.

Snow and Rain Modify Neighbourhood Walkability for Older Adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Clarke, Philippa; Hirsch, Jana A; Melendez, Robert; Winters, Meghan; Sims Gould, Joanie; Ashe, Maureen; Furst, Sarah; McKay, Heather

2017-06-01

The literature has documented a positive relationship between walkable built environments and outdoor mobility in older adults. Yet, surprisingly absent is any consideration of how weather conditions modify the impact of neighbourhood walkability. Using archived weather data linked to survey data collected from a sample of older adults in Vancouver, Canada, we found that car-dependent neighbourhoods (featuring longer block lengths, fewer intersections, and greater distance to amenities) became inaccessible in snow. Even older adults who lived in very walkable neighbourhoods walked to 25 per cent fewer destinations in snow. It is crucial to consider the impact of weather in the relationship between neighbourhood walkability and older adult mobility.

Google walkability: a new tool for local planning and public health research?

Science.gov (United States)

Vargo, Jason; Stone, Brian; Glanz, Karen

2012-07-01

We investigate the association of different composite walkability measures with individual walking behaviors to determine if multicomponent metrics of walkability are more useful for assessing the health impacts of the built environment than single component measures. We use a previously published composite walkability measure as well as a new measure that was designed to represent easier methods of combination and which includes 2 metrics obtained using Google data sources. Logistic regression was used to assess the relationship between walking behavior and walkability metrics. Our results suggest that composite measures of walkability are more consistent predictors of walking behavior than single component measures. Furthermore, a walkability measure developed using free, publicly available data from Google was found to be nearly as effective in predicting walking outcomes as a walkability measure derived without such publicly and nationally available measures. Our findings demonstrate the effectiveness of free and locally relevant data for assessing walkable environments. This facilitates the use of locally derived and adaptive tools for evaluating the health impacts of the built environment.

Optimizing Scoring and Sampling Methods for Assessing Built Neighborhood Environment Quality in Residential Areas

Science.gov (United States)

Adu-Brimpong, Joel; Coffey, Nathan; Ayers, Colby; Berrigan, David; Yingling, Leah R.; Thomas, Samantha; Mitchell, Valerie; Ahuja, Chaarushi; Rivers, Joshua; Hartz, Jacob; Powell-Wiley, Tiffany M.

2017-01-01

Optimization of existing measurement tools is necessary to explore links between aspects of the neighborhood built environment and health behaviors or outcomes. We evaluate a scoring method for virtual neighborhood audits utilizing the Active Neighborhood Checklist (the Checklist), a neighborhood audit measure, and assess street segment representativeness in low-income neighborhoods. Eighty-two home neighborhoods of Washington, D.C. Cardiovascular Health/Needs Assessment (NCT01927783) participants were audited using Google Street View imagery and the Checklist (five sections with 89 total questions). Twelve street segments per home address were assessed for (1) Land-Use Type; (2) Public Transportation Availability; (3) Street Characteristics; (4) Environment Quality and (5) Sidewalks/Walking/Biking features. Checklist items were scored 0–2 points/question. A combinations algorithm was developed to assess street segments’ representativeness. Spearman correlations were calculated between built environment quality scores and Walk Score®, a validated neighborhood walkability measure. Street segment quality scores ranged 10–47 (Mean = 29.4 ± 6.9) and overall neighborhood quality scores, 172–475 (Mean = 352.3 ± 63.6). Walk scores® ranged 0–91 (Mean = 46.7 ± 26.3). Street segment combinations’ correlation coefficients ranged 0.75–1.0. Significant positive correlations were found between overall neighborhood quality scores, four of the five Checklist subsection scores, and Walk Scores® (r = 0.62, p health behaviors and outcomes. PMID:28282878

WALKABILITY: THE CASE OF THE CENTRAL JANNAT ABAD NEIGHBOURHOOD, TEHRAN

OpenAIRE

Hadianpour, Mohsen

2017-01-01

In recent years, urban scholars and town planners have become interested in the concept of ‘neighbourhood walkability’ and have tried to operationalize and measure it and make cities more walkable. Interest in walkability, and seeing it as a positive urban quality has not yet blossomed among Iranian scholars and town planners the way it has internationally. Iranian urban scholars have scarcely investigated the meaning of walkability in the Iranian urban context, while town planners have faile...

Neighborhood influences on girls' obesity risk across the transition to adolescence.

Science.gov (United States)

Hoyt, Lindsay T; Kushi, Lawrence H; Leung, Cindy W; Nickleach, Dana C; Adler, Nancy; Laraia, Barbara A; Hiatt, Robert A; Yen, Irene H

2014-11-01

The neighborhoods in which children live, play, and eat provide an environmental context that may influence obesity risk and ameliorate or exacerbate health disparities. The current study examines whether neighborhood characteristics predict obesity in a prospective cohort of girls. Participants were 174 girls (aged 8-10 years at baseline), a subset from the Cohort Study of Young Girls' Nutrition, Environment, and Transitions. Trained observers completed street audits within a 0.25-mile radius around each girl's residence. Four scales (food and service retail, recreation, walkability, and physical disorder) were created from 40 observed neighborhood features. BMI was calculated from clinically measured height and weight. Obesity was defined as BMI-for-age ≥ 95%. Logistic regression models using generalized estimating equations were used to examine neighborhood influences on obesity risk over 4 years of follow-up, controlling for race/ethnicity, pubertal status, and baseline BMI. Fully adjusted models also controlled for household income, parent education, and a census tract measure of neighborhood socioeconomic status. A 1-SD increase on the food and service retail scale was associated with a 2.27 (95% confidence interval, 1.42 to 3.61; P obese. A 1-SD increase in physical disorder was associated with a 2.41 (95% confidence interval, 1.31 to 4.44; P = .005) increased odds of being obese. Other neighborhood scales were not associated with risk for obesity. Neighborhood food and retail environment and physical disorder around a girl's home predict risk for obesity across the transition from late childhood to adolescence. Copyright © 2014 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Heading in the Right Direction? Investigating Walkability in Galway City, Ireland

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mike Hynes

2018-04-01

Full Text Available As cities and towns worldwide strive to improve quality of life for citizens, debates centred on mobility are at the forefront of transportation policy thinking and urban design and planning. The automobile radically transformed cities, not always for the better, and the transport paradigm espoused over previous decades has primarily focussed on cars. This is still largely evident, driven by policymakers and key decisionmakers using forecasting and transportation and economic models that justify such car-centric planning. However, it is now clear that this approach of increasing automobility is unsustainable. Urban planners across the world are coming to a similar conclusion; they are better off with fewer cars, and a new vision is required, which sees people embracing active and sustainable transportation and sharing public space, information, and new innovative services to make cities more attractive and liveable. Walkability is the measure of how pleasant an area is for walking. By promoting and encouraging people to walk more, we achieve the benefits of better personal health and safer, more convivial neighbourhoods and communities. Making cities more walkable involves incorporating features into urban landscapes that make walking an agreeable experience and bringing a range of necessary and interesting destinations within walking distances of homes and workplaces. Using data from the Mobilities and Liveability in Galway project, this paper seeks a richer understanding of issues relating to existing topographies of walkability and the barriers and pressures that exist with regards to the further development of walking in the city—a healthy and pleasurable way of getting about.

Optimizing Scoring and Sampling Methods for Assessing Built Neighborhood Environment Quality in Residential Areas

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Joel Adu-Brimpong

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Optimization of existing measurement tools is necessary to explore links between aspects of the neighborhood built environment and health behaviors or outcomes. We evaluate a scoring method for virtual neighborhood audits utilizing the Active Neighborhood Checklist (the Checklist, a neighborhood audit measure, and assess street segment representativeness in low-income neighborhoods. Eighty-two home neighborhoods of Washington, D.C. Cardiovascular Health/Needs Assessment (NCT01927783 participants were audited using Google Street View imagery and the Checklist (five sections with 89 total questions. Twelve street segments per home address were assessed for (1 Land-Use Type; (2 Public Transportation Availability; (3 Street Characteristics; (4 Environment Quality and (5 Sidewalks/Walking/Biking features. Checklist items were scored 0–2 points/question. A combinations algorithm was developed to assess street segments’ representativeness. Spearman correlations were calculated between built environment quality scores and Walk Score®, a validated neighborhood walkability measure. Street segment quality scores ranged 10–47 (Mean = 29.4 ± 6.9 and overall neighborhood quality scores, 172–475 (Mean = 352.3 ± 63.6. Walk scores® ranged 0–91 (Mean = 46.7 ± 26.3. Street segment combinations’ correlation coefficients ranged 0.75–1.0. Significant positive correlations were found between overall neighborhood quality scores, four of the five Checklist subsection scores, and Walk Scores® (r = 0.62, p < 0.001. This scoring method adequately captures neighborhood features in low-income, residential areas and may aid in delineating impact of specific built environment features on health behaviors and outcomes.

Walkable Route Perceptions and Physical Features: Converging Evidence for En Route Walking Experiences

Science.gov (United States)

Brown, Barbara B.; Werner, Carol M.; Amburgey, Jonathan W.; Szalay, Caitlin

2007-01-01

Guided walks near a light rail stop in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah, were examined using a 2 (gender) x 3 (route walkability: low-mixed-, or high-walkability features) design. Trained raters confirmed that more walkable segments had more traffic, environmental, and social safety; pleasing aesthetics; natural features; pedestrian amenities; and…

Lower Neighborhood Socioeconomic Status Associated with Reduced Diversity of the Colonic Microbiota in Healthy Adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, Gregory E; Engen, Phillip A; Gillevet, Patrick M; Shaikh, Maliha; Sikaroodi, Masoumeh; Forsyth, Christopher B; Mutlu, Ece; Keshavarzian, Ali

2016-01-01

In the United States, there are persistent and widening socioeconomic gaps in morbidity and mortality from chronic diseases. Although most disparities research focuses on person-level socioeconomic-status, mounting evidence suggest that chronic diseases also pattern by the demographic characteristics of neighborhoods. Yet the biological mechanisms underlying these associations are poorly understood. There is increasing recognition that chronic diseases share common pathogenic features, some of which involve alterations in the composition, diversity, and functioning of the gut microbiota. This study examined whether socioeconomic-status was associated with alpha-diversity of the colonic microbiota. Forty-four healthy adults underwent un-prepped sigmoidoscopy, during which mucosal biopsies and fecal samples were collected. Subjects' zip codes were geocoded, and census data was used to form a composite indicator of neighborhood socioeconomic-status, reflecting household income, educational attainment, employment status, and home value. In unadjusted analyses, neighborhood socioeconomic-status explained 12-18 percent of the variability in alpha-diversity of colonic microbiota. The direction of these associations was positive, meaning that as neighborhood socioeconomic-status increased, so did alpha-diversity of both the colonic sigmoid mucosa and fecal microbiota. The strength of these associations persisted when models were expanded to include covariates reflecting potential demographic (age, gender, race/ethnicity) and lifestyle (adiposity, alcohol use, smoking) confounds. In these models neighborhood socioeconomic-status continued to explain 11-22 percent of the variability in diversity indicators. Further analyses suggested these patterns reflected socioeconomic variations in evenness, but not richness, of microbial communities residing in the sigmoid. We also found indications that residence in neighborhoods of higher socioeconomic-status was associated with a

PENERAPAN KONSEP WALKABILITY DI KAWASAN ALUN-ALUN KOTA MALANG

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Imma Widyawati Agustin

2017-07-01

Full Text Available City center plaza of Malang (Alun-alun Merdeka is a commercial area and public open space that attracts and encourages the movement of the community including the pedestrian in Malang city. A high pedestrian movement should be balanced with the availability of adequate facilities and infrastructure, particularly the pedestrian ways that can provide comfort, safety and sociability for pedestrians or called as the walkable pedestrian ways. The main purpose of the research is providing an input for pedestrian ways planning based on the concept of walkability, particularly for a public square in Malang. This research used guidelines from Permen PU number 03/PRT/M/2014 to identify the level of service of pedestrian-ways and the standard of the US Department Health and Human Service to find out the index of walkability, and Importance Performance Analysis (IPA to know the priority improvements of pedestrian-ways. The results showed that Merdeka Selatan street and Merdeka Timur street has the worst level of service is B on the weekday while on the weekend, Merdeka Timur street has the worst level of service is E. Pedestrian-ways on Merdeka street has the index of walkability is quite walkable with the score of 40-69. The planning of restructuring pedestrian ways on the City center plaza of Malang City (Alun-alun Merdeka has different priority for each corridor, in general the priority of restructuring is adding lighting trash bin, as well as the disability paths.

Does neighbourhood walkability moderate the effects of mass media communication strategies to promote regular physical activity?

Science.gov (United States)

Barnes, R; Giles-Corti, B; Bauman, A; Rosenberg, M; Bull, F C; Leavy, J E

2013-02-01

Mass media campaigns are widely used in Australia and elsewhere to promote physical activity among adults. Neighbourhood walkability is consistently shown to be associated with walking and total activity. Campaigns may have different effects on individuals living in high and low walkable neighbourhoods. The purpose of this study is to compare pre- and post-campaign cognitive and behavioural impacts of the Heart Foundation's Find Thirty every day® campaign, in respondents living in high and lower walkable neighbourhoods. Pre- and post-campaign cross-sectional survey data were linked with objectively measured neighbourhood walkability. Cognitive and behavioural impacts were assessed using logistic regression stratified by walkability. Cognitive impacts were significantly higher post-campaign and consistently higher in respondents in high compared with lower walkable neighbourhoods. Post campaign sufficient activity was significantly higher and transport walking significantly lower, but only in residents of lower walkable areas. Cognitive impacts of mass media physical activity campaigns may be enhanced by living in a more walkable neighbourhood.

Neighbourhood walkability, daily steps and utilitarian walking in Canadian adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Hajna, Samantha; Ross, Nancy A; Joseph, Lawrence; Harper, Sam; Dasgupta, Kaberi

2015-11-24

To estimate the associations of neighbourhood walkability (based on Geographic Information System (GIS)-derived measures of street connectivity, land use mix, and population density and the Walk Score) with self-reported utilitarian walking and accelerometer-assessed daily steps in Canadian adults. A cross-sectional analysis of data collected as part of the Canadian Health Measures Survey (2007-2009). Home neighbourhoods (500 m polygonal street network buffers around the centroid of the participant's postal code) located in Atlantic Canada, Québec, Ontario, the Prairies and British Columbia. 5605 individuals participated in the survey. 3727 adults (≥18 years) completed a computer-assisted interview and attended a mobile clinic assessment. Analyses were based on those who had complete exposure, outcome and covariate data (n=2949). GIS-derived walkability (based on land use mix, street connectivity and population density); Walk Score. Self-reported utilitarian walking; accelerometer-assessed daily steps. No important relationship was observed between neighbourhood walkability and daily steps. Participants who reported more utilitarian walking, however, accumulated more steps (walkability and odds of walking ≥1 h/week for utilitarian purposes (eg, Q4 vs Q1 of GIS-derived walkability: OR=1.66, 95% CI 1.31 to 2.11; Q3 vs Q1: OR=1.41, 95% CI 1.14 to 1.76; Q2 vs Q1: OR=1.13, 95% CI 0.91 to 1.39) independent of age, sex, body mass index, married/common law status, annual household income, having children in the household, immigrant status, mood disorder, perceived health, ever smoker and season. Contrary to expectations, living in more walkable Canadian neighbourhoods was not associated with more total walking. Utilitarian walking and daily steps were, however, correlated and walkability demonstrated a positive graded relationship with utilitarian walking. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a

The concept of a walkable city as an alternative form of urban mobility

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Katarzyna TUROŃ

2017-06-01

Full Text Available The article is dedicated to the concept of the walkable city as an alternative form of urban mobility. In the work, the authors present basic principles connected with the notion of walkability in the context of sustainable development and sustainable transport. The authors also discuss pro-pedestrian solutions implemented in the Polish cities of Łódź, Rybnik, Szczecin, Gdynia, Wrocław and Katowice, including examples of good practice regarding walkability and the “Walk Score” indicator. The article also introduces typical problems related to pedestrians’ movement around the city. The advantages of implementing the walkability concept and the factors related to making cities more “pedestrianfriendly” are mentioned as well. Overall, the aim of this work is to introduced the concept of walkability as an alternative form of smart mobility in the context of urban logistics.

Neighborhood Environment and Disparities in Health Care Access Among Urban Medicare Beneficiaries With Diabetes: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Ryvicker, Miriam; Sridharan, Sridevi

2018-01-01

Older adults' health is sensitive to variations in neighborhood environment, yet few studies have examined how neighborhood factors influence their health care access. This study examined whether neighborhood environmental factors help to explain racial and socioeconomic disparities in health care access and outcomes among urban older adults with diabetes. Data from 123 233 diabetic Medicare beneficiaries aged 65 years and older in New York City were geocoded to measures of neighborhood walkability, public transit access, and primary care supply. In 2008, 6.4% had no office-based "evaluation and management" (E&M) visits. Multilevel logistic regression indicated that this group had greater odds of preventable hospitalization in 2009 (odds ratio = 1.31; 95% confidence interval: 1.22-1.40). Nonwhites and low-income individuals had greater odds of a lapse in E&M visits and of preventable hospitalization. Neighborhood factors did not help to explain these disparities. Further research is needed on the mechanisms underlying these disparities and older adults' ability to navigate health care. Even in an insured population living in a provider-dense city, targeted interventions may be needed to overcome barriers to chronic illness care for older adults in the community.

Ecocity mapping using GIS: introducing a planning method for assessing and improving neighborhood vitality.

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Richard; Miller, Kirstin

2013-01-01

Assessing neighborhood vitality is important to understanding how to improve quality of life and health outcomes. The ecocity model recognizes that cities are part of natural systems and favors walkable neighborhoods. This article introduces ecocity mapping, an innovative planning method, to the public health literature on community engagement by describing a pilot project with a new affordable housing development in Oakland, California between 2007 and 2009. Although ecocity mapping began as a paper technology, advances in geographic information systems (GIS) moved it forward. This article describes how Ecocity Builders used GIS to conduct ecocity mapping to (1) assess vitality of neighborhoods and urban centers to prioritize community health intervention pilot sites and (2) create scenario maps for use in community health planning. From fall 2007 to summer 2008, Ecocity Builders assessed neighborhood vitality using walking distance from parks, schools, rapid transit stops, grocery stores, and retail outlets. In 2008, ecocity maps were shared with residents to create a neighborhood health and sustainability plan. In 2009, Ecocity Builders developed scenario maps to show how changes to the built environment would improve air quality by reducing greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles, while increasing access to basic services and natural amenities. Community organizing with GIS was more useful than GIS alone for final site selection. GIS was useful in mapping scenarios after residents shared local neighborhood knowledge and ideas for change. Residents were interested in long-term environmental planning, provided they could meet immediate needs.

The Association between Belgian Older Adults' Physical Functioning and Physical Activity: What Is the Moderating Role of the Physical Environment?

Science.gov (United States)

Van Holle, Veerle; Van Cauwenberg, Jelle; Gheysen, Freja; Van Dyck, Delfien; Deforche, Benedicte; Van de Weghe, Nico; De Bourdeaudhuij, Ilse

2016-01-01

Better physical functioning in the elderly may be associated with higher physical activity levels. Since older adults spend a substantial part of the day in their residential neighborhood, the neighborhood physical environment may moderate associations between functioning and older adults' physical activity. The present study investigated the moderating role of the objective and perceived physical environment on associations between Belgian older adults' physical functioning and transport walking, recreational walking, and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. Data from 438 older adults were included. Objective physical functioning was assessed using the Short Physical Performance Battery. Potential moderators included objective neighborhood walkability and perceptions of land use mix diversity, access to recreational facilities, access to services, street connectivity, physical barriers for walking, aesthetics, crime-related safety, traffic speeding-related safety, and walking infrastructure. Transport and recreational walking were self-reported, moderate-to-vigorous physical activity was assessed through accelerometers. Multi-level regression analyses were conducted using MLwiN to examine two-way interactions between functioning and the environment on both walking outcomes. Based on a previous study where environment x neighborhood income associations were found for Belgian older adults' moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, three-way functioning x environment x income interactions were examined for moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. Objectively-measured walkability moderated the association between functioning and transport walking; this positive association was only present in high-walkable neighborhoods. Moreover, a three-way interaction was observed for moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. Only in high-income, high-walkable neighborhoods, there was a positive association between functioning and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. No

PHYSICAL INFRASTRUCTURE: Crosscutting Issues Planning Conference Report

Science.gov (United States)

2001-10-01

space, parks, and schools are all intermixed within walkable neighborhoods. What we’ve seen over the last 50 years is the tendency to isolate land...insert a mixed-use community into a suburb to bring a walkable neighborhood into a place that, for the most part, has been dependent on automobiles...aim for, to use the infrastructure in place to help reinsert mixed-use communities with transportation options, including walkability , into places

Walkable self-overlapping virtual reality maze and map visualization demo

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Serubugo, Sule; Skantarova, Denisa; Evers, Nicolaj

2017-01-01

This paper describes our demonstration of a walkable self-overlapping maze and its corresponding map to facilitate asymmetric collaboration for room-scale virtual reality setups in public places.......This paper describes our demonstration of a walkable self-overlapping maze and its corresponding map to facilitate asymmetric collaboration for room-scale virtual reality setups in public places....

The Neighborhood Environment: Perceived Fall Risk, Resources, and Strategies for Fall Prevention.

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Chippendale, Tracy; Boltz, Marie

2015-08-01

To explore the experience of older adults in their neighborhood in relation to perceived fall risk, fear of falling (FOF), and resources/strategies for fall prevention. Fourteen older adults, 65 years of age and older from 3 urban senior centers, participated in this qualitative study. The semistructured interview guidelines and background questionnaire were developed by the researchers based on the literature and an existing measure of walkability. Both tools were refined based on pilot interviews with seniors. Collaizzi's phenomenological method was used for data analysis. Five themes emerged from the data: (a) The built environment contributes to perceived fall risk and FOF, (b) personal strategies used to adapt to perceived neighborhood fall risks-behavioral approaches, (c) resources for physical activity and safety, (d) barriers to physical activity and exercise, and (e) neighborhood features as a motivator. Urban-dwelling seniors perceive that neighborhood features contribute to or mitigate fall risk and FOF. Behavioral strategies are used by seniors to prevent outdoor falls. The findings can help clinicians develop targeted fall prevention interventions for well elders and help urban planners to design and retrofit urban environments to reduce fall risk. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Measured and perceived environmental characteristics are related to accelerometer defined physical activity in older adults

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Strath Scott J

2012-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Few studies have investigated both the self-perceived and measured environment with objectively determined physical activity in older adults. Accordingly, the aim of this study was to examine measured and perceived environmental associations with physical activity of older adults residing across different neighborhood types. Methods One-hundred and forty-eight older individuals, mean age 64.3 ± 8.4, were randomly recruited from one of four neighborhoods that were pre-determined as either having high- or low walkable characteristics. Individual residences were geocoded and 200 m network buffers established. Both objective environment audit, and self-perceived environmental measures were collected, in conjunction with accelerometer derived physical activity behavior. Using both perceived and objective environment data, analysis consisted of a macro-level comparison of physical activity levels across neighborhood, and a micro-level analysis of individual environmental predictors of physical activity levels. Results Individuals residing in high-walkable neighborhoods on average engaged in 11 min of moderate to vigorous physical activity per day more than individuals residing in low-walkable neighborhoods. Both measured access to non-residential destinations (b = .11, p p = .031 were significant predictors of time spent in moderate to vigorous physical activity. Other environmental variables significantly predicting components of physical activity behavior included presence of measured neighborhood crime signage (b = .4785, p = .031, measured street safety (b = 26.8, p = .006, and perceived neighborhood satisfaction (b = .5.8, p = .003. Conclusions Older adult residents who live in high-walkable neighborhoods, who have easy and close access to nonresidential destinations, have lower social dysfunction pertinent to crime, and generally perceive the neighborhood to a higher overall satisfaction are likely to engage in higher levels

School site walkability and active school transport - association, mediation and moderation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Breum, Lars; Toftager, M.; Schipperijn, J.

2014-01-01

significantly moderated the association between the school walkability index and AST. This research confirms the association between the urban form surrounding schools and AST. Medium and highly walkable school sites in combination with a distance to school below 2. km, no speeding traffic and many paths...

Perceived Neighborhood Environmental Attributes Associated with Walking and Cycling for Transport among Adult Residents of 17 Cities in 12 Countries: The IPEN Study

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Kerr, Jacqueline; Emond, Jennifer A.; Badland, Hannah; Reis, Rodrigo; Sarmiento, Olga; Carlson, Jordan; Sallis, James F.; Cerin, Ester; Cain, Kelli; Conway, Terry; Schofield, Grant; Macfarlane, Duncan J.; Christiansen, Lars B.; Van Dyck, Delfien; Davey, Rachel; Aguinaga-Ontoso, Ines; Salvo, Deborah; Sugiyama, Takemi; Owen, Neville; Mitáš, Josef; Natarajan, Loki

2015-01-01

Introduction Prevalence of walking and cycling for transport is low and varies greatly across countries. Few studies have examined neighborhood perceptions related to walking and cycling for transport in different countries. Therefore, it is challenging to prioritize appropriate built-environment interventions. Objectives The aim of this study was to examine the strength and shape of the relationship between adults’ neighborhood perceptions and walking and cycling for transport across diverse environments. Methods As part of the International Physical activity and Environment Network (IPEN) adult project, self-reported data were taken from 13,745 adults (18–65 years) living in physically and socially diverse neighborhoods in 17 cities across 12 countries. Neighborhood perceptions were measured using the Neighborhood Environment Walkability Scale, and walking and cycling for transport were measured using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire–Long Form. Generalized additive mixed models were used to model walking or cycling for transport during the last seven days with neighborhood perceptions. Interactions by city were explored. Results Walking-for-transport outcomes were significantly associated with perceived residential density, land use mix–access, street connectivity, aesthetics, and safety. Any cycling for transport was significantly related to perceived land use mix–access, street connectivity, infrastructure, aesthetics, safety, and perceived distance to destinations. Between-city differences existed for some attributes in relation to walking or cycling for transport. Conclusions Many perceived environmental attributes supported both cycling and walking; however, highly walkable environments may not support cycling for transport. People appear to walk for transport despite safety concerns. These findings can guide the implementation of global health strategies. Citation Kerr J, Emond JA, Badland H, Reis R, Sarmiento O, Carlson J, Sallis

Relationship between objectively measured walkability and exercise walking among adults with diabetes.

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Hosler, Akiko S; Gallant, Mary P; Riley-Jacome, Mary; Rajulu, Deepa T

2014-01-01

Little is known about the relationship between objectively measured walkability and walking for exercise among adults with diabetes. Information regarding walking behavior of adults with diabetes residing in 3 Upstate New York counties was collected through an interview survey. Walkability measures were collected through an environmental audit of a sample of street segments. Overall walkability and 4 subgroup measures of walkability were aggregated at the ZIP level. Multivariate logistic regression was used for analysis. Study participants (n = 208) were 61.0% female, 56.7% non-Hispanic White, and 35.1% African-American, with a mean age of 62.0 years. 108 participants (51.9%) walked for exercise on community streets, and 62 (29.8%) met the expert-recommended level of walking for ≥150 minutes/week. After adjustment for age, gender, race/ethnicity, education, BMI, physical impairment, and social support for exercise, walking any minutes/week was associated with traffic safety (OR 1.34, 95% CI 1.15-1.65). Walking ≥150 minutes/week was associated with overall walkability of the community (2.65, 1.22, and 5.74), as well as sidewalks (1.73, 1.12-2.67), street amenity (2.04, 1.12-3.71), and traffic safety (1.92, 1.02-3.72). This study suggests that walkability of the community should be an integral part of the socioecologic approach to increase physical activity among adults with diabetes.

Sense of community and its relationship with walking and neighborhood design.

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Wood, Lisa; Frank, Lawrence D; Giles-Corti, Billie

2010-05-01

The aim of this study is to examine the association between sense of community, walking, and neighborhood design characteristics. The current study is based on a sub-sample of participants (n=609) from the US Atlanta SMARTRAQ study who completed a telephone survey capturing physical activity patterns, neighborhood perceptions, and social interactions. Objective measures of neighborhood form were also computed. Univariate and multivariate models (General Linear Models (GLM)) were used to examine the association between sense of community (SofC) and aspects of the built environment, physical activity, and neighborhood perceptions. In multivariate models the impact on SofC was examined with progressive adjustment for demographics characteristics followed by walking behavior, neighborhood design features, neighborhood perceptions and time spent traveling in a car. After adjustment, SofC was positively associated with leisurely walking (days/week), home ownership, seeing neighbors when walking and the presence of interesting sites. SofC was also associated with higher commercial floor space to land area ratios (FAR) - a proxy for walkable site design that captures the degree to which retail destinations are set back from the street, the amount of surface parking, and urban design of an area. Conversely the presence of more mixed use and perceptions of steep hills were inversely associated with SofC. SofC is enhanced by living in areas that encourage leisurely walking, hence it is associated with living in neighbourhoods with lower levels of land use mix, but higher levels of commercial FAR. Our results suggest that in terms of SofC, the presence of commercial destinations may inhibit social interaction among local residents unless urban design is used to create convivial pedestrian-friendly commercial areas, e.g., providing street frontage, rather than flat surface parking. This finding has policy implications and warrants further investigation. Copyright 2010 Elsevier

Objectively measured walkability and active transport and weight-related outcomes in adults: a systematic review.

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Grasser, Gerlinde; Van Dyck, Delfien; Titze, Sylvia; Stronegger, Willibald

2013-08-01

The aim of this study was to investigate which GIS-based measures of walkability (density, land-use mix, connectivity and walkability indexes) in urban and suburban neighbourhoods are used in research and which of them are consistently associated with walking and cycling for transport, overall active transportation and weight-related measures in adults. A systematic review of English publications using PubMed, Science Direct, Active Living Research Literature Database, the Transportation Research Information Service and reference lists was conducted. The search terms utilised were synonyms for GIS in combination with synonyms for the outcomes. Thirty-four publications based on 19 different studies were eligible. Walkability measures such as gross population density, intersection density and walkability indexes most consistently correlated with measures of physical activity for transport. Results on weight-related measures were inconsistent. More research is needed to determine whether walkability is an appropriate measure for predicting weight-related measures and overall active transportation. As most of the consistent correlates, gross population density, intersection density and the walkability indexes have the potential to be used in planning and monitoring.

Inter-relationships between objective and subjective measures of the residential environment among urban African American women.

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Sealy-Jefferson, Shawnita; Messer, Lynne; Slaughter-Acey, Jaime; Misra, Dawn P

2017-03-01

The inter-relationships between objective (census based) and subjective (resident reported) measures of the residential environment is understudied in African American (AA) populations. Using data from the Life Influences on Fetal Environments Study (2009-2011; n = 1387) of AA women, we quantified the area-level variation in subjective reports of residential healthy food availability, walkability, safety, and disorder that can be accounted for with an objective neighborhood disadvantage index (NDI). Two-level generalized linear models estimated associations between objective and subjective measures of the residential environment, accounting for individual-level covariates. In unconditional models, intraclass correlation coefficients for block-group variance in subjective reports ranged from 11% (healthy food availability) to 30% (safety). Models accounting for the NDI (vs. both NDI and individual-level covariates) accounted for more variance in healthy food availability (23% vs. 8%) and social disorder (40% vs. 38%). The NDI and individual-level variables accounted for 39% and 51% of the area-level variation in walkability and safety, respectively. Associations between subjective and objective measures of the residential environment were significant and in the expected direction. Future studies on neighborhood effects on health, especially among AAs, should include a wide range of residential environment measures, including subjective, objective, and spatial contextual variables. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Impact of walkability with regard to physical activity in the prevention of diabetes

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Carlos Mena

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Walkability, a component of urban design intended to facilitate pedestrian traffic, depends on parameters associated with the connectivity of routes, population density and availability of destinations in the neighbourhood. The aim is to achieve levels of physical activity related to the prevention of risk factors associated with diseases, such as diabetes and the improvement of glycaemia control. It is important to consider that the effects of walkability depend on its relation with other variables present in the neighbourhood, e.g., environmental and socioeconomic factors. Considering this, improving walkability levels could be an effective strategy to reduce disease, the prevalence of diabetes in particular, in the population and thus reduce public spending. To investigate these relationships, PUBMED and ScienceDirect databases were searched using the following key words: Diabetes, Walkability and Physical activity.

Impact of walkability with regard to physical activity in the prevention of diabetes.

Science.gov (United States)

Mena, Carlos; Sepúlveda, César; Ormazábal, Yony; Fuentes, Eduardo; Palomo, Iván

2017-11-03

Walkability, a component of urban design intended to facilitate pedestrian traffic, depends on parameters associated with the connectivity of routes, population density and availability of destinations in the neighbourhood. The aim is to achieve levels of physical activity related to the prevention of risk factors associated with diseases, such as diabetes and the improvement of glycaemia control. It is important to consider that the effects of walkability depend on its relation with other variables present in the neighbourhood, e.g., environmental and socioeconomic factors. Considering this, improving walkability levels could be an effective strategy to reduce disease, the prevalence of diabetes in particular, in the population and thus reduce public spending. To investigate these relationships, PUBMED and ScienceDirect databases were searched using the following key words: Diabetes, Walkability and Physical activity.

Local Spatial Analysis and Dynamic Simulation of Childhood Obesity and Neighbourhood Walkability in a Major Canadian City.

Science.gov (United States)

Shahid, Rizwan; Bertazzon, Stefania

2015-01-01

Body weight is an important indicator of current and future health and it is even more critical in children, who are tomorrow's adults. This paper analyzes the relationship between childhood obesity and neighbourhood walkability in Calgary, Canada. A multivariate analytical framework recognizes that childhood obesity is also associated with many factors, including socioeconomic status, foodscapes, and environmental factors, as well as less measurable factors, such as individual preferences, that could not be included in this analysis. In contrast with more conventional global analysis, this research employs localized analysis and assesses need-based interventions. The one-size-fit-all strategy may not effectively control obesity rates, since each neighbourhood has unique characteristics that need to be addressed individually. This paper presents an innovative framework combining local analysis with simulation modeling to analyze childhood obesity. Spatial models generally do not deal with simulation over time, making it cumbersome for health planners and policy makers to effectively design and implement interventions and to quantify their impact over time. This research fills this gap by integrating geographically weighted regression (GWR), which identifies vulnerable neighbourhoods and critical factors for childhood obesity, with simulation modeling, which evaluates the impact of the suggested interventions on the targeted neighbourhoods. Neighbourhood walkability was chosen as a potential target for localized interventions, owing to the crucial role of walking in developing a healthy lifestyle, as well as because increasing walkability is relatively more feasible and less expensive then modifying other factors, such as income. Simulation results suggest that local walkability interventions can achieve measurable declines in childhood obesity rates. The results are encouraging, as improvements are likely to compound over time. The results demonstrate that the

Local Spatial Analysis and Dynamic Simulation of Childhood Obesity and Neighbourhood Walkability in a Major Canadian City

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rizwan Shahid

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Body weight is an important indicator of current and future health and it is even more critical in children, who are tomorrow’s adults. This paper analyzes the relationship between childhood obesity and neighbourhood walkability in Calgary, Canada. A multivariate analytical framework recognizes that childhood obesity is also associated with many factors, including socioeconomic status, foodscapes, and environmental factors, as well as less measurable factors, such as individual preferences, that could not be included in this analysis. In contrast with more conventional global analysis, this research employs localized analysis and assesses need-based interventions. The one-size-fit-all strategy may not effectively control obesity rates, since each neighbourhood has unique characteristics that need to be addressed individually. This paper presents an innovative framework combining local analysis with simulation modeling to analyze childhood obesity. Spatial models generally do not deal with simulation over time, making it cumbersome for health planners and policy makers to effectively design and implement interventions and to quantify their impact over time. This research fills this gap by integrating geographically weighted regression (GWR, which identifies vulnerable neighbourhoods and critical factors for childhood obesity, with simulation modeling, which evaluates the impact of the suggested interventions on the targeted neighbourhoods. Neighbourhood walkability was chosen as a potential target for localized interventions, owing to the crucial role of walking in developing a healthy lifestyle, as well as because increasing walkability is relatively more feasible and less expensive then modifying other factors, such as income. Simulation results suggest that local walkability interventions can achieve measurable declines in childhood obesity rates. The results are encouraging, as improvements are likely to compound over time. The results

Assessing urban and rural neighborhood characteristics using audit and GIS data: derivation and reliability of constructs

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Laraia Barbara A

2009-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Measures to assess neighborhood environments are needed to better understand the salient features that may enhance outdoor physical activities, such as walking and bicycling for transport or leisure. The purpose of this study was to derive constructs to describe neighborhoods using both primary (neighborhood audit and secondary (geographic information systems data. Methods We collected detailed information on 10,770 road segments using an audit and secondary data. The road segment sample was randomly split into an exploratory (60% and validation sample (40% for cross-validation. Using the exploratory sample (n = 6,388, seven a priori constructs were assessed separately (functionality, safety, aesthetics, destinations, incivilities, territorality, social spaces by urbanicity using multi-group confirmatory factor analysis (CFA. Additionally, new a posteriori constructs were derived using exploratory factor analysis (EFA. For cross-validation (n = 4,382, we tested factor loadings, thresholds, correlated errors, and correlations among a posteriori constructs between the two subsamples. Two-week test-retest reliability of the final constructs using a subsample of road segments (n = 464 was examined using Spearman correlation coefficients. Results CFA indicated the a priori constructs did not hold in this geographic area, with the exception of physical incivilities. Therefore, we used EFA to derive a four-factor solution on the exploratory sample: arterial or thoroughfare, walkable neighborhood, physical incivilities, and decoration. Using CFA on the validation sample, the internal validity for these a posteriori constructs was high (range 0.43 to 0.73 and the fit was acceptable. Spearman correlations indicated the arterial or thoroughfare factor displayed near perfect reliability in both urban and rural segments (r = 0.96. Both the physical incivilities factor and the walkable neighborhood factor had substantial to near perfect

Exploring physical attributes of walkability from perspective of blind pedestrians

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Bona Frazila Russ

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Access has become a crucial issue for the persons with disabilities (PWDs, in which the inconvenient transportation facilities is contributed to the dependent living issue of PWD, specifically the visual impaired person. As a primary aspect of transportation, the walking facilities further needs to be carefully considered for facilitating their moving activities. Recently, the effect of built environment on walking behavior has obtained significant attention, which is generally constructed within the framework of walkability concept. The walkability has been extensively used for evaluating the physical attributes of pedestrian facilities by comparing it to the walker perception. Hence, the evaluation result can directly answer the needs of pedestrian. Despite of their recent research achievements, the walkability concept is mostly unsuccessful to take into account the blind walker characteristics. This paper then explore physical attributes of walkability environment in order to provide the friendly pedestrian facilities for the blind pedestrian, which is rarely explored. The research is established based on the blind walker perspectives within the micro-level analysis that incorporates a smaller unit of measurement (i.e., the street-level physical attributes. The physical attributes result are thus potentially to be utilized for analyzing the required pedestrian facilities for the blind pedestrians.

Relationship between train users’ perceptions of walkability with access and egress mode choice

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Syafriharti Romeiza

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this study is to understand whether there is a relationship between train users’ perceptions of walkability in built environment of trip origin with access mode choice and between train users’ perceptions of walkability in built environment of trip destination with egress mode choice. Train users are who ride from Cicalengka station Bandung Regency, West Java, Indonesia. To analyze the relationship is used crosstab method. The perceptual factors about walkability are those perceived by the train users consisting of walking distance, safety, comfort, and secure from crime, both in origin and destination of the built environment. The mode choice consist of walking, paratransit, motorcycle taxi, and own vehicles (or others for egress mode. To better understand the relationship is used several control variables, that are trip purposes, train usage, gender, and age. For access trip there is another control variable, that is vehicle ownership. Train users' perceptions of walkability have a relationship with both the access and the egress mode choice, except for the security aspect. The influence of control variables on the relationship between perceptions of walkability with access/egress mode choice varies for walking distance, safety, and comfort.

Does Pedestrian Danger Mediate the Relationship between Local Walkability and Active Travel to Work?

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Sandy J Slater

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Background: Environmental and policy factors play an important role in influencing people’s lifestyles, physical activity (PA, and risks for developing obesity. Research suggests that more walkable communities are needed to sustain lifelong PA behavior, but there is a need to determine what local built environment features facilitate making being active the easy choice.Purpose: This county-level study examined the association between local walkability (walkability and traffic calming scales, pedestrian danger, and the percent of adults who used active transport to work. Methods: Built environment and PA outcome measures were constructed for the 496 most populous counties representing 74 percent of the U.S. population. GIS-based walkability scales were constructed and include a census of roads located within the counties using 2011 Navteq data. The pedestrian danger index (PDI includes data collected from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System 2009-2011, and measures the likelihood of a pedestrian being hit and killed by a vehicle. Four continuous outcome measures were constructed using 2009-2013 American Community Survey county-level 5-year estimates. The measures represent the percentage of workers living in a county who worked away from home and: 1 walked to work; 2 biked to work; 3 took public transit; and 4 used any form of active transport. Linear regression and mediation analyses were conducted to examine the association between walkability, PDI and active transport. Models accounted for clustering within state with robust standard errors, and controlled for median household income, families with children in poverty, race, ethnicity, urbanicity and region.Results: The walkability scale was significantly negatively associated with the PDI (β=-0.06, 95% CI=-0.111, -0.002. In all models, the PDI was significantly negatively associated with all active travel-related outcomes at the p<0.01 level. The walkability scale was positively

Does Pedestrian Danger Mediate the Relationship between Local Walkability and Active Travel to Work?

Science.gov (United States)

Slater, Sandy J; Nicholson, Lisa; Abu Zayd, Haytham; Chriqui, Jamie Friedman

2016-01-01

Environmental and policy factors play an important role in influencing people's lifestyles, physical activity (PA), and risks for developing obesity. Research suggests that more walkable communities are needed to sustain lifelong PA behavior, but there is a need to determine what local built environment features facilitate making being active the easy choice. This county-level study examined the association between local walkability (walkability and traffic calming scales), pedestrian danger, and the percent of adults who used active transport to work. Built environment and PA outcome measures were constructed for the 496 most populous counties representing 74% of the U.S. population. Geographic information system-based walkability scales were constructed and include a census of roads located within the counties using 2011 Navteq data. The pedestrian danger index (PDI) includes data collected from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System 2009-2011, and measures the likelihood of a pedestrian being hit and killed by a vehicle. Four continuous outcome measures were constructed using 2009-2013 American Community Survey county-level 5-year estimates. The measures represent the percentage of workers living in a county who worked away from home and (1) walked to work; (2) biked to work; (3) took public transit; and (4) used any form of active transport. Linear regression and mediation analyses were conducted to examine the association between walkability, PDI, and active transport. Models accounted for clustering within state with robust SEs, and controlled for median household income, families with children in poverty, race, ethnicity, urbanicity, and region. The walkability scale was significantly negatively associated with the PDI (β = -0.06, 95% CI = -0.111, -0.002). In all models, the PDI was significantly negatively associated with all active travel-related outcomes at the p walkability scale was positively associated with all four outcomes at the p walkability

Measuring walking within and outside the neighborhood in Chinese elders: reliability and validity

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Cerin Ester

2011-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Walking is a preferred, prevalent and recommended activity for aging populations and is influenced by the neighborhood built environment. To study this influence it is necessary to differentiate whether walking occurs within or outside of the neighborhood. The Neighborhood Physical Activity Questionnaire (NPAQ collects information on setting-specific physical activity, including walking, inside and outside one's neighborhood. While the NPAQ has shown to be a reliable measure in adults, its reliability in older adults is unknown. Additionally its validity and the influence of type of neighborhood on reliability and validity have yet to be explored. Methods The NPAQ walking component was adapted for Chinese speaking elders (NWQ-CS. Ninety-six Chinese elders, stratified by social economic status and neighborhood walkability, wore an accelerometer and completed a log of walks for 7 days. Following the collection of valid data the NWQ-CS was interviewer-administered. Fourteen to 20 days (average of 17 days later the NWQ-CS was re-administered. Test-retest reliability and validity of the NWQ-CS were assessed. Results Reliability and validity estimates did not differ with type of neighborhood. NWQ-CS measures of walking showed moderate to excellent reliability. Reliability was generally higher for estimates of weekly frequency than minutes of walking. Total weekly minutes of walking were moderately related to all accelerometry measures. Moderate-to-strong associations were found between the NWQ-CS and log-of-walks variables. The NWQ-CS yielded statistically significantly lower mean values of total walking, weekly minutes of walking for transportation and weekly frequency of walking for transportation outside the neighborhood than the log-of-walks. Conclusions The NWQ-CS showed measurement invariance across types of neighborhoods. It is a valid measure of walking for recreation and frequency of walking for transport. However, it may

Development of a novel walkability index for London, United Kingdom: cross-sectional application to the Whitehall II Study

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Jemima C. Stockton

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Physical activity is essential for health; walking is the easiest way to incorporate activity into everyday life. Previous studies report positive associations between neighbourhood walkability and walking but most focused on cities in North America and Australasia. Urban form with respect to street connectivity, residential density and land use mix—common components of walkability indices—differs in European cities. The objective of this study was to develop a walkability index for London and test the index using walking data from the Whitehall II Study.  Methods A neighbourhood walkability index for London was constructed, comprising factors associated with walking behaviours: residential dwelling density, street connectivity and land use mix. Three models were produced that differed in the land uses included. Neighbourhoods were operationalised at three levels of administrative geography: (i 21,140 output areas, (ii 633 wards and (iii 33 local authorities. A neighbourhood walkability score was assigned to each London-dwelling Whitehall II Study participant (2003–04, N = 3020, mean ± SD age = 61.0 years ± 6.0 based on residential postcode. The effect of changing the model specification and the units of enumeration on spatial variation in walkability was examined. Results There was a radial decay in walkability from the centre to the periphery of London. There was high inter-model correlation in walkability scores for any given neighbourhood operationalisation (0.92–0.98, and moderate-high correlation between neighbourhood operationalisations for any given model (0.39–0.70. After adjustment for individual level factors and area deprivation, individuals in the most walkable neighbourhoods operationalised as wards were more likely to walk >6 h/week (OR = 1.4; 95 % CI: 1.1–1.9 than those in the least walkable. Conclusions Walkability was associated with walking time in adults. This

Development of a novel walkability index for London, United Kingdom: cross-sectional application to the Whitehall II Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Stockton, Jemima C; Duke-Williams, Oliver; Stamatakis, Emmanuel; Mindell, Jennifer S; Brunner, Eric J; Shelton, Nicola J

2016-05-18

Physical activity is essential for health; walking is the easiest way to incorporate activity into everyday life. Previous studies report positive associations between neighbourhood walkability and walking but most focused on cities in North America and Australasia. Urban form with respect to street connectivity, residential density and land use mix-common components of walkability indices-differs in European cities. The objective of this study was to develop a walkability index for London and test the index using walking data from the Whitehall II Study. A neighbourhood walkability index for London was constructed, comprising factors associated with walking behaviours: residential dwelling density, street connectivity and land use mix. Three models were produced that differed in the land uses included. Neighbourhoods were operationalised at three levels of administrative geography: (i) 21,140 output areas, (ii) 633 wards and (iii) 33 local authorities. A neighbourhood walkability score was assigned to each London-dwelling Whitehall II Study participant (2003-04, N = 3020, mean ± SD age = 61.0 years ± 6.0) based on residential postcode. The effect of changing the model specification and the units of enumeration on spatial variation in walkability was examined. There was a radial decay in walkability from the centre to the periphery of London. There was high inter-model correlation in walkability scores for any given neighbourhood operationalisation (0.92-0.98), and moderate-high correlation between neighbourhood operationalisations for any given model (0.39-0.70). After adjustment for individual level factors and area deprivation, individuals in the most walkable neighbourhoods operationalised as wards were more likely to walk >6 h/week (OR = 1.4; 95 % CI: 1.1-1.9) than those in the least walkable. Walkability was associated with walking time in adults. This walkability index could help urban planners identify and design neighbourhoods in

Neighborhood Disparities in the Restaurant Food Environment.

Science.gov (United States)

Martinez-Donate, Ana P; Espino, Jennifer Valdivia; Meinen, Amy; Escaron, Anne L; Roubal, Anne; Nieto, Javier; Malecki, Kristen

2016-11-01

Restaurant meals account for a significant portion of the American diet. Investigating disparities in the restaurant food environment can inform targeted interventions to increase opportunities for healthy eating among those who need them most. To examine neighborhood disparities in restaurant density and the nutrition environment within restaurants among a statewide sample of Wisconsin households. Households (N = 259) were selected from the 2009-2010 Survey of the Health of Wisconsin (SHOW), a population-based survey of Wisconsin adults. Restaurants in the household neighborhood were enumerated and audited using the Nutrition Environment Measures Survey for Restaurants (NEMS-R). Neighborhoods were defined as a 2- and 5-mile street-distance buffer around households in urban and non-urban areas, respectively. Adjusted linear regression models identified independent associations between sociodemographic household characteristics and neighborhood restaurant density and nutrition environment scores. On average, each neighborhood contained approximately 26 restaurants. On average, restaurants obtained 36.1% of the total nutrition environment points. After adjusting for household characteristics, higher restaurant density was associated with both younger and older household average age (P restaurant food environment in Wisconsin neighborhoods varies by age, race, and urbanicity, but offers ample room for improvement across socioeconomic groups and urbanicity levels. Future research must identify policy and environmental interventions to promote healthy eating in all restaurants, especially in young and/or rural neighborhoods in Wisconsin.

Neighborhood deprivation and access to fast-food retailing: a national study.

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Pearce, Jamie; Blakely, Tony; Witten, Karen; Bartie, Phil

2007-05-01

Obesogenic environments may be an important contextual explanation for the growing obesity epidemic, including its unequal social distribution. The objective of this study was to determine whether geographic access to fast-food outlets varied by neighborhood deprivation and school socioeconomic ranking, and whether any such associations differed to those for access to healthier food outlets. Data were collected on the location of fast-food outlets, supermarkets, and convenience stores across New Zealand. The data were geocoded and geographic information systems used to calculate travel distances from each census meshblock (i.e., neighborhood), and each school, to the closest fast-food outlet. Median travel distances are reported by a census-based index of socioeconomic deprivation for each neighborhood, and by a Ministry of Education measure of socioeconomic circumstances for each school. Analyses were repeated for outlets selling healthy food to allow comparisons. At the national level, statistically significant negative associations were found between neighborhood access to the nearest fast-food outlet and neighborhood deprivation (p<0.001) for both multinational fast-food outlets and locally operated outlets. The travel distances to both types of fast food outlet were at least twice as far in the least socially deprived neighborhoods compared to the most deprived neighborhoods. A similar pattern was found for outlets selling healthy food such as supermarkets and smaller food outlets (p<0.001). These relationships were broadly linear with travel distances tending to be shorter in more-deprived neighborhoods. There is a strong association between neighborhood deprivation and geographic access to fast food outlets in New Zealand, which may contribute to the understanding of environmental causes of obesity. However, outlets potentially selling healthy food (e.g., supermarkets) are patterned by deprivation in a similar way. These findings highlight the importance of

Talking the talk, walking the walk: examining the effect of neighbourhood walkability and social connectedness on physical activity.

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Kaczynski, Andrew T; Glover, Troy D

2012-08-01

Few studies have considered the joint effects of social and physical environments on physical activity (PA). The primary purpose of this study was to examine the compounding effects of neighbourhood walkability and social connectedness on PA. Data were collected from adults (n = 380) in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. Perceptions of neighbourhood social connectedness and walkability were measured via survey. Minutes of neighbourhood PA for recreation and transportation were captured with a detailed 7-day log booklet. Four groups were created (e.g. high walkability/low social connectedness) and two factorial ANOVAs examined group differences in minutes of recreational and transport-related PA. There were significant differences across the four walkability/social connectedness groups for both recreational (F = 11.36, P walkability and social connectedness displayed the greatest levels of both recreational (130.6 min) and transport-related PA (24.5 min). The high walkability/low social connectedness group had greater transport-related PA than the two low walkability groups, while the high social connectedness/low walkability group had greater recreational PA than the two low social connectedness groups. These findings underscore the relationship between physical and social dimensions of urban form and their association with health behaviours. PA promotion efforts should take into account both physical (e.g. land-use planning) and social (e.g. walking group) environments.

An objective index of walkability for research and planning in the Sydney metropolitan region of New South Wales, Australia: an ecological study.

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Mayne, Darren J; Morgan, Geoffrey G; Willmore, Alan; Rose, Nectarios; Jalaludin, Bin; Bambrick, Hilary; Bauman, Adrian

2013-12-24

Walkability describes the capacity of the built environment to support walking for various purposes. This paper describes the construction and validation of two objective walkability indexes for Sydney, Australia. Walkability indexes using residential density, intersection density, land use mix, with and without retail floor area ratio were calculated for 5,858 Sydney Census Collection Districts in a geographical information system. Associations between variables were evaluated using Spearman's rho (ρ). Internal consistency and factor structure of indexes were estimated with Cronbach's alpha and principal components analysis; convergent and predictive validity were measured using weighted kappa (κw) and by comparison with reported walking to work at the 2006 Australian Census using logistic regression. Spatial variation in walkability was assessed using choropleth maps and Moran's I. A three-attribute abridged Sydney Walkability Index comprising residential density, intersection density and land use mix was constructed for all Sydney as retail floor area was only available for 5.3% of Census Collection Districts. A four-attribute full index including retail floor area ratio was calculated for 263 Census Collection Districts in the Sydney Central Business District. Abridged and full walkability index scores for these 263 areas were strongly correlated (ρ=0.93) and there was good agreement between walkability quartiles (κw=0.73). Internal consistency ranged from 0.60 to 0.71, and all index variables loaded highly on a single factor. The percentage of employed persons who walked to work increased with increasing walkability: 3.0% in low income-low walkability areas versus 7.9% in low income-high walkability areas; and 2.1% in high income-low walkability areas versus 11% in high income-high walkability areas. The adjusted odds of walking to work were 1.05 (0.96-1.15), 1.58 (1.45-1.71) and 3.02 (2.76-3.30) times higher in medium, high and very high compared to low

Associations between neighbourhood walkability and cycling in Denmark

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Madsen, Thomas; Schipperijn, Jasper Jan; Troelsen, Jens

2013-01-01

Background: Previous research has established four environmental attributes that contribute to neighbourhood „walkability‟: street connectivity, land use mix, residential density, and retail floor area ratio. There is emerging evidence that these attributes influence not only walking behaviour...... but also cycle use. Given the significant health benefits associated with regular commuter cycling, an understanding of the environmental correlates of cycling is essential. The aim of this study was to examine the link between walkability and transportation choices across three Danish cities where cycling...... culture differs and bicycle share is much higher than in most other countries. Methods: Geospatial and transportation data representing 123 geographic zones were extracted from the Danish National Transportation Survey. A geographic information system was used to calculate a walkability index for each...

The impact of neighbourhood walkability on the effectiveness of a structured education programme to increase objectively measured walking.

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Carter, P; Bodicoat, D H; Jones, A; Khunti, K; Davies, M J; Edwardson, C L; Henson, J; Yates, T; Coombes, E

2018-03-01

Incorporating physical activity into daily activities is key for the effectiveness of lifestyle education interventions aimed at improving health outcomes; however, consideration of the environmental context in which individuals live is not always made. Walkability is a characteristic of the physical environment, and may be a potential facilitator to changing physical activity levels. Using data collected during the Walking Away from Diabetes randomized controlled trial, we examined the association between the walkability of the home neighbourhood and physical activity of participants. We also determined whether home neighbourhood walkability of participants was associated with the intervention effect of the education programme. Data from 706 participants were available for analysis. Neighbourhood walkability was not significantly associated with any of the physical activity measures at baseline, or at 12, 24 or 36 months following the intervention (P > 0.05 for all). There was no association between walkability and change in purposeful steps/day from baseline to 36 months in the usual care or intervention arm; 25.77 (-99.04, 150.58) and 42.97 (-327.63, 413.45), respectively. Neighbourhood walkability appeared to have no association with objectively measured physical activity in this population. Furthermore, the walkability of participant's neighbourhood did not influence the effectiveness of a lifestyle programme.

Physical Limitations, Walkability, Perceived Environmental Facilitators and Physical Activity of Older Adults in Finland.

Science.gov (United States)

Portegijs, Erja; Keskinen, Kirsi E; Tsai, Li-Tang; Rantanen, Taina; Rantakokko, Merja

2017-03-22

The aim was to study objectively assessed walkability of the environment and participant perceived environmental facilitators for outdoor mobility as predictors of physical activity in older adults with and without physical limitations. 75-90-year-old adults living independently in Central Finland were interviewed ( n = 839) and reassessed for self-reported physical activity one or two years later ( n = 787). Lower-extremity physical limitations were defined as Short Physical Performance Battery score ≤9. Number of perceived environmental facilitators was calculated from a 16-item checklist. Walkability index (land use mix, street connectivity, population density) of the home environment was calculated from geographic information and categorized into tertiles. Accelerometer-based step counts were registered for one week ( n = 174). Better walkability was associated with higher numbers of perceived environmental facilitators ( p walkability of the living environment provides opportunities for physical activity in old age, but among those with physical limitations especially, awareness of environmental facilitators may be needed to promote physical activity.

Associations between neighbourhood walkability and daily steps in adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

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Hajna, Samantha; Ross, Nancy A; Brazeau, Anne-Sophie; Bélisle, Patrick; Joseph, Lawrence; Dasgupta, Kaberi

2015-08-11

Higher street connectivity, land use mix and residential density (collectively referred to as neighbourhood walkability) have been linked to higher levels of walking. The objective of our study was to summarize the current body of knowledge on the association between neighbourhood walkability and biosensor-assessed daily steps in adults. We conducted a systematic search of PubMed, SCOPUS, and Embase (Ovid) for articles published prior to May 2014 on the association between walkability (based on Geographic Information Systems-derived street connectivity, land use mix, and/or residential density) and daily steps (pedometer or accelerometer-assessed) in adults. The mean differences in daily steps between adults living in high versus low walkable neighbourhoods were pooled across studies using a Bayesian hierarchical model. The search strategy yielded 8,744 unique abstracts. Thirty of these underwent full article review of which six met the inclusion criteria. Four of these studies were conducted in Europe and two were conducted in Asia. A meta-analysis of four of these six studies indicates that participants living in high compared to low walkable neighbourhoods accumulate 766 more steps per day (95 % credible interval 250, 1271). This accounts for approximately 8 % of recommended daily steps. The results of European and Asian studies support the hypothesis that higher neighbourhood walkability is associated with higher levels of biosensor-assessed walking in adults. More studies on this association are needed in North America.

The influence of walkability on broader mobility for Canadian middle aged and older adults: An examination of Walk Score™ and the Mobility Over Varied Environments Scale (MOVES).

Science.gov (United States)

Hirsch, Jana A; Winters, Meghan; Clarke, Philippa J; Ste-Marie, Nathalie; McKay, Heather A

2017-02-01

Neighborhood built environments may play an important role in shaping mobility and subsequent health outcomes. However, little work includes broader mobility considerations such as cognitive ability to be mobile, social connections with community, or transportation choices. We used a population-based sample of Canadian middle aged and older adults (aged 45 and older) from the Canadian Community Health Survey-Healthy Aging (CCHS-HA, 2008-2009) to create a holistic mobility measure: Mobility over Varied Environments Scale (MOVES). Data from CCHS-HA respondents from British Columbia with MOVES were linked with Street Smart Walk Score™ data by postal code (n=2046). Mean MOVES was estimated across sociodemographic and health characteristics. Linear regression, adjusted for relevant covariates, was used to estimate the association between Street Smart Walk Score™ and the MOVES. The mean MOVES was 30.67 (95% confidence interval (CI) 30.36, 30.99), 5th percentile 23.27 (CI 22.16, 24.38) and 95th percentile was 36.93 (CI 35.98, 37.87). MOVES was higher for those who were younger, married, higher socioeconomic status, and had better health. In unadjusted models, for every 10 point increase in Street Smart Walk Score™, MOVES increased 4.84 points (CI 4.52, 5.15). However, results attenuated after adjustment for sociodemographic covariates: each 10 point increase in Street Smart Walk Score™ was associated with a 0.10 (CI 0.00, 0.20) point increase in MOVES. The modest but important link we observed between walkability and mobility highlights the implication of neighborhood design on the health of middle aged and older adults. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Neighborhood Environments and Objectively Measured Physical Activity in 11 Countries

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Cerin, Ester; Cain, Kelli L; Conway, Terry L; Dyck, Delfien Van; Hinckson, Erica; Schipperijn, Jasper; Bourdeaudhuij, Ilse De; Owen, Neville; Davey, Rachel C; Hino, Adriano Akira Ferreira; Mitáš, Josef; Orzanco-Garralda, Rosario; Salvo, Deborah; Sarmiento, Olga L; Christiansen, Lars B; Macfarlane, Duncan J; Schofield, Grant; Sallis, James F

2014-01-01

Purpose Environmental changes are potentially effective population-level physical activity (PA) promotion strategies. However, robust multi-site evidence to guide international action for developing activity-supportive environments is lacking. We estimated pooled associations of perceived environmental attributes with objectively-measured PA outcomes; between-site differences in such associations; and, the extent to which perceived environmental attributes explain between-site differences in PA. Methods This was a cross-sectional study conducted in 16 cities located in Belgium, Brazil, Colombia, Czech Republic, Denmark, China, Mexico, New Zealand, Spain, United Kingdom, and USA. Participants were 6,968 adults residing in administrative units stratified by socio-economic status and transport-related walkability. Predictors were 10 perceived neighborhood environmental attributes. Outcome measures were accelerometry-assessed weekly minutes of moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) and meeting the PA guidelines for cancer/weight gain prevention (420 min/week of MVPA). Results Most perceived neighborhood attributes were positively associated with the PA outcomes in the pooled, site-adjusted, single-predictor models. Associations were generalizable across geographical locations. Aesthetics and land use mix – access were significant predictors of both PA outcomes in the fully-adjusted models. Environmental attributes accounted for within-site variability in MVPA corresponding to a 3 min/d or 21 min/week standard deviation. Large between-site differences in PA outcomes were observed: 15.9% to 16.8% of these differences were explained by perceived environmental attributes. All neighborhood attributes were associated with between-site differences in the total effects of the perceived environment on PA outcomes. Conclusions Residents’ perceptions of neighborhood attributes that facilitate walking were positively associated with objectively-measured MVPA and meeting the guidelines

Sustainability Assessment of a Military Installation: A Template for Developing a Mission Sustainability Framework, Goals, Metrics and Reporting System

Science.gov (United States)

2009-08-01

integration across base MSF Category: Neighbors and Stakeholders (NS) No. Conceptual Metric No. Conceptual Metric NS1 “ Walkable ” on-base community...34 Walkable " on- base community design 1 " Walkable " community Design – on-base: clustering of facilities, presence of sidewalks, need for car...access to public transit LEED for Neighborhood Development (ND) 0-100 index based on score of walkable community indicators Adapt LEED-ND

Neighbourhood walkability and home neighbourhood-based physical activity: an observational study of adults with type 2 diabetes

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Samantha Hajna

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Converging international evidence suggests that diabetes incidence is lower among adults living in more walkable neighbourhoods. The association between walkability and physical activity (PA, the presumed mediator of this relationship, has not been carefully examined in adults with type 2 diabetes. We investigated the associations of walkability with total PA occurring within home neighbourhoods and overall PA, irrespective of location. Methods Participants (n = 97; 59.5 ± 10.5 years were recruited through clinics in Montreal (QC, Canada and wore a GPS-accelerometer device for 7 days. Total PA was expressed as the total Vector of the Dynamic Body Acceleration. PA location was determined using a Global Positioning System (GPS device (SIRF IV chip. Walkability (street connectivity, land use mix, population density was assessed using Geographical Information Systems software. The cross-sectional associations between walkability and location-based PA were estimated using robust linear regressions adjusted for age, body mass index, sex, university education, season, car access, residential self-selection, and wear-time. Results A one standard deviation (SD increment in walkability was associated with 10.4 % of a SD increment in neighbourhood-based PA (95 % confidence interval (CI 1.2, 19.7 – equivalent to 165 more steps/day (95 % 19, 312. Car access emerged as an important predictor of neighbourhood-based PA (Not having car access: 38.6 % of a SD increment in neighbourhood-based PA, 95 % CI 17.9, 59.3. Neither walkability nor car access were conclusively associated with overall PA. Conclusions Higher neighbourhood walkability is associated with higher home neighbourhood-based PA but not with higher overall PA. Other factors will need to be leveraged to facilitate meaningful increases in overall PA among adults with type 2 diabetes.

Neighbourhood walkability and home neighbourhood-based physical activity: an observational study of adults with type 2 diabetes.

Science.gov (United States)

Hajna, Samantha; Kestens, Yan; Daskalopoulou, Stella S; Joseph, Lawrence; Thierry, Benoit; Sherman, Mark; Trudeau, Luc; Rabasa-Lhoret, Rémi; Meissner, Leslie; Bacon, Simon L; Gauvin, Lise; Ross, Nancy A; Dasgupta, Kaberi

2016-09-09

Converging international evidence suggests that diabetes incidence is lower among adults living in more walkable neighbourhoods. The association between walkability and physical activity (PA), the presumed mediator of this relationship, has not been carefully examined in adults with type 2 diabetes. We investigated the associations of walkability with total PA occurring within home neighbourhoods and overall PA, irrespective of location. Participants (n = 97; 59.5 ± 10.5 years) were recruited through clinics in Montreal (QC, Canada) and wore a GPS-accelerometer device for 7 days. Total PA was expressed as the total Vector of the Dynamic Body Acceleration. PA location was determined using a Global Positioning System (GPS) device (SIRF IV chip). Walkability (street connectivity, land use mix, population density) was assessed using Geographical Information Systems software. The cross-sectional associations between walkability and location-based PA were estimated using robust linear regressions adjusted for age, body mass index, sex, university education, season, car access, residential self-selection, and wear-time. A one standard deviation (SD) increment in walkability was associated with 10.4 % of a SD increment in neighbourhood-based PA (95 % confidence interval (CI) 1.2, 19.7) - equivalent to 165 more steps/day (95 % 19, 312). Car access emerged as an important predictor of neighbourhood-based PA (Not having car access: 38.6 % of a SD increment in neighbourhood-based PA, 95 % CI 17.9, 59.3). Neither walkability nor car access were conclusively associated with overall PA. Higher neighbourhood walkability is associated with higher home neighbourhood-based PA but not with higher overall PA. Other factors will need to be leveraged to facilitate meaningful increases in overall PA among adults with type 2 diabetes.

Density, destinations or both? A comparison of measures of walkability in relation to transportation behaviors, obesity and diabetes in Toronto, Canada.

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Richard H Glazier

Full Text Available The design of suburban communities encourages car dependency and discourages walking, characteristics that have been implicated in the rise of obesity. Walkability measures have been developed to capture these features of urban built environments. Our objective was to examine the individual and combined associations of residential density and the presence of walkable destinations, two of the most commonly used and potentially modifiable components of walkability measures, with transportation, overweight, obesity, and diabetes. We examined associations between a previously published walkability measure and transportation behaviors and health outcomes in Toronto, Canada, a city of 2.6 million people in 2011. Data sources included the Canada census, a transportation survey, a national health survey and a validated administrative diabetes database. We depicted interactions between residential density and the availability of walkable destinations graphically and examined them statistically using general linear modeling. Individuals living in more walkable areas were more than twice as likely to walk, bicycle or use public transit and were significantly less likely to drive or own a vehicle compared with those living in less walkable areas. Individuals in less walkable areas were up to one-third more likely to be obese or to have diabetes. Residential density and the availability of walkable destinations were each significantly associated with transportation and health outcomes. The combination of high levels of both measures was associated with the highest levels of walking or bicycling (p<0.0001 and public transit use (p<0.0026 and the lowest levels of automobile trips (p<0.0001, and diabetes prevalence (p<0.0001. We conclude that both residential density and the availability of walkable destinations are good measures of urban walkability and can be recommended for use by policy-makers, planners and public health officials. In our setting, the

Obesogenic and youth oriented restaurant marketing in public housing neighborhoods.

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Lee, Rebecca E; Heinrich, Katie M; Reese-Smith, Jacqueline Y; Regan, Gail R; Adamus-Leach, Heather J

2014-03-01

To compare restaurant marketing by restaurant and neighborhood type. All restaurants (61=fast food, FF; 72=table service, TS) within an 800-meter radius of 13 public housing developments (HD) and 4 comparison neighborhoods were audited using the Restaurant Assessment Tool©2010. HD neighborhoods were lower income and higher minority than comparison neighborhoods with similar density and street connectivity. Restaurants in HD neighborhoods had fewer healthy entrées than comparison neighborhoods. FF restaurants had cheaper beverages and more children's meals, supersize drinks, free prize with purchase, super-size items, special characters, and more items geared to driving than TS restaurants. Residents of lower socioeconomic neighborhoods may be differentially exposed to unhealthy food options.

Adults' Daily Walking for Travel and Leisure: Interaction Between Attitude Toward Walking and the Neighborhood Environment.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Yong; Diez-Roux, Ana V

2017-09-01

Studies on how the interaction of psychological and environmental characteristics influences walking are limited, and the results are inconsistent. Our aim is to examine how the attitude toward walking and neighborhood environments interacts to influence walking. Cross-sectional phone and mail survey. Participants randomly sampled from 6 study sites including Los Angeles, Chicago, Baltimore, Minneapolis, Manhattan, and Bronx Counties in New York City, and Forsyth and Davidson Counties in North Carolina. The final sample consisted of 2621 persons from 2011 to 2012. Total minutes of walking for travel or leisure, attitude toward walking, and perceptions of the neighborhood environments were self-reported. Street Smart (SS) Walk Score (a measure of walkability derived from a variety of geographic data) was obtained for each residential location. Linear regression models adjusting for age, gender, race/ethnicity, education, and income. Attitude toward walking was positively associated with walking for both purposes. Walking for travel was significantly associated with SS Walk Score, whereas walking for leisure was not. The SS Walk Score and selected perceived environment characteristics were associated with walking in people with a very positive attitude toward walking but were not associated with walking in people with a less positive attitude. Attitudes toward walking and neighborhood environments interact to affect walking behavior.

Neighbourhood walkability and incidence of hypertension: Findings from the study of 429,334 UK Biobank participants.

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Sarkar, Chinmoy; Webster, Chris; Gallacher, John

2018-04-01

With an estimated one billion hypertension cases worldwide, the role of the built environment in its prevention and control is still uncertain. The present study aims to examine the associations between neighbourhood walkability and hypertension in a large and diverse population-based cohort. We examined the association between neighbourhood walkability and blood pressure outcomes for N = 429,334 participants drawn from the UK Biobank and aged 38-73 years. Neighbourhood walkability was objectively modelled from detailed building footprint-level data within multi-scale functional neighbourhoods (1.0-, 1.5- and 2.0-kilometer street catchments of geocoded dwelling). A series of linear and modified Poisson regression models were employed to examine the association between walkability and outcomes of diastolic blood pressure (DBP in mmHg), systolic blood pressure (SBP in mmHg) and prevalent hypertension adjusting for socio-demographic, lifestyle and related physical environmental covariates. We also examined the relationship between walkability and change in blood pressure for a sub-sample of participants with follow-up data and tested for interaction effects of age, sex, employment status, neighbourhood SES, residential density and green exposure. Neighbourhood walkability within one-kilometer street catchment was beneficially associated with all the three blood pressure outcomes, independent of all other factors. Each interquartile increment in walkability was associated with the lower blood pressure outcomes of DBP (β = -0.358, 95% CI: -0.42, -0.29 mmHg), SBP (β = -0.833, 95% CI: -0.95, -0.72 mmHg) as well as reduced hypertension risk (RR = 0.970, 95% CI: 0.96, 0.98). The results remained consistent across spatial and temporal scales and were sensitive to sub-groups, with pronounced protective effects among female participants, those aged between 50 and 60 years, in employment, residing in deprived, high density and greener areas. This large

Density, Destinations or Both? A Comparison of Measures of Walkability in Relation to Transportation Behaviors, Obesity and Diabetes in Toronto, Canada

Science.gov (United States)

Glazier, Richard H.; Creatore, Maria I.; Weyman, Jonathan T.; Fazli, Ghazal; Matheson, Flora I.; Gozdyra, Peter; Moineddin, Rahim; Shriqui, Vered Kaufman; Booth, Gillian L.

2014-01-01

The design of suburban communities encourages car dependency and discourages walking, characteristics that have been implicated in the rise of obesity. Walkability measures have been developed to capture these features of urban built environments. Our objective was to examine the individual and combined associations of residential density and the presence of walkable destinations, two of the most commonly used and potentially modifiable components of walkability measures, with transportation, overweight, obesity, and diabetes. We examined associations between a previously published walkability measure and transportation behaviors and health outcomes in Toronto, Canada, a city of 2.6 million people in 2011. Data sources included the Canada census, a transportation survey, a national health survey and a validated administrative diabetes database. We depicted interactions between residential density and the availability of walkable destinations graphically and examined them statistically using general linear modeling. Individuals living in more walkable areas were more than twice as likely to walk, bicycle or use public transit and were significantly less likely to drive or own a vehicle compared with those living in less walkable areas. Individuals in less walkable areas were up to one-third more likely to be obese or to have diabetes. Residential density and the availability of walkable destinations were each significantly associated with transportation and health outcomes. The combination of high levels of both measures was associated with the highest levels of walking or bicycling (pwalkable destinations are good measures of urban walkability and can be recommended for use by policy-makers, planners and public health officials. In our setting, the combination of both factors provided additional explanatory power. PMID:24454837

WALKABILITY IN HISTORIC URBAN SPACES: TESTING THE SAFETY AND SECURITY IN MARTYRS' SQUARE IN TRIPOLI

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Khairi M. Al-bashir Abdulla

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Much of the built environment design literature focuses on a composite of walkable spaces variables such as density, diversity, and destination accessibility.  One of the most effective factors in walkability is “safety and security”. There is an evident gap in understanding the perceived ability of Libyan public spaces to support walkability. This paper aims to investigate the effectiveness of “walkability” in traditional Libyan urban spaces and analyse the relationship between walking, a safe and secure environment, and its impact on a heritage site in Tripoli city centre. The perceived personal safety of 140 users of the heritage site “Martyrs' Square” were measured; this research is studying the quality of environment and users’ interaction with their environmental issues relating to the study area. Mixed methods were used in this research: this study used both quantitative and qualitative methods to gather information; the quantitative took the form of a questionnaire; and the qualitative took the form of observations. Analysis of quantitative data was conducted with SPSS software; the survey was conducted from August 2016 to September 2016. The results of this study are useful for urban planning, to classify the walkable urban space elements, which could improve the level of walkability in Libyan cities and create sustainable and liveable urban spaces.

Changes in Objectively-Determined Walkability and Physical Activity in Adults: A Quasi-Longitudinal Residential Relocation Study.

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McCormack, Gavin R; McLaren, Lindsay; Salvo, Grazia; Blackstaffe, Anita

2017-05-22

Causal evidence for the built environment's role in supporting physical activity is needed to inform land use and transportation policies. This quasi-longitudinal residential relocation study compared within-person changes in self-reported transportation walking, transportation cycling, and overall physical activity during the past 12 months among adults who did and did not move to a different neighbourhood. In 2014, a random sample of adults from 12 neighbourhoods (Calgary, AB, Canada) with varying urban form and socioeconomic status provided complete self-administered questionnaire data ( n = 915). Participants, some of whom moved neighbourhood during the past 12 months ( n = 95), reported their perceived change in transportation walking and cycling, and overall physical activity during that period. The questionnaire also captured residential self-selection, and sociodemographic and health characteristics. Walk Scores ® were linked to each participant's current and previous neighbourhood and three groups identified: walkability "improvers" ( n = 48); "decliners" ( n = 47), and; "maintainers" ( n = 820). Perceived change in physical activity was compared between the three groups using propensity score covariate-adjusted Firth logistic regression (odds ratios: OR). Compared with walkability maintainers, walkability decliners (OR 4.37) and improvers (OR 4.14) were more likely ( p walkability decliners were also more likely (OR 3.17) to report decreasing their transportation walking since moving. Walkability improvers were more likely than maintainers to increase their transportation cycling since moving neighbourhood (OR 4.22). Temporal changes in neighbourhood walkability resulting from residential relocation appear to be associated with reported temporal changes in transportation walking and cycling in adults.

on the choice of schools located outside the walkable ...

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located outside his walkable neighbourhood which best satisfies his budget constraint with emphasis ... children are better served and that everyday instruction is ensured irrespective of the price differential .... Hostel Accommodation fees and ...

Neighborhood perceptions and hypertension among low-income black women: a qualitative study

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Maliyhah Al-Bayan

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The majority of studies examining the role of neighborhoods and hypertension-related outcomes have been quantitative in nature and very few studies have examined specific disadvantaged populations, including low-income housing residents. The objective of this study was to use qualitative interviews to explore low-income Black women’s perceptions of their neighborhoods and to understand how those perceptions may affect their health, especially as it relates to blood pressure. Methods Seventeen Black female participants, living in public housing communities in New York City, completed one semi-structured, audiotaped interview in July of 2014. All interviews were transcribed, coded, and analyzed for emerging themes using N’Vivo 10 software. Results Three major themes emerged: (1 social connectedness, (2 stress factors, and (3 availability of food options. For example, factors that caused stress varied throughout the study population. Sources of stress included family members, employment, and uncleanliness within the neighborhood. Many participants attributed their stress to personal issues, such as lack of employment and relationships. In addition, the general consensus among many participants was that there should be a greater density of healthy food options in their neighborhoods. Some believed that the pricing of fresh foods in the neighborhoods should better reflect the financial status of the residents in the community. Conclusions Various neighborhood influences, including neighborhood disorder and lack of healthy food options, are factors that appear to increase Black women’s risk of developing high blood pressure. Implications of this research include the need to develop interventions that promote good neighborhood infrastructure (e.g. healthy food stores to encourage good nutrition habits and well-lit walking paths to encourage daily exercise, in addition to interventions that increase hypertension awareness in

The Relationship between Neighborhood Characteristics and Effective Parenting Behaviors: The Role of Social Support

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Byrnes, Hilary F.; Miller, Brenda A.

2012-01-01

Neighborhood characteristics have been linked to healthy behavior, including effective parenting behaviors. This may be partially explained through the neighborhood's relation to parents' access to social support from friends and family. The current study examined associations of neighborhood characteristics with parenting behaviors indirectly…

A qualitative examination of home and neighborhood environments for obesity prevention in rural adults

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Ballard Denise

2008-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The home and neighborhood environments may be important in obesity prevention by virtue of food availability, food preparation, cues and opportunities for physical activity, and family support. To date, little research has examined how home and neighborhood environments in rural communities may support or hinder healthy eating and physical activity. This paper reports characteristics of rural homes and neighborhoods related to physical activity environments, availability of healthy foods, and family support for physical activity and maintaining an ideal body weight. Methods In-depth interviews were conducted with 60 African American and White adults over 50 years of age in two rural counties in Southwest Georgia. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and coded independently by two members of the research team using standard methods of qualitative analysis. Themes were then identified and data matrices were used to identify patterns by gender or race. Results Neighborhood features that supported physical activity were plenty of land, minimal traffic and living in a safe and friendly neighborhood. The major barrier was lack of recreational facilities. The majority of participants were not physically active with their family members due to schedule conflicts and lack of time. Family member-initiated efforts to encourage physical activity met with mixed results, with refusals, procrastination, and increased activity all reported. Participants generally reported it was easy to get healthy foods, although cost barriers and the need to drive to a larger town for a supermarket with good variety were noted as obstacles. Family conversations about weight had occurred for about half of the participants, with reactions ranging from agreement about the need to lose weight to frustration. Conclusion This study suggests that successful environmental change strategies to promote physical activity and healthy eating in rural neighborhoods may

Achieving walkable city in Indonesia: Policy and responsive design through public participation

Science.gov (United States)

Tanan, Natalia; Darmoyono, Laksmi

2017-11-01

This paper discusses approaches to policy and planning of pedestrian facility that facilitate walking in cities in Indonesia. It applies quantitative and qualitative methods to analyze walkability in some cities. The new perspective in policy and planning are focusing on improving non-motorized mobility; it encourages walking and put the provision of the pedestrian facility as an integral part of built environmental planning and development. The policy perceives pedestrian facility in broad, not only about physical development, but also benefit to socioeconomic activity and environmental quality. It is expected that the implementation of policies and walkability concept could upgrade the pedestrian facility, as a walkable city delivers green atmosphere of the urban environment. A design competition of pedestrian facility was held to test the policy and accommodate input from the public. Public participation through competition also enriches the design of pedestrian facility that responsive to local condition. Implementation is still a challenge due to limited budget; however, there are tendencies that few cities improve pedestrian facilities to encourage people walking in order to make the city livable and environmentally friendly.

I-WALK: An Innovative Approach to Community Walkability

Science.gov (United States)

Seeger, Christopher J.; Lillehoj, Catherine J.; Jensen, Alan D.; Wilson, Suzy; Levinson, Lydia R.

2014-01-01

One way of combating rising obesity rates and decreasing physical activity levels among children is to promote active transportation to and from schools. The award-winning I-WALK program provides a comprehensive framework for addressing community walkability and related infrastructure. The program uses a unique and innovative methodology that…

Michigan: Healthy Homes-Healthy Business Project (A Former EPA CARE Project)

Science.gov (United States)

The Healthy Homes-Healthy Business project is a recipient of a Level II CARE cooperative agreement. The communities of focus for this CARE level II project are the adjacent neighborhoods of Southwest Detroit and South Dearborn.

EnviroAtlas - Portland, ME - Estimated Intersection Density of Walkable Roads

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — This EnviroAtlas dataset estimates the intersection density of walkable roads within a 750 meter radius of any given 10 meter pixel in the community. Intersections...

EnviroAtlas - Woodbine, IA - Estimated Intersection Density of Walkable Roads

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — This EnviroAtlas dataset estimates the intersection density of walkable roads within a 750 meter radius of any given 10 meter pixel in the community. Intersections...

EnviroAtlas - Durham, NC - Estimated Intersection Density of Walkable Roads

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — This EnviroAtlas dataset estimates the intersection density of walkable roads within a 750 meter radius of any given 10 meter pixel in the community. Intersections...

EnviroAtlas - Fresno, CA - Estimated Intersection Density of Walkable Roads

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — This EnviroAtlas dataset estimates the intersection density of walkable roads within a 750 meter radius of any given 10 meter pixel in the community. Intersections...

EnviroAtlas - Cleveland, OH - Estimated Intersection Density of Walkable Roads

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — This EnviroAtlas dataset estimates the intersection density of walkable roads within a 750 meter radius of any given 10 meter pixel in the community. Intersections...

EnviroAtlas - Memphis, TN - Estimated Intersection Density of Walkable Roads

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — This EnviroAtlas dataset estimates the intersection density of walkable roads within a 750 meter radius of any given 10 meter pixel in the community. Intersections...

EnviroAtlas - Milwaukee, WI - Estimated Intersection Density of Walkable Roads

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — This EnviroAtlas dataset estimates the intersection density of walkable roads within a 750 meter radius of any given 10 meter pixel in the community. Intersections...

EnviroAtlas - Portland, OR - Estimated Intersection Density of Walkable Roads

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — This EnviroAtlas dataset estimates the intersection density of walkable roads within a 750 meter radius of any given 10 meter pixel in the community. Intersections...

EnviroAtlas - Tampa, FL - Estimated Intersection Density of Walkable Roads

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — This EnviroAtlas dataset estimates the intersection density of walkable roads within a 750 meter radius of any given 10 meter pixel in the community. Intersections...

EnviroAtlas - Austin, TX - Estimated Intersection Density of Walkable Roads

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — This EnviroAtlas dataset estimates the intersection density of walkable roads within a 750 meter radius of any given 10 meter pixel in the community. Intersections...

EnviroAtlas - Paterson, NJ - Estimated Intersection Density of Walkable Roads

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — This EnviroAtlas dataset estimates the intersection density of walkable roads within a 750 meter radius of any given 10 meter pixel in the community. Intersections...

EnviroAtlas - Phoenix, AZ - Estimated Intersection Density of Walkable Roads

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — This EnviroAtlas dataset estimates the intersection density of walkable roads within a 750 meter radius of any given 10 meter pixel in the community. Intersections...

EnviroAtlas - Pittsburgh, PA - Estimated Intersection Density of Walkable Roads

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — This EnviroAtlas dataset estimates the intersection density of walkable roads within a 750 meter radius of any given 10 meter pixel in the community. Intersections...

Polish Version of the Neighbourhood Environment Walkability Scale (NEWS-Poland).

Science.gov (United States)

Jaśkiewicz, Michał; Besta, Tomasz

2016-11-04

The characteristics of built environments are the subject of intense consideration in the search for solutions to promote wellbeing and a higher quality of life among the inhabitants of cities. Walkability, defined as the extent to which the built environment is friendly to living and fulfilling the needs of the area, has become an important concept in sustainable urban design, public health and environmental psychology. This study systematically adapted the Neighbourhood Environment Walkability Scale (NEWS) for Poland, and evaluated the construct validity aspects of the adapted version among Polish adults. A total sample of 783 participants from a TriCity (Trójmiasto) agglomeration completed the adapted version of the NEWS. Smaller extracted samples of the participants also completed wellbeing related scales, including self-efficacy, local identity and distance to city centre measures. It was expected that various districts of Gdańsk would differ in terms of walkability. The confirmatory factor analysis showed satisfactory goodness-of-fit statistics and factor loadings corresponding to the proposed original factor structure. According to the predictions, the NEWS subscales correlated with the self-efficacy, local identity and wellbeing related measures. In addition, the comparisons between the neighbourhoods of Gdańsk also showed a predictable pattern of results. Overall, the NEWS demonstrated satisfactory measurement properties, and may be useful in the evaluation of the built environment in Poland.

EnviroAtlas Estimated Intersection Density of Walkable Roads Web Service

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — This EnviroAtlas dataset estimates the intersection density of walkable roads within a 750 meter radius of any given 10 meter pixel in each EnviroAtlas community....

Active commuting of the inhabitants of Liberec city in low and high walkability areas

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lukáš Rubín

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Background: Active commuting in terms of everyday transport to school or work can have a significant effect on physical activity. Active commuting can be influenced by the environment, and examples from abroad show that current environmental changes tend mostly to promote passive forms of commuting. A similar situation of decreasing active commuting might be expected in the Czech Republic. However, little information has been published to date about the issue of active commuting among the inhabitants of our country. Objective: The main objective of the present study is to describe the active commuting patterns of the inhabitants of Liberec city in low and high walkability areas. Methods: A total of 23,621 economically active inhabitants or students of Liberec city aged 6-87 years (34.77 ± 14.39 participated in the study. The data about commuting were retrieved from the national Population and Housing Census of 2011. Geographic information systems were used to objectively analyze the built environment and to calculate the walkability index. Results: Active commuting to/from school or work is used by 17.41% of inhabitants. Active commuting is dominated by walking (16.60% as opposed to cycling (0.81%. Inhabitants who lived in high walkability areas were more likely to actively commute than those living in low walkability areas (OR = 1.54; 95% CI [1.41, 1.68]. Conclusions: This study confirmed the findings of international studies about the effect of the built environment on active commuting among Liberec inhabitants. Active commuters are often those living near or in the city center, which is characterized by high walkability. In Liberec city, walking as a means of active commuting significantly prevails over cycling. One of the reasons might be the diverse topography of the city and the insufficiently developed cycling network.

The neighborhood energy balance equation: does neighborhood food retail environment + physical activity environment = obesity? The CARDIA study.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Janne Boone-Heinonen

Full Text Available Recent obesity prevention initiatives focus on healthy neighborhood design, but most research examines neighborhood food retail and physical activity (PA environments in isolation. We estimated joint, interactive, and cumulative impacts of neighborhood food retail and PA environment characteristics on body mass index (BMI throughout early adulthood.We used cohort data from the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA Study [n=4,092; Year 7 (24-42 years, 1992-1993 followed over 5 exams through Year 25 (2010-2011; 12,921 person-exam observations], with linked time-varying geographic information system-derived neighborhood environment measures. Using regression with fixed effects for individuals, we modeled time-lagged BMI as a function of food and PA resource density (counts per population and neighborhood development intensity (a composite density score. We controlled for neighborhood poverty, individual-level sociodemographics, and BMI in the prior exam; and included significant interactions between neighborhood measures and by sex. Using model coefficients, we simulated BMI reductions in response to single and combined neighborhood improvements. Simulated increase in supermarket density (from 25(th to 75(th percentile predicted inter-exam reduction in BMI of 0.09 kg/m(2 [estimate (95% CI: -0.09 (-0.16, -0.02]. Increasing commercial PA facility density predicted BMI reductions up to 0.22 kg/m(2 in men, with variation across other neighborhood features [estimate (95% CI range: -0.14 (-0.29, 0.01 to -0.22 (-0.37, -0.08]. Simultaneous increases in supermarket and commercial PA facility density predicted inter-exam BMI reductions up to 0.31 kg/m(2 in men [estimate (95% CI range: -0.23 (-0.39, -0.06 to -0.31 (-0.47, -0.15] but not women. Reduced fast food restaurant and convenience store density and increased public PA facility density and neighborhood development intensity did not predict reductions in BMI.Findings suggest that

Comparing Neighborhood-Focused Activism and Volunteerism: Psychological Well-Being and Social Connectedness

Science.gov (United States)

Gilster, Megan E.

2012-01-01

Does participating in neighborhood-focused activism confer different benefits than volunteering? The engagement of community members in neighborhood civic life has been identified as an important component of safe and healthy communities. Research on community engagement has encompassed voluntary associations, volunteering, as well as…

Walkability and cardiometabolic risk factors: Cross-sectional and longitudinal associations from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis.

Science.gov (United States)

Braun, Lindsay M; Rodríguez, Daniel A; Evenson, Kelly R; Hirsch, Jana A; Moore, Kari A; Diez Roux, Ana V

2016-05-01

We used data from 3227 older adults in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (2004-2012) to explore cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between walkability and cardiometabolic risk factors. In cross-sectional analyses, linear regression was used to estimate associations of Street Smart Walk Score® with glucose, triglycerides, HDL and LDL cholesterol, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, and waist circumference, while logistic regression was used to estimate associations with odds of metabolic syndrome. Econometric fixed effects models were used to estimate longitudinal associations of changes in walkability with changes in each risk factor among participants who moved residential locations between 2004 and 2012 (n=583). Most cross-sectional and longitudinal associations were small and statistically non-significant. We found limited evidence that higher walkability was cross-sectionally associated with lower blood pressure but that increases in walkability were associated with increases in triglycerides and blood pressure over time. Further research over longer time periods is needed to understand the potential for built environment interventions to improve cardiometabolic health. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Does Physical Activity Mediate the Associations Between Local-Area Descriptive Norms, Built Environment Walkability, and Glycosylated Hemoglobin?

Science.gov (United States)

Carroll, Suzanne J; Niyonsenga, Theo; Coffee, Neil T; Taylor, Anne W; Daniel, Mark

2017-08-23

Associations between local-area residential features and glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA 1c ) may be mediated by individual-level health behaviors. Such indirect effects have rarely been tested. This study assessed whether individual-level self-reported physical activity mediated the influence of local-area descriptive norms and objectively expressed walkability on 10-year change in HbA 1c . HbA 1c was assessed three times for adults in a 10-year population-based biomedical cohort ( n = 4056). Local-area norms specific to each participant were calculated, aggregating responses from a separate statewide surveillance survey for 1600 m road-network buffers centered on participant addresses (local prevalence of overweight/obesity (body mass index ≥25 kg/m²) and physical inactivity (Walkability was directly and indirectly protective of worsening HbA 1c . Local-area descriptive norms and walkability influence cardiometabolic risk trajectory through individual-level physical activity. Efforts to reduce population cardiometabolic risk should consider the extent of local-area unhealthful behavioral norms and walkability in tailoring strategies to improve physical activity.

An objective index of walkability for research and planning in the Sydney Metropolitan Region of New South Wales, Australia: an ecological study

OpenAIRE

Mayne, Darren J; Morgan, Geoffrey G; Willmore, Alan; Rose, Nectarios; Jalaludin, Bin; Bambrick, Hilary; Bauman, Adrian

2013-01-01

Background Walkability describes the capacity of the built environment to support walking for various purposes. This paper describes the construction and validation of two objective walkability indexes for Sydney, Australia. Methods Walkability indexes using residential density, intersection density, land use mix, with and without retail floor area ratio were calculated for 5,858 Sydney Census Collection Districts in a geographical information system. Associations between variables were evalu...

Characteristics of prepared food sources in low-income neighborhoods of Baltimore City.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Seung Hee; Rowan, Megan T; Powell, Lisa M; Newman, Sara; Klassen, Ann Carroll; Frick, Kevin D; Anderson, Jennifer; Gittelsohn, Joel

2010-01-01

The food environment is associated with obesity risk and diet-related chronic diseases. Despite extensive research conducted on retail food stores, little is known about prepared food sources(PFSs). We conducted an observational assessment of all PFSs(N = 92) in low-income neighborhoods in Baltimore. The most common PFSs were carry-outs, which had the lowest availability of healthy food choices. Only a small proportion of these carry-outs offered healthy sides, whole wheat bread, or entrée salads (21.4%, 7.1%, and 33.9%, respectively). These findings suggest that carry-out-specific interventions are necessary to increase healthy food availability in low-income urban neighborhoods.

Neighborhood Variation in the Price of Cheap Tobacco Products in California: Results From Healthy Stores for a Healthy Community.

Science.gov (United States)

Henriksen, Lisa; Andersen-Rodgers, Elizabeth; Zhang, Xueying; Roeseler, April; Sun, Dennis L; Johnson, Trent O; Schleicher, Nina C

2017-11-01

Retail marketing surveillance research highlights concerns about lower priced cigarettes in neighborhoods with a higher proportion of racial/ethnic minorities but focuses almost exclusively on premium brands. To remedy this gap in the literature, the current study examines neighborhood variation in prices for the cheapest cigarettes and a popular brand of cigarillos in a large statewide sample of licensed tobacco retailers in a low-tax state. All 61 local health departments in California trained data collectors to conduct observations in a census of eligible licensed tobacco retailers in randomly selected zip codes (n = 7393 stores, completion rate=91%). Data were collected in 2013, when California had a low and stagnant tobacco tax. Two prices were requested: the cheapest cigarette pack regardless of brand and a single, flavored Swisher Sweets cigarillo. Multilevel models (stores clustered in tracts) examined prices (before sales tax) as a function of neighborhood race/ethnicity and proportion of school-age youth (aged 5-17). Models adjusted for store type and median household income. Approximately 84% of stores sold cigarettes for less than $5 and a Swisher Sweets cigarillo was available for less than $1 in 74% of stores that sold the brand. The cheapest cigarettes cost even less in neighborhoods with a higher proportion of school-age residents and Asian/Pacific Islanders. Neighborhood disparities in the price of the cheapest combustible tobacco products are a public health threat. Policy changes that make all tobacco products, especially combustible products, less available and more costly may reduce disparities in their use and protect public health. Much of what is known about neighborhood variation in the price of combustible tobacco products focuses on premium brand cigarettes. The current study extends this literature in two ways, by studying prices for the cheapest cigarette pack regardless of brand and a popular brand of flavored cigarillos and by

EnviroAtlas - New Bedford, MA - Estimated Intersection Density of Walkable Roads

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — This EnviroAtlas dataset estimates the intersection density of walkable roads within a 750 meter radius of any given 10 meter pixel in the community. Intersections...

EnviroAtlas - Green Bay, WI - Estimated Intersection Density of Walkable Roads

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — This EnviroAtlas dataset estimates the intersection density of walkable roads within a 750 meter radius of any given 10 meter pixel in the community. Intersections...

EnviroAtlas - Des Moines, IA - Estimated Intersection Density of Walkable Roads

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — This EnviroAtlas dataset estimates the intersection density of walkable roads within a 750 meter radius of any given 10 meter pixel in the community. Intersections...

EnviroAtlas - New York, NY - Estimated Intersection Density of Walkable Roads

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — This EnviroAtlas dataset estimates the intersection density of walkable roads within a 750 meter radius of any given 10 meter pixel in the community. Intersections...

EnviroAtlas - Woodbine, IA - Estimated Percent Green Space Along Walkable Roads

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — This EnviroAtlas dataset estimates green space along walkable roads. Green space within 25 meters of the road centerline is included and the percentage is based on...

EnviroAtlas - Cleveland, OH - Estimated Percent Green Space Along Walkable Roads

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — This EnviroAtlas dataset estimates green space along walkable roads. Green space within 25 meters of the road centerline is included and the percentage is based on...

EnviroAtlas - Portland, ME - Estimated Percent Green Space Along Walkable Roads

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — This EnviroAtlas dataset estimates green space along walkable roads. Green space within 25 meters of the road centerline is included and the percentage is based on...

EnviroAtlas - Paterson, NJ - Estimated Percent Green Space Along Walkable Roads

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — This EnviroAtlas dataset estimates green space along walkable roads. Green space within 25 meters of the road centerline is included and the percentage is based on...

EnviroAtlas - Pittsburgh, PA - Estimated Percent Green Space Along Walkable Roads

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — This EnviroAtlas dataset estimates green space along walkable roads. Green space within 25 meters of the road centerline is included and the percentage is based on...

EnviroAtlas - Phoenix, AZ - Estimated Percent Green Space Along Walkable Roads

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — This EnviroAtlas dataset estimates green space along walkable roads. Green space within 25 meters of the road centerline is included and the percentage is based on...

EnviroAtlas - Memphis, TN - Estimated Percent Green Space Along Walkable Roads

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — This EnviroAtlas dataset estimates green space along walkable roads. Green space within 25 meters of the road centerline is included and the percentage is based on...

EnviroAtlas - Durham, NC - Estimated Percent Green Space Along Walkable Roads

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — This EnviroAtlas dataset estimates green space along walkable roads. Green space within 25 meters of the road centerline is included and the percentage is based on...

EnviroAtlas - Milwaukee, WI - Estimated Percent Green Space Along Walkable Roads

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — This EnviroAtlas dataset estimates green space along walkable roads. Green space within 25 meters of the road centerline is included and the percentage is based on...

EnviroAtlas - Tampa, FL - Estimated Percent Green Space Along Walkable Roads

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — This EnviroAtlas dataset estimates green space along walkable roads. Green space within 25 meters of the road centerline is included and the percentage is based on...

EnviroAtlas Estimated Percent Green Space Along Walkable Roads Web Service

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — This EnviroAtlas dataset estimates green space along walkable roads. Green space within 25 meters of the road centerline is included and the percentage is based on...

EnviroAtlas - Fresno, CA - Estimated Percent Green Space Along Walkable Roads

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — This EnviroAtlas dataset estimates green space along walkable roads. Green space within 25 meters of the road centerline is included and the percentage is based on...

EnviroAtlas - Portland, OR - Estimated Percent Green Space Along Walkable Roads

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — This EnviroAtlas dataset estimates green space along walkable roads. Green space within 25 meters of the road centerline is included and the percentage is based on...

EnviroAtlas - Austin, TX - Estimated Percent Green Space Along Walkable Roads

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — This EnviroAtlas dataset estimates green space along walkable roads. Green space within 25 meters of the road centerline is included and the percentage is based on...

EnviroAtlas - Cleveland, OH - Estimated Percent Tree Cover Along Walkable Roads

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — This EnviroAtlas dataset estimates tree cover along walkable roads. The road width is estimated for each road and percent tree cover is calculated in a 8.5 meter...

EnviroAtlas - Austin, TX - Estimated Percent Tree Cover Along Walkable Roads

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — This EnviroAtlas dataset estimates tree cover along walkable roads. The road width is estimated for each road and percent tree cover is calculated in a 8.5 meter...

EnviroAtlas - Portland, ME - Estimated Percent Tree Cover Along Walkable Roads

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — This EnviroAtlas dataset estimates tree cover along walkable roads. The road width is estimated for each road and percent tree cover is calculated in a 8.5 meter...

EnviroAtlas - Woodbine, IA - Estimated Percent Tree Cover Along Walkable Roads

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — This EnviroAtlas dataset estimates tree cover along walkable roads. The road width is estimated for each road and percent tree cover is calculated in a 8.5 meter...

EnviroAtlas - Milwaukee, WI - Estimated Percent Tree Cover Along Walkable Roads

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — This EnviroAtlas dataset estimates tree cover along walkable roads. The road width is estimated for each road and percent tree cover is calculated in a 8.5 meter...

EnviroAtlas - Tampa, FL - Estimated Percent Tree Cover Along Walkable Roads

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — This EnviroAtlas dataset estimates tree cover along walkable roads. The road width is estimated for each road and percent tree cover is calculated in a 8.5 meter...

EnviroAtlas - Pittsburgh, PA - Estimated Percent Tree Cover Along Walkable Roads

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — This EnviroAtlas dataset estimates tree cover along walkable roads. The road width is estimated for each road and percent tree cover is calculated in a 8.5 meter...

EnviroAtlas - Phoenix, AZ - Estimated Percent Tree Cover Along Walkable Roads

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — This EnviroAtlas dataset estimates tree cover along walkable roads. The road width is estimated for each road and percent tree cover is calculated in a 8.5 meter...

EnviroAtlas - Durham, NC - Estimated Percent Tree Cover Along Walkable Roads

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — This EnviroAtlas dataset estimates tree cover along walkable roads. The road width is estimated for each road and percent tree cover is calculated in a 8.5 meter...

EnviroAtlas - Portland, OR - Estimated Percent Tree Cover Along Walkable Roads

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — This EnviroAtlas dataset estimates tree cover along walkable roads. The road width is estimated for each road and percent tree cover is calculated in a 8.5 meter...

EnviroAtlas - Paterson, NJ - Estimated Percent Tree Cover Along Walkable Roads

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — This EnviroAtlas dataset estimates tree cover along walkable roads. The road width is estimated for each road and percent tree cover is calculated in a 8.5 meter...

EnviroAtlas - Memphis, TN - Estimated Percent Tree Cover Along Walkable Roads

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — This EnviroAtlas dataset estimates tree cover along walkable roads. The road width is estimated for each road and percent tree cover is calculated in a 8.5 meter...

EnviroAtlas - Fresno, CA - Estimated Percent Tree Cover Along Walkable Roads

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — This EnviroAtlas dataset estimates tree cover along walkable roads. The road width is estimated for each road and percent tree cover is calculated in a 8.5 meter...

EnviroAtlas Estimated Percent Tree Cover Along Walkable Roads Web Service

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — This EnviroAtlas dataset estimates tree cover along walkable roads. The road width is estimated for each road and percent tree cover is calculated in a 8.5 meter...

On the choice of schools located outside the walkable ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

In this study, we consider a school choice problem and formulate it into a mathematical model, allowing it to be simplified and solved. The results obtained are useful for the household in making an objective choice of school for the child to be enrolled among several secondary schools located outside his walkable ...

Path Analysis of Campus Walkability/Bikeability and College Students' Physical Activity Attitudes, Behaviors, and Body Mass Index.

Science.gov (United States)

Horacek, Tanya M; Dede Yildirim, E; Kattelmann, K; Brown, O; Byrd-Bredbenner, C; Colby, S; Greene, G; Hoerr, S; Kidd, T; Koenings, M M; Morrell, J; Olfert, M D; Phillips, B; Shelnutt, K; White, A

2018-03-01

The purpose of this study was to assess the relationship between the walkability/bikeability of college campuses and students' body mass index (BMI) with student physical activity (PA) attitudes and behaviors as potential mediators. Cross-sectional. Thirteen university campuses. A total of 1384 student participants. Walkability/bikeability environmental score (ES): 12-item audit assessed an average of 44 path segments per campus. Students were measured for height and weight and completed online surveys. Physical activity stage of change/behavior intentions were assessed using the transtheoretical model. The Cognitive Behavioral Physical Activity Questionnaire assessed outcome expectations, self-regulation, and personal barriers. International Physical Activity Questionnaire assessed walking-, moderate-, and vigorous-intensity PA. Descriptive statistics, zero-order correlations, and path analysis with maximum likelihood estimation. The overall model fit was good with χ 2 of 171.388 ( df = 18), P walkability/bikeability ES and BMI (β = -.085) and positive association between personal barriers and BMI (β = .134). Walkability/bikeability ES was positively associated with walking-intensity PA (β = .010). Self-regulation was positively associated with moderate-intensity PA (β = .213), which, in turn, was negatively associated with BMI (β = -.057). The ease of walking and biking on a campus was related to college students' walking behavior and their BMI. Students' PA behavioral intentions were associated with moderate PA and lower BMI. These results provide evidence to focus on policies and structural supports for walkable/bikeable environments to supplement and enhance interventions encouraging individual behavior change for PA and weight management.

EnviroAtlas - Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN - Estimated Intersection Density of Walkable Roads

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — This EnviroAtlas dataset estimates the intersection density of walkable roads within a 750 meter radius of any given 10 meter pixel in the community. Intersections...

EnviroAtlas - New Bedford, MA - Estimated Percent Green Space Along Walkable Roads

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — This EnviroAtlas dataset estimates green space along walkable roads. Green space within 25 meters of the road centerline is included and the percentage is based on...

EnviroAtlas - Des Moines, IA - Estimated Percent Green Space Along Walkable Roads

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — This EnviroAtlas dataset estimates green space along walkable roads. Green space within 25 meters of the road centerline is included and the percentage is based on...

EnviroAtlas - Green Bay, WI - Estimated Percent Green Space Along Walkable Roads

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — This EnviroAtlas dataset estimates green space along walkable roads. Green space within 25 meters of the road centerline is included and the percentage is based on...

EnviroAtlas - New York, NY - Estimated Percent Green Space Along Walkable Roads

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — This EnviroAtlas dataset estimates green space along walkable roads. Green space within 25 meters of the road centerline is included and the percentage is based on...

NEIGHBORHOOD CHOICE AND NEIGHBORHOOD CHANGE

OpenAIRE

Bruch, Elizabeth; Mare, Robert D.

2006-01-01

This paper examines the relationships between the residential choices of individuals and aggregate patterns of neighborhood change. We investigate the conditions under which individuals’ preferences for the race-ethnic composition of their neighborhoods produce high levels of segregation. Using computational models, we find that high levels of segregation occur only when individuals’ preferences follow a threshold function. If individuals make finer-grained distinctions among neighborhoods th...

EnviroAtlas - Des Moines, IA - Estimated Percent Tree Cover Along Walkable Roads

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — This EnviroAtlas dataset estimates tree cover along walkable roads. The road width is estimated for each road and percent tree cover is calculated in a 8.5 meter...

EnviroAtlas - Green Bay, WI - Estimated Percent Tree Cover Along Walkable Roads

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — This EnviroAtlas dataset estimates tree cover along walkable roads. The road width is estimated for each road and percent tree cover is calculated in a 8.5 meter...

EnviroAtlas - New York, NY - Estimated Percent Tree Cover Along Walkable Roads

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — This EnviroAtlas dataset estimates tree cover along walkable roads. The road width is estimated for each road and percent tree cover is calculated in a 8.5 meter...

EnviroAtlas - New Bedford, MA - Estimated Percent Tree Cover Along Walkable Roads

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — This EnviroAtlas dataset estimates tree cover along walkable roads. The road width is estimated for each road and percent tree cover is calculated in a 8.5 meter...

Getting to Know a Place: Built Environment Walkability and Children's Spatial Representation of Their Home-School (h-s) Route.

Science.gov (United States)

Moran, Mika R; Eizenberg, Efrat; Plaut, Pnina

2017-06-06

The literature on environmental walkability to date has mainly focused on walking and related health outcomes. While previous studies suggest associations between walking and spatial knowledge, the associations between environmental walkability and spatial knowledge is yet to be explored. The current study addresses this lacuna in research by exploring children's mental representations of their home-school (h-s) route, vis.

Bringing Healthy Retail to Urban "Food Swamps": a Case Study of CBPR-Informed Policy and Neighborhood Change in San Francisco.

Science.gov (United States)

Minkler, Meredith; Estrada, Jessica; Thayer, Ryan; Juachon, Lisa; Wakimoto, Patricia; Falbe, Jennifer

2018-04-09

In urban "food swamps" like San Francisco's Tenderloin, the absence of full-service grocery stores and plethora of corner stores saturated with tobacco, alcohol, and processed food contribute to high rates of chronic disease. We explore the genesis of the Tenderloin Healthy Corner Store Coalition, its relationship with health department and academic partners, and its contributions to the passage and implementation of a healthy retail ordinance through community-based participatory research (CBPR), capacity building, and advocacy. The healthy retail ordinance incentivizes small stores to increase space for healthy foods and decrease tobacco and alcohol availability. Through Yin's multi-method case study analysis, we examined the partnership's processes and contributions to the ordinance within the framework of Kingdon's three-stage policymaking model. We also assessed preliminary outcomes of the ordinance, including a 35% increase in produce sales and moderate declines in tobacco sales in the first four stores participating in the Tenderloin, as well as a "ripple effect," through which non-participating stores also improved their retail environments. Despite challenges, CBPR partnerships led by a strong community coalition concerned with bedrock issues like food justice and neighborhood inequities in tobacco exposure may represent an important avenue for health equity-focused research and its translation into practice.

The contribution of area-level walkability to geographic variation in physical activity: a spatial analysis of 95,837 participants from the 45 and Up Study living in Sydney, Australia.

Science.gov (United States)

Mayne, Darren J; Morgan, Geoffrey G; Jalaludin, Bin B; Bauman, Adrian E

2017-10-03

Individual-level studies support a positive relation between walkable built environments and participation in moderate-intensity walking. However, the utility of this evidence for population-level planning is less clear as it is derived at much finer spatial scales than those used for regional programming. The aims of this study were to: evaluate if individual-level relations between walkability and walking to improve health manifest at population-level spatial scales; assess the specificity of area-level walkability for walking relative to other moderate and vigorous physical activity (MVPA); describe geographic variation in walking and other MVPA; and quantify the contribution of walkability to this variation. Data on sufficient walking, sufficient MVPA, and high MVPA to improve health were analyzed for 95,837 Sydney respondents to the baseline survey of the 45 and Up Study between January 2006 and April 2010. We used conditional autoregressive models to create smoothed MVPA "disease maps" and assess relations between sufficient MVPA to improve health and area-level walkability adjusted for individual-level demographic, socioeconomic, and health factors, and area-level relative socioeconomic disadvantage. Within-cohort prevalence of meeting recommendations for sufficient walking, sufficient MVPA, and high MVPA were 31.7 (95% CI 31.4-32.0), 69.4 (95% CI 69.1-69.7), and 56.1 (95% CI 55.8-56.4) percent. Prevalence of sufficient walking was increased by 1.20 (95% CrI 1.12-1.29) and 1.07 (95% CrI 1.01-1.13) for high and medium-high versus low walkability postal areas, and for sufficient MVPA by 1.05 (95% CrI 1.01-1.08) for high versus low walkability postal areas. Walkability was not related to high MVPA. Postal area walkability explained 65.8 and 47.4 percent of residual geographic variation in sufficient walking and sufficient MVPA not attributable to individual-level factors. Walkability is associated with area-level prevalence and geographic variation in

Neighborhood and home food environment and children's diet and obesity: Evidence from military personnel's installation assignment.

Science.gov (United States)

Shier, Victoria; Nicosia, Nancy; Datar, Ashlesha

2016-06-01

Research and policy initiatives are increasingly focused on the role of neighborhood food environment in children's diet and obesity. However, existing evidence relies on observational data that is limited by neighborhood selection bias. The Military Teenagers' Environments, Exercise, and Nutrition Study (M-TEENS) leverages the quasi-random variation in neighborhood environment generated by military personnel's assignment to installations to examine whether neighborhood food environments are associated with children's dietary behaviors and BMI. Our results suggest that neither the actual nor the perceived availability of particular food outlets in the neighborhood is associated with children's diet or BMI. The availability of supermarkets and convenience stores in the neighborhood was not associated with where families shop for food or children's dietary behaviors. Further, the type of store that families shop at was not associated with the healthiness of food available at home. Similarly, availability of fast food and restaurants was unrelated to children's dietary behaviors or how often children eat fast food or restaurant meals. However, the healthiness of food available at home was associated with healthy dietary behaviors while eating at fast food outlets and restaurants were associated with unhealthy dietary behaviors in children. Further, parental supervision, including limits on snack foods and meals eaten as a family, was associated with dietary behaviors. These findings suggest that focusing only on the neighborhood food environment may ignore important factors that influence children's outcomes. Future research should also consider how families make decisions about what foods to purchase, where to shop for foods and eating out, how closely to monitor their children's food intake, and, ultimately how these decisions collectively impact children's outcomes. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Understanding neighborhood environment related to Hong Kong children's physical activity: a qualitative study using nominal group technique.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gang He

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Relationships between the neighborhood environment and children's physical activity have been well documented in Western countries but are less investigated in ultra-dense Asian cities. The aim of this study was to identify the environmental facilitators and barriers of physical activity behaviors among Hong Kong Chinese children using nominal group technique. METHODS: Five nominal groups were conducted among 34 children aged 10-11 years from four types of neighborhoods varying in socio-economic status and walkability in Hong Kong. Environmental factors were generated by children in response to the question "What neighborhood environments do you think would increase or decrease your willingness to do physical activity?" Factors were prioritized in order of their importance to children's physical activity. RESULTS: Sixteen unique environmental factors, which were perceived as the most important to children's physical activity, were identified. Factors perceived as physical activity-facilitators included "Sufficient lighting", "Bridge or tunnel", "Few cars on roads", "Convenient transportation", "Subway station", "Recreation grounds", "Shopping malls with air conditioning", "Fresh air", "Interesting animals", and "Perfume shop". Factors perceived as physical activity-barriers included "People who make me feel unsafe", "Crimes nearby", "Afraid of being taken or hurt at night", "Hard to find toilet in shopping mall", "Too much noise", and "Too many people in recreation grounds". CONCLUSIONS: Specific physical activity-related environmental facilitators and barriers, which are unique in an ultra-dense city, were identified by Hong Kong children. These initial findings can inform future examinations of the physical activity-environment relationship among children in Hong Kong and similar Asian cities.

Understanding neighborhood environment related to Hong Kong children's physical activity: a qualitative study using nominal group technique.

Science.gov (United States)

He, Gang; Cerin, Ester; Huang, Wendy Y; Wong, Stephen H

2014-01-01

Relationships between the neighborhood environment and children's physical activity have been well documented in Western countries but are less investigated in ultra-dense Asian cities. The aim of this study was to identify the environmental facilitators and barriers of physical activity behaviors among Hong Kong Chinese children using nominal group technique. Five nominal groups were conducted among 34 children aged 10-11 years from four types of neighborhoods varying in socio-economic status and walkability in Hong Kong. Environmental factors were generated by children in response to the question "What neighborhood environments do you think would increase or decrease your willingness to do physical activity?" Factors were prioritized in order of their importance to children's physical activity. Sixteen unique environmental factors, which were perceived as the most important to children's physical activity, were identified. Factors perceived as physical activity-facilitators included "Sufficient lighting", "Bridge or tunnel", "Few cars on roads", "Convenient transportation", "Subway station", "Recreation grounds", "Shopping malls with air conditioning", "Fresh air", "Interesting animals", and "Perfume shop". Factors perceived as physical activity-barriers included "People who make me feel unsafe", "Crimes nearby", "Afraid of being taken or hurt at night", "Hard to find toilet in shopping mall", "Too much noise", and "Too many people in recreation grounds". Specific physical activity-related environmental facilitators and barriers, which are unique in an ultra-dense city, were identified by Hong Kong children. These initial findings can inform future examinations of the physical activity-environment relationship among children in Hong Kong and similar Asian cities.

EnviroAtlas - Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN - Estimated Percent Green Space Along Walkable Roads

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — This EnviroAtlas dataset estimates green space along walkable roads. Green space within 25 meters of the road centerline is included and the percentage is based on...

EnviroAtlas - Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN - Estimated Percent Tree Cover Along Walkable Roads

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — This EnviroAtlas dataset estimates tree cover along walkable roads. The road width is estimated for each road and percent tree cover is calculated in a 8.5 meter...

Getting to Know a Place: Built Environment Walkability and Children’s Spatial Representation of Their Home-School (h–s Route

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mika R. Moran

2017-06-01

Full Text Available The literature on environmental walkability to date has mainly focused on walking and related health outcomes. While previous studies suggest associations between walking and spatial knowledge, the associations between environmental walkability and spatial knowledge is yet to be explored. The current study addresses this lacuna in research by exploring children’s mental representations of their home-school (h–s route, vis-

Subjective neighborhood assessment and physical inactivity: An examination of neighborhood-level variance.

Science.gov (United States)

Prochaska, John D; Buschmann, Robert N; Jupiter, Daniel; Mutambudzi, Miriam; Peek, M Kristen

2018-06-01

Research suggests a linkage between perceptions of neighborhood quality and the likelihood of engaging in leisure-time physical activity. Often in these studies, intra-neighborhood variance is viewed as something to be controlled for statistically. However, we hypothesized that intra-neighborhood variance in perceptions of neighborhood quality may be contextually relevant. We examined the relationship between intra-neighborhood variance of subjective neighborhood quality and neighborhood-level reported physical inactivity across 48 neighborhoods within a medium-sized city, Texas City, Texas using survey data from 2706 residents collected between 2004 and 2006. Neighborhoods where the aggregated perception of neighborhood quality was poor also had a larger proportion of residents reporting being physically inactive. However, higher degrees of disagreement among residents within neighborhoods about their neighborhood quality was significantly associated with a lower proportion of residents reporting being physically inactive (p=0.001). Our results suggest that intra-neighborhood variability may be contextually relevant in studies seeking to better understand the relationship between neighborhood quality and behaviors sensitive to neighborhood environments, like physical activity. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Large Neighborhood Search

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pisinger, David; Røpke, Stefan

2010-01-01

Heuristics based on large neighborhood search have recently shown outstanding results in solving various transportation and scheduling problems. Large neighborhood search methods explore a complex neighborhood by use of heuristics. Using large neighborhoods makes it possible to find better...... candidate solutions in each iteration and hence traverse a more promising search path. Starting from the large neighborhood search method,we give an overview of very large scale neighborhood search methods and discuss recent variants and extensions like variable depth search and adaptive large neighborhood...

Does Physical Activity Mediate the Association Between Perceived Neighborhood Aesthetics and Overweight/Obesity Among South African Adults Living in Selected Urban and Rural Communities?

Science.gov (United States)

Malambo, Pasmore; Kengne, Andre P; Lambert, Estelle V; De Villiers, Anniza; Puoane, Thandi

2017-12-01

To investigate the mediation effects of physical activity (PA) on the relationship between the perceived neighborhood aesthetic environment and overweight/obesity in free-living South Africans. A cross-sectional study of 671 adults aged ≥ 35 years was analyzed. PA was assessed using the validated International Physical Activity Questionnaire. Perceived neighborhood aesthetics was assessed using the Neighborhood Environment Walkability Scale Questionnaire. Of 671 participants, 76.0% were women, 34.1% aged 45-54 years, and 69.2% were overweight or obese. In adjusted logistic regression models, overweight/obesity was significantly associated with neighborhood aesthetics [odds ratio (OR) = 0.68; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.50-0.93] and PA (OR = 0.65; 95% CI, 0.65-0.90). In expanded multivariable models, overweight/obesity was associated with age 45-55 years (OR = 1.59; 95% CI, 1.05-2.40), female gender (OR = 6.24; 95% CI, 3.95-9.86), tertiary education (OR = 4.05; 95% CI, 1.19-13.86), and urban residence (OR = 2.46; 95% CI, 1.66-3.65). Aesthetics was positively associated with PA; both aesthetics and PA were negatively associated with overweight and obesity. There was no evidence to support a significant mediating effect of PA on the relationship between aesthetics and overweight/obesity. Future studies should consider objective assessment of aesthetics and PA. In addition, future studies should consider using longitudinal design to evaluate food-related environments, which are related to overweight or obesity.

Incorporating Neighborhood Choice in a Model of Neighborhood Effects on Income.

Science.gov (United States)

van Ham, Maarten; Boschman, Sanne; Vogel, Matt

2018-05-09

Studies of neighborhood effects often attempt to identify causal effects of neighborhood characteristics on individual outcomes, such as income, education, employment, and health. However, selection looms large in this line of research, and it has been argued that estimates of neighborhood effects are biased because people nonrandomly select into neighborhoods based on their preferences, income, and the availability of alternative housing. We propose a two-step framework to disentangle selection processes in the relationship between neighborhood deprivation and earnings. We model neighborhood selection using a conditional logit model, from which we derive correction terms. Driven by the recognition that most households prefer certain types of neighborhoods rather than specific areas, we employ a principle components analysis to reduce these terms into eight correction components. We use these to adjust parameter estimates from a model of subsequent neighborhood effects on individual income for the unequal probability that a household chooses to live in a particular type of neighborhood. We apply this technique to administrative data from the Netherlands. After we adjust for the differential sorting of households into certain types of neighborhoods, the effect of neighborhood income on individual income diminishes but remains significant. These results further emphasize that researchers need to be attuned to the role of selection bias when assessing the role of neighborhood effects on individual outcomes. Perhaps more importantly, the persistent effect of neighborhood deprivation on subsequent earnings suggests that neighborhood effects reflect more than the shared characteristics of neighborhood residents: place of residence partially determines economic well-being.

THE EFFECT OF LANDSCAPE ELEMENTS ON WALKABILITY IN EGYPTIAN GATED COMMUNITIES

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Mohamed Anwer Zayed

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Walking has always been one of the important modes of transport all over the world. During the second half of the twentieth century, motorized modes, especially private cars, emerged. A situation of overdependence on motorized transport evolved. Recently, the notion of reviving walking as one of the urban transport modes started to emerge, especially in developed countries. Both research work and professional practice now search for ways to rehabilitate urban areas in order to facilitate walking and cycling. The focus has mainly been on macro-scale factors such as land use distribution and street network planning. However, landscape elements, such as micro-scale measures, could play an important role in achieving that goal. This paper addresses the role of landscape elements in enhancing urban walkability. It mainly focuses on gated communities, which are widely emerging types of residential urban areas across the world and also in Egypt. Using statistical analysis, the paper identifies the most important landscape elements that could affect the walkability of gated communities in Egypt.

Neighborhood choices, neighborhood effects and housing vouchers

OpenAIRE

Davis, Morris A.; Gregory, Jesse; Hartley, Daniel A.; Tan, Kegon T. K.

2017-01-01

We study how households choose neighborhoods, how neighborhoods affect child ability, and how housing vouchers influence neighborhood choices and child outcomes. We use two new panel data sets with tract-level detail for Los Angeles county to estimate a dynamic model of optimal tract-level location choice for renting households and, separately, the impact of living in a given tract on child test scores (which we call "child ability" throughout). We simulate optimal location choices and change...

Positive Neighborhood Norms Buffer Ethnic Diversity Effects on Neighborhood Dissatisfaction, Perceived Neighborhood Disadvantage, and Moving Intentions.

Science.gov (United States)

Van Assche, Jasper; Asbrock, Frank; Roets, Arne; Kauff, Mathias

2018-05-01

Positive neighborhood norms, such as strong local networks, are critical to people's satisfaction with, perceived disadvantage of, and intentions to stay in their neighborhood. At the same time, local ethnic diversity is said to be detrimental for these community outcomes. Integrating both frameworks, we tested whether the negative consequences of diversity occur even when perceived social norms are positive. Study 1 ( N = 1,760 German adults) showed that perceptions of positive neighborhood norms buffered against the effects of perceived diversity on moving intentions via neighborhood satisfaction and perceived neighborhood disadvantage. Study 2 ( N = 993 Dutch adults) replicated and extended this moderated mediation model using other characteristics of diversity (i.e., objective and estimated minority proportions). Multilevel analyses again revealed consistent buffering effects of positive neighborhood norms. Our findings are discussed in light of the ongoing public and political debate concerning diversity and social and communal life.

Correspondence between objective and perceived walking times to urban destinations: Influence of physical activity, neighbourhood walkability, and socio-demographics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dewulf Bart

2012-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Doing regular physical activity has positive effects on health. Several environmental factors are identified as important correlates of physical activity. However, there seems to be a difference between perceived and objective measures of the environment. This study examines the influence of physical activity, neighbourhood walkability, and socio-demographic characteristics on the correspondence between self-reported and objectively measured walking time to urban destinations of adults in the city of Ghent (Belgium. Methods Previously collected survey data was used from 1164 respondents in the city of Ghent who reported walking times to various closest destinations in the neighbourhood of residence. These were compared with corresponding walking times that were objectively measured through geographical information systems. Physical activity was recorded over a 7-day period using accelerometers. Neighbourhood walkability was assessed on the basis of residential density, connectivity, and land-use mix. Results We observed a relatively poor agreement between objective and perceived walking times. Stronger agreements were noted amongst the most physically active group, while low-level walkers tended to overestimate walking time. Surprisingly, however, people residing in a low-walkable neighbourhood underestimated walking times more frequently relative to those in high-walkable neighbourhoods. Conclusions Researchers investigating the influence of environmental attributes on physical activity behavior should thus be cautious when using only self-reported environmental data, since these are a priori influenced by physical activity levels and various socio-demographic factors.

Neighborhood Food Environment, Diet, and Obesity Among Los Angeles County Adults, 2011.

Science.gov (United States)

Mejia, Nelly; Lightstone, Amy S; Basurto-Davila, Ricardo; Morales, Douglas M; Sturm, Roland

2015-09-03

The objective of this study was to examine whether an association exists between the number and type of food outlets in a neighborhood and dietary intake and body mass index (BMI) among adults in Los Angeles County. We also assessed whether this association depends on the geographic size of the food environment. We analyzed data from the 2011 Los Angeles County Health Survey. We created buffers (from 0.25 to 3.0 miles in radius) centered in respondents' residential addresses and counted the number of food outlets by type in each buffer. Dependent variables were weekly intake of fruits and vegetables, sugar-sweetened beverages, and fast food; BMI; and being overweight (BMI ≥25.0 kg/m(2)) or obese (BMI ≥30.0 kg/m(2)). Explanatory variables were the number of outlets classified as fast-food outlets, convenience stores, small food stores, grocery stores, and supermarkets. Regressions were estimated for all sets of explanatory variables and buffer size combinations (150 total effects). Only 2 of 150 effects were significant after being adjusted for multiple comparisons. The number of fast-food restaurants in nonwalkable areas (in a 3.0-mile radius) was positively associated with fast-food consumption, and the number of convenience stores in a walkable distance (in a 0.25-mile radius) was negatively associated with obesity. Little evidence was found for associations between proximity of respondents' homes to food outlets and dietary intake or BMI among adults in Los Angeles County. A possible explanation for the null finding is that shopping patterns are weakly related to neighborhoods in Los Angeles County because of motorized transportation.

GPS-Based Exposure to Greenness and Walkability and Accelerometry-Based Physical Activity.

Science.gov (United States)

James, Peter; Hart, Jaime E; Hipp, J Aaron; Mitchell, Jonathan A; Kerr, Jacqueline; Hurvitz, Philip M; Glanz, Karen; Laden, Francine

2017-04-01

Background: Physical inactivity is a risk factor for cancer that may be influenced by environmental factors. Indeed, dense and well-connected built environments and environments with natural vegetation may create opportunities for higher routine physical activity. However, studies have focused primarily on residential environments to define exposure and self-reported methods to estimate physical activity. This study explores the momentary association between minute-level global positioning systems (GPS)-based greenness exposure and time-matched objectively measured physical activity. Methods: Adult women were recruited from sites across the United States. Participants wore a GPS device and accelerometer on the hip for 7 days to assess location and physical activity at minute-level epochs. GPS records were linked to 250 m resolution satellite-based vegetation data and Census Block Group-level U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Smart Location Database walkability data. Minute-level generalized additive mixed models were conducted to test for associations between GPS measures and accelerometer count data, accounting for repeated measures within participant and allowing for deviations from linearity using splines. Results: Among 360 adult women (mean age of 55.3 ± 10.2 years), we observed positive nonlinear relationships between physical activity and both greenness and walkability. In exploratory analyses, the relationships between environmental factors and physical activity were strongest among those who were white, had higher incomes, and who were middle-aged. Conclusions: Our results indicate that higher levels of physical activity occurred in areas with higher greenness and higher walkability. Impact: Findings suggest that planning and design policies should focus on these environments to optimize opportunities for physical activity. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 26(4); 525-32. ©2017 AACR See all the articles in this CEBP Focus section, "Geospatial

Choice Neighborhood Grantees

Data.gov (United States)

Department of Housing and Urban Development — Choice Neighborhoods grants transform distressed neighborhoods, public and assisted projects into viable and sustainable mixed-income neighborhoods by linking...

Longitudinal examination of social and environmental influences on motivation for physical activity.

Science.gov (United States)

Richards, Elizabeth A; McDonough, Meghan; Fu, Rong

2017-10-01

Physical activity behavior is influenced by numerous factors including motivation, social interactions, and the walkability of the environment. To examine how social contexts and environmental features affect physical activity motivational processes across time. Participants (N=104) completed 3 monthly online surveys assessing self-determination theory constructs, social partners in physical activity, neighborhood walkability, and weekly physical activity. Longitudinal path analysis examined the degree to which physical activity was predicted by individual goals, orientation, and autonomy support and whether these associations were meditated by motivation and moderated by the social and environmental contexts of physical activity. The effect of controlled exercise orientations on physical activity was mediated by autonomous motivation. This association was stronger among those who perceived less crime in their neighborhoods. To improve the ability to tailor physical activity counseling it is important to understand how each person views exercise situations and to understand his/her social and neighborhood environments. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Perceptions as the crucial link? The mediating role of neighborhood perceptions in the relationship between the neighborhood context and neighborhood cohesion.

Science.gov (United States)

Laméris, Joran; Hipp, John R; Tolsma, Jochem

2018-05-01

This study examines the effects of neighborhood racial in-group size, economic deprivation and the prevalence of crime on neighborhood cohesion among U.S. whites. We explore to what extent residents' perceptions of their neighborhood mediate these macro-micro relationships. We use a recent individual-level data set, the American Social Fabric Study (2012/2013), enriched with contextual-level data from the U.S. Census Bureau (2010) and employ multi-level structural equation models. We show that the racial in-group size is positively related to neighborhood cohesion and that neighborhood cohesion is lower in communities with a high crime rate. Individuals' perceptions of the racial in-group size partly mediate the relationship between the objective racial in-group size and neighborhood cohesion. Residents' perceptions of unsafety from crime also appear to be a mediating factor, not only for the objective crime rate but also for the objective racial in-group size. This is in line with our idea that racial stereotypes link racial minorities to crime whereby neighborhoods with a large non-white population are perceived to be more unsafe. Residents of the same neighborhood differ in how they perceive the degree of economic decay of the neighborhood and this causes them to evaluate neighborhood cohesion differently, however perceptions of neighborhood economic decay do not explain the link between the objective neighborhood context and neighborhood cohesion. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Neighborhood solutions for neighborhood problems: an empirically based violence prevention collaboration.

Science.gov (United States)

Randall, J; Swenson, C C; Henggeler, S W

1999-12-01

Youth antisocial behavior is influenced, in part, by neighborhood context. Yet, rather than attempting to ameliorate factors contributing to youth antisocial behavior, service dollars are primarily devoted to expensive and often ineffective out-of-home placements. This article describes the development and implementation of a collaborative partnership designed to empower an economically disadvantaged neighborhood to address violent criminal behavior, substance abuse, and other serious antisocial problems of its youth while maintaining youth in the neighborhood. Through a collaboration between a university research center and neighborhood stakeholders, services are being provided to address the key priorities identified by neighborhood residents, and extensive efforts are being made to develop family and neighborhood contexts that are conducive to prosocial youth behavior.

Neighborhood Stress and Autonomic Nervous System Activity during Sleep.

Science.gov (United States)

Mellman, Thomas Alan; Bell, Kimberly Ann; Abu-Bader, Soleman Hassan; Kobayashi, Ihori

2018-04-04

Stressful neighborhood environments are known to adversely impact health and contribute to health disparities but underlying mechanisms are not well understood. Healthy sleep can provide a respite from sustained sympathetic nervous system (SNS) activity. Our objective was to evaluate relationships between neighborhood stress and nocturnal and daytime SNS and parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) activity. Eighty five urban-residing African Americans (56.5% female; mean age of 23.0) participated. Evaluation included surveys of neighborhood stress and sleep-related vigilance; and continuous ECG and actigraphic recording in participants' homes from which heart rate variability (HRV) analysis for low frequency/high frequency (LF/HF) ratio and normalized high frequency (nHF), as indicators of SNS and PNS activity, respectively, and total sleep time (TST), and wake after sleep onset were derived. All significant relationships with HRV measures were from the sleep period. Neighborhood disorder correlated negatively with nHF (r = -.24, p = .035). There were also significant correlations of HRV indices with sleep duration and sleep fears. Among females, LF/HF correlated with exposure to violence, r = .39, p = .008 and nHF with census tract rates for violent crime (r = -.35, p = .035). In a stepwise regression, TST accounted for the variance contributed by violent crime to nHF in the female participants. Further investigation of relationships between neighborhood environments and SNS/PNS balance during sleep and their consequences, and strategies for mitigating such effects would have implications for health disparities.

Understanding Neighborhood Environment Related to Hong Kong Children’s Physical Activity: A Qualitative Study Using Nominal Group Technique

Science.gov (United States)

He, Gang; Cerin, Ester; Huang, Wendy Y.; Wong, Stephen H.

2014-01-01

Background Relationships between the neighborhood environment and children’s physical activity have been well documented in Western countries but are less investigated in ultra-dense Asian cities. The aim of this study was to identify the environmental facilitators and barriers of physical activity behaviors among Hong Kong Chinese children using nominal group technique. Methods Five nominal groups were conducted among 34 children aged 10–11 years from four types of neighborhoods varying in socio-economic status and walkability in Hong Kong. Environmental factors were generated by children in response to the question “What neighborhood environments do you think would increase or decrease your willingness to do physical activity?” Factors were prioritized in order of their importance to children’s physical activity. Results Sixteen unique environmental factors, which were perceived as the most important to children’s physical activity, were identified. Factors perceived as physical activity-facilitators included “Sufficient lighting”, “Bridge or tunnel”, “Few cars on roads”, “Convenient transportation”, “Subway station”, “Recreation grounds”, “Shopping malls with air conditioning”, “Fresh air”, “Interesting animals”, and “Perfume shop”. Factors perceived as physical activity-barriers included “People who make me feel unsafe”, “Crimes nearby”, “Afraid of being taken or hurt at night”, “Hard to find toilet in shopping mall”, “Too much noise”, and “Too many people in recreation grounds”. Conclusions Specific physical activity-related environmental facilitators and barriers, which are unique in an ultra-dense city, were identified by Hong Kong children. These initial findings can inform future examinations of the physical activity-environment relationship among children in Hong Kong and similar Asian cities. PMID:25187960

Validation of food store environment secondary data source and the role of neighborhood deprivation in Appalachia, Kentucky

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gustafson Alison A

2012-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Based on the need for better measurement of the retail food environment in rural settings and to examine how deprivation may be unique in rural settings, the aims of this study were: 1 to validate one commercially available data source with direct field observations of food retailers; and 2 to examine the association between modified neighborhood deprivation and the modified retail food environment score (mRFEI. Methods Secondary data were obtained from a commercial database, InfoUSA in 2011, on all retail food outlets for each census tract. In 2011, direct observation identifying all listed food retailers was conducted in 14 counties in Kentucky. Sensitivity and positive predictive values (PPV were compared. Neighborhood deprivation index was derived from American Community Survey data. Multinomial regression was used to examine associations between neighborhood deprivation and the mRFEI score (indicator of retailers selling healthy foods such as low-fat foods and fruits and vegetables relative to retailers selling more energy dense foods. Results The sensitivity of the commercial database was high for traditional food retailers (grocery stores, supermarkets, convenience stores, with a range of 0.96-1.00, but lower for non-traditional food retailers; dollar stores (0.20 and Farmer’s Markets (0.50. For traditional food outlets, the PPV for smaller non-chain grocery stores was 38%, and large chain supermarkets was 87%. Compared to those with no stores in their neighborhoods, those with a supercenter [OR 0.50 (95% CI 0.27. 0.97] or convenience store [OR 0.67 (95% CI 0.51, 0.89] in their neighborhood have lower odds of living in a low deprivation neighborhood relative to a high deprivation neighborhood. Conclusion The secondary commercial database used in this study was insufficient to characterize the rural retail food environment. Our findings suggest that neighborhoods with high neighborhood deprivation are associated with

Neighborhood context and health: How neighborhood social capital affects individual health

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mohnen, S.M.

2012-01-01

Does it matter for my health in which neighborhood I live? The fact is, health is determined not only by individual characteristics but also by the neighborhood in which someone lives. This thesis shows that health clusters in Dutch neighborhoods and that this is not only a composition effect (that

Characteristics of Prepared Food Sources in Low-Income Neighborhoods of Baltimore City

OpenAIRE

LEE, SEUNG HEE; ROWAN, MEGAN T.; POWELL, LISA M.; NEWMAN, SARA; KLASSEN, ANN CARROLL; FRICK, KEVIN D.; ANDERSON, JENNIFER; GITTELSOHN, JOEL

2010-01-01

The food environment is associated with obesity risk and diet-related chronic diseases. Despite extensive research conducted on retail food stores, little is known about prepared food sources (PFSs). We conducted an observational assessment of all PFSs (N = 92) in low-income neighborhoods in Baltimore. The most common PFSs were carry-outs, which had the lowest availability of healthy food choices. Only a small proportion of these carry-outs offered healthy sides, whole wheat bread, or entrée ...

Does Neighborhood Social Capital Buffer the Effects of Maternal Depression on Adolescent Behavior Problems?

Science.gov (United States)

Mays, Vickie M.; Cochran, Susan D.

2014-01-01

Neighborhood characteristics have been shown to impact child well-being. However, it remains unclear how these factors combine with family characteristics to influence child development. The current study helps develop that understanding by investigating how neighborhoods directly impact child and adolescent behavior problems as well as moderate the influence of family characteristics on behavior. Using multilevel linear models, we examined the relationship among neighborhood conditions (poverty and social capital) and maternal depression on child and adolescent behavior problems. The sample included 741 children, age 5–11, and 564 adolescents, age 12–17. Outcomes were internalizing (e.g. anxious/depressed) and externalizing (e.g. aggressive/hyperactive) behavior problems. Neighborhood poverty and maternal depression were both positively associated with behavior problems for children and adolescents. However, while neighborhood social capital was not directly associated with behavior problems, the interaction of social capital and maternal depression was significantly related to behavior problems for adolescents. This interaction showed that living in neighborhoods with higher levels of social capital attenuated the relationship between maternal depression and adolescent behavior problems and confirmed the expectation that raising healthy well-adjusted children depends not only on the family, but also the context in which the family lives. PMID:24659390

Does neighborhood social capital buffer the effects of maternal depression on adolescent behavior problems?

Science.gov (United States)

Delany-Brumsey, Ayesha; Mays, Vickie M; Cochran, Susan D

2014-06-01

Neighborhood characteristics have been shown to impact child well-being. However, it remains unclear how these factors combine with family characteristics to influence child development. The current study helps develop that understanding by investigating how neighborhoods directly impact child and adolescent behavior problems as well as moderate the influence of family characteristics on behavior. Using multilevel linear models, we examined the relationship among neighborhood conditions (poverty and social capital) and maternal depression on child and adolescent behavior problems. The sample included 741 children, age 5–11, and 564 adolescents, age 12–17. Outcomes were internalizing (e.g. anxious/depressed) and externalizing (e.g. aggressive/hyperactive) behavior problems. Neighborhood poverty and maternal depression were both positively associated with behavior problems for children and adolescents. However, while neighborhood social capital was not directly associated with behavior problems, the interaction of social capital and maternal depression was significantly related to behavior problems for adolescents. This interaction showed that living in neighborhoods with higher levels of social capital attenuated the relationship between maternal depression and adolescent behavior problems and confirmed the expectation that raising healthy well-adjusted children depends not only on the family, but also the context in which the family lives.

International comparisons of the associations between objective measures of the built environment and transport-related walking and cycling

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christiansen, Lars B; Cerin, Ester; Badland, Hannah

2016-01-01

with transport-related walking and cycling. METHODS: This cross-sectional study maximized variation of environments and demographics by including multiple countries and by selecting adult participants living in neighborhoods based on higher and lower classifications of objectively measured walkability...

Durham Neighborhood Compass Neighborhoods

Data.gov (United States)

City and County of Durham, North Carolina — The Durham Neighborhood Compass is a quantitative indicators project with qualitative values, integrating data from local government, the Census Bureau and other...

Perceptions as the crucial link? The mediating role of neighborhood perceptions in the relationship between the neighborhood context and neighborhood cohesion

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lamé ris, J.G.; Hipp, J.R.; Tolsma, J.

2018-01-01

This study examines the effects of neighborhood racial in-group size, economic deprivation and the prevalence of crime on neighborhood cohesion among U.S. whites. We explore to what extent residents' perceptions of their neighborhood mediate these macro-micro relationships. We use a recent

China’s Neighborhood Environment and Options for Neighborhood Strategy

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

ZHOU FANGYIN

2016-01-01

Since the 18th CPC National Congress,especially since the Central Conference on Work Relating to Neighborhood Diplomacy held in October 2013,China’s neighborhood diplomacy has been energetic,proactive and promising,achieving important results in several aspects.At the same time,it is also in face of challenges

Neighborhood Quality and Labor Market Outcomes: Evidence from Quasi-Random Neighborhood Assignment of Immigrants

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Damm, Anna Piil

2012-01-01

of men living in the neighborhood, but positively affected by the employment rate of non-Western immigrant men and co-national men living in the neighborhood. This is strong evidence that immigrants find jobs in part through their employed immigrant and co-ethnic contacts in the neighborhood of residence...... successfully addresses the methodological problem of endogenous neighborhood selection. Taking account of location sorting, living in a socially deprived neighborhood does not affect labor market outcomes of refugee men. Furthermore, their labor market outcomes are not affected by the overall employment rate...

Does Walkability Contribute to Geographic Variation in Psychosocial Distress? A Spatial Analysis of 91,142 Members of the 45 and Up Study in Sydney, Australia.

Science.gov (United States)

Mayne, Darren J; Morgan, Geoffrey G; Jalaludin, Bin B; Bauman, Adrian E

2018-02-06

Walkability describes the capacity of the built environment to promote walking, and has been proposed as a potential focus for community-level mental health planning. We evaluated this possibility by examining the contribution of area-level walkability to variation in psychosocial distress in a population cohort at spatial scales comparable to those used for regional planning in Sydney, Australia. Data on psychosocial distress were analysed for 91,142 respondents to the 45 and Up Study baseline survey between January 2006 and April 2009. We fit conditional auto regression models at the postal area level to obtain smoothed "disease maps" for psychosocial distress, and assess its association with area-level walkability after adjusting for individual- and area-level factors. Prevalence of psychosocial distress was 7.8%; similar for low (7.9%), low-medium (7.9%), medium-high (8.0%), and high (7.4%) walkability areas; and decreased with reducing postal area socioeconomic disadvantage: 12.2% (most), 9.3%, 7.5%, 5.9%, and 4.7% (least). Unadjusted disease maps indicated strong geographic clustering of psychosocial distress with 99.0% of excess prevalence due to unobserved and spatially structured factors, which was reduced to 55.3% in fully adjusted maps. Spatial and unstructured variance decreased by 97.3% and 39.8% after adjusting for individual-level factors, and another 2.3% and 4.2% with the inclusions of area-level factors. Excess prevalence of psychosocial distress in postal areas was attenuated in adjusted models but remained spatially structured. Postal area prevalence of high psychosocial distress is geographically clustered in Sydney, but is unrelated to postal area walkability. Area-level socioeconomic disadvantage makes a small contribution to this spatial structure; however, community-level mental health planning will likely deliver greatest benefits by focusing on individual-level contributors to disease burden and inequality associated with psychosocial

Contribution of Streetscape Audits to Explanation of Physical Activity in Four Age Groups Based on the Microscale Audit of Pedestrian Streetscapes (MAPS)

Science.gov (United States)

Cain, Kelli L.; Millstein, Rachel A.; Sallis, James F.; Conway, Terry L.; Gavand, Kavita A.; Frank, Lawrence D.; Saelens, Brian E.; Geremia, Carrie M.; Chapman, James; Adams, Marc A.; Glanz, Karen; King, Abby C.

2014-01-01

Ecological models of physical activity emphasize the effects of environmental influences. “Microscale” streetscape features that may affect pedestrian experience have received less research attention than macroscale walkability (e.g., residential density). The Microscale Audit of Pedestrian Streetscapes (MAPS) measures street design, transit stops, sidewalk qualities, street crossing amenities, and features impacting aesthetics. The present study examined associations of microscale attributes with multiple physical activity (PA) measures across four age groups. Areas in the San Diego, Seattle, and the Baltimore metropolitan areas, USA, were selected that varied on macro-level walkability and neighborhood income. Participants (n=3677) represented four age groups (children, adolescents, adults, older adults). MAPS audits were conducted along a 0.25 mile route along the street network from participant residences toward the nearest non-residential destination. MAPS data were collected in 2009–2010. Subscale and overall summary scores were created. Walking/biking for transportation and leisure/neighborhood PA were measured with age-appropriate surveys. Objective PA was measured with accelerometers. Mixed linear regression analyses were adjusted for macro-level walkability. Across all age groups 51.2%, 22.1%, and 15.7% of all MAPS scores were significantly associated with walking/biking for transport, leisure/neighborhood PA, and objectively-measured PA, respectively. Supporting the ecological model principle of behavioral specificity, destinations and land use, streetscape, street segment, and intersection variables were more related to transport walking/biking, while aesthetic variables were related to leisure/neighborhood PA. The overall score was related to objective PA in children and older adults. Present findings provide strong evidence that microscale environment attributes are related to PA across the lifespan. Improving microscale features may be a

Disparities in pedestrian streetscape environments by income and race/ethnicity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christina M. Thornton

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Growing evidence suggests that microscale pedestrian environment features, such as sidewalk quality, crosswalks, and neighborhood esthetics, may affect residents’ physical activity. This study examined whether disparities in microscale pedestrian features existed between neighborhoods of differing socioeconomic and racial/ethnic composition. Using the validated Microscale Audit of Pedestrian Streetscapes (MAPS, pedestrian environment features were assessed by trained observers along 1/4-mile routes (N=2117 in neighborhoods in three US metropolitan regions (San Diego, Seattle, and Baltimore during 2009–2010. Neighborhoods, defined as Census block groups, were selected to maximize variability in median income and macroscale walkability factors (e.g., density. Mixed-model linear regression analyses explored main and interaction effects of income and race/ethnicity separately by region. Across all three regions, low-income neighborhoods and neighborhoods with a high proportion of racial/ethnic minorities had poorer esthetics and social elements (e.g., graffiti, broken windows, litter than neighborhoods with higher median income or fewer racial/ethnic minorities (p<.05. However, there were also instances where neighborhoods with higher incomes and fewer racial/ethnic minorities had worse or absent pedestrian amenities such as sidewalks, crosswalks, and intersections (p<.05. Overall, disparities in microscale pedestrian features occurred more frequently in residential as compared to mixed-use routes with one or more commercial destination. However, considerable variation existed between regions as to which microscale pedestrian features were unfavorable and whether the unfavorable features were associated with neighborhood income or racial/ethnic composition. The variation in pedestrian streetscapes across cities suggests that findings from single-city studies are not generalizable. Local streetscape audits are recommended to identify disparities

Residential proximity to urban centres, local-area walkability and change in waist circumference among Australian adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Sugiyama, Takemi; Niyonsenga, Theo; Howard, Natasha J; Coffee, Neil T; Paquet, Catherine; Taylor, Anne W; Daniel, Mark

2016-12-01

Consistent associations have been observed between macro-level urban sprawl and overweight/obesity, but whether residential proximity to urban centres predicts adiposity change over time has not been established. Further, studies of local-area walkability and overweight/obesity have generated mixed results. This study examined 4-year change in adults' waist circumference in relation to proximity to city centre, proximity to closest suburban centre, and local-area walkability. Data were from adult participants (n=2080) of a cohort study on chronic conditions and health risk factors in Adelaide, Australia. Baseline data were collected in 2000-03 with a follow-up in 2005-06. Multilevel regression models examined in 2015 the independent and joint associations of the three environmental measures with change in waist circumference, accounting for socio-demographic covariates. On average, waist circumference rose by 1.8cm over approximately 4years. Greater distance to city centre was associated with a greater increase in waist circumference. Participants living in distal areas (20km or further from city centre) had a greater increase in waist circumference (mean increase: 2.4cm) compared to those in proximal areas (9km or less, mean increase: 1.2cm). Counterintuitively, living in the vicinity of a suburban centre was associated with a greater increase in adiposity. Local-area walkability was not significantly associated with the outcome. Residential proximity to city centre appears to be protective against excessive increases in waist circumference. Controlled development and targeted interventions in the urban fringe may be needed to tackle obesity. Additional research needs to assess behaviours that mediate relationships between sprawl and obesity. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Connecting Schools to Neighborhood Revitalization: The Case of the Maple Heights Neighborhood Association

Science.gov (United States)

Pesch, Lawrence P.

2014-01-01

This case study focuses on the way a neighborhood association connects schools to broad change in an urban neighborhood of a large Midwestern city. The first section provides a review of the literature on community involvement in school and neighborhood reform. It reviews the historical origins of the current school-community relationship, the…

Obesity and the built environment: does the density of neighborhood fast-food outlets matter?

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Fuzhong; Harmer, Peter; Cardinal, Bradley J; Bosworth, Mark; Johnson-Shelton, Deb

2009-01-01

Examine variation in obesity among older adults relative to the joint influences of density of neighborhood fast food outlets and residents' behavioral, psychosocial, and sociodemographic characteristics. Cross-sectional and multilevel design. Census block groups, used as a proxy for neighborhoods, within the metropolitan region's Urban Growth Boundary in Portland, Oregon. A total of 1221 residents (mean age, 65 years) recruited randomly from 120 neighborhoods (48% response rate). A geographic information system-based measure of fast food restaurant density across 120 neighborhoods was created. Residents within the sampled neighborhoods were assessed with respect to their body mass indices (BMI), frequency of visits to local fast food restaurants, fried food consumption, levels of physical activity, self-efficacy of eating fruits and vegetables, household income, and race/ethnicity. Multilevel logistic regression analyses. Significant associations were found between resident-level individual characteristics and the likelihood of being obese (BMI > or = 30) for neighborhoods with a high-density of fast food restaurants in comparison with those with a low density: odds ratios for obesity, 95% confidence intervals (CI), were 1.878 (CI, 1.006-3.496) for weekly visits to local fast food restaurants; 1.792 (CI, 1.006-3.190) for not meeting physical activity recommendations; 1.212 (CI, 1.057-1.391) for low confidence in eating healthy food; and 8.057 (CI, 1.705-38.086) for non-Hispanic black residents. Increased density of neighborhood fast food outlets was associated with unhealthy lifestyles, poorer psychosocial profiles, and increased risk of obesity among older adults.

Food environment, walkability, and public open spaces are associated with incident development of cardio-metabolic risk factors in a biomedical cohort.

Science.gov (United States)

Paquet, Catherine; Coffee, Neil T; Haren, Matthew T; Howard, Natasha J; Adams, Robert J; Taylor, Anne W; Daniel, Mark

2014-07-01

We investigated whether residential environment characteristics related to food (unhealthful/healthful food sources ratio), walkability and public open spaces (POS; number, median size, greenness and type) were associated with incidence of four cardio-metabolic risk factors (pre-diabetes/diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidaemia, abdominal obesity) in a biomedical cohort (n=3205). Results revealed that the risk of developing pre-diabetes/diabetes was lower for participants in areas with larger POS and greater walkability. Incident abdominal obesity was positively associated with the unhealthful food environment index. No associations were found with hypertension or dyslipidaemia. Results provide new evidence for specific, prospective associations between the built environment and cardio-metabolic risk factors. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Built Environment, Selected Risk Factors and Major Cardiovascular Disease Outcomes: A Systematic Review.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pasmore Malambo

Full Text Available Built environment attributes have been linked to cardiovascular disease (CVD risk. Therefore, identifying built environment attributes that are associated with CVD risk is relevant for facilitating effective public health interventions.To conduct a systematic review of literature to examine the influence of built environmental attributes on CVD risks.Multiple database searches including Science direct, CINAHL, Masterfile Premier, EBSCO and manual scan of reference lists were conducted.Studies published in English between 2005 and April 2015 were included if they assessed one or more of the neighborhood environmental attributes in relation with any major CVD outcomes and selected risk factors among adults.Author(s, country/city, sex, age, sample size, study design, tool used to measure neighborhood environment, exposure and outcome assessments and associations were extracted from eligible studies.Eighteen studies met the inclusion criteria. Most studies used both cross-sectional design and Geographic Information System (GIS to assess the neighborhood environmental attributes. Neighborhood environmental attributes were significantly associated with CVD risk and CVD outcomes in the expected direction. Residential density, safety from traffic, recreation facilities, street connectivity and high walkable environment were associated with physical activity. High walkable environment, fast food restaurants, supermarket/grocery stores were associated with blood pressure, body mass index, diabetes mellitus and metabolic syndrome. High density traffic, road proximity and fast food restaurants were associated with CVDs outcomes.This study confirms the relationship between neighborhood environment attributes and CVDs and risk factors. Prevention programs should account for neighborhood environmental attributes in the communities where people live.

Measuring physical neighborhood quality related to health.

Science.gov (United States)

Rollings, Kimberly A; Wells, Nancy M; Evans, Gary W

2015-04-29

Although sociodemographic factors are one aspect of understanding the effects of neighborhood environments on health, equating neighborhood quality with socioeconomic status ignores the important role of physical neighborhood attributes. Prior work on neighborhood environments and health has relied primarily on level of socioeconomic disadvantage as the indicator of neighborhood quality without attention to physical neighborhood quality. A small but increasing number of studies have assessed neighborhood physical characteristics. Findings generally indicate that there is an association between living in deprived neighborhoods and poor health outcomes, but rigorous evidence linking specific physical neighborhood attributes to particular health outcomes is lacking. This paper discusses the methodological challenges and limitations of measuring physical neighborhood environments relevant to health and concludes with proposed directions for future work.

Reconciling phonological neighborhood effects in speech production through single trial analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Sadat, Jasmin; Martin, Clara D; Costa, Albert; Alario, F-Xavier

2014-02-01

A crucial step for understanding how lexical knowledge is represented is to describe the relative similarity of lexical items, and how it influences language processing. Previous studies of the effects of form similarity on word production have reported conflicting results, notably within and across languages. The aim of the present study was to clarify this empirical issue to provide specific constraints for theoretical models of language production. We investigated the role of phonological neighborhood density in a large-scale picture naming experiment using fine-grained statistical models. The results showed that increasing phonological neighborhood density has a detrimental effect on naming latencies, and re-analyses of independently obtained data sets provide supplementary evidence for this effect. Finally, we reviewed a large body of evidence concerning phonological neighborhood density effects in word production, and discussed the occurrence of facilitatory and inhibitory effects in accuracy measures. The overall pattern shows that phonological neighborhood generates two opposite forces, one facilitatory and one inhibitory. In cases where speech production is disrupted (e.g. certain aphasic symptoms), the facilitatory component may emerge, but inhibitory processes dominate in efficient naming by healthy speakers. These findings are difficult to accommodate in terms of monitoring processes, but can be explained within interactive activation accounts combining phonological facilitation and lexical competition. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Neighborhood spaces

OpenAIRE

D. C. Kent; Won Keun Min

2002-01-01

Neighborhood spaces, pretopological spaces, and closure spaces are topological space generalizations which can be characterized by means of their associated interior (or closure) operators. The category NBD of neighborhood spaces and continuous maps contains PRTOP as a bicoreflective subcategory and CLS as a bireflective subcategory, whereas TOP is bireflectively embedded in PRTOP and bicoreflectively embedded in CLS. Initial and final structures are described in these categories, and it is s...

Framework for developing a spatial walkability index (SWI) for the light-rail transit (LRT) stations in Kuala Lumpur city centre using analytical network process (ANP) and GIS

Science.gov (United States)

Naharudin, Nabilah; Ahamad, Mohd Sanusi S.; Sadullah, Ahmad Farhan Mohd

2017-10-01

In support to the nation's goal of developing a liveable city, Malaysian government aims to improve the mobility in Kuala Lumpur by providing good quality transit services across the city. However, the public starts to demand for more than just a connectivity between two points. They want their transit journey to be comfortable and pleasant from the very first mile. The key here is the first and last mile (FLM) of the transit service which defines their journey to access the station itself. The question is, does the existing transit services' FLM satisfy public's needs? Therefore, many studies had emerged in attempt to assess the pedestrian-friendliness. While most of them did base on the pedestrian's perceptions, there were also studies that spatially measured the connectivity and accessibility to various landuses and point of interests. While both can be a good method, their integration could actually produce a better assessment. However, till date, only a few studies had attempted to do so. This paper proposes a framework to develop a Spatial Walkability Index (SWI) by integrating a multicriteria evaluation technique, Analytical Network Process (ANP) and network analysis on geographical information system (GIS) platform. First, ANP will aggregate the degree of importance for each walkability criteria based on the pedestrian's perceptions. Then, the network analysis will use the weighted criteria as attributes to find the walkable routes within half mile radius from each station. The index will be calculated by rationing the total length of walkable routes in respect to the available footpath. The final outcome is a percentage of walkable FLM transit routes for each station which will be named as the SWI. It is expected that the developed framework can be applied in other cities across the globe. It can also be improvised to suit the demand and purpose there.

How Neighborhood Disadvantage Reduces Birth Weight

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Emily Moiduddin

2008-06-01

Full Text Available In this analysis we connect structural neighborhood conditions to birth outcomes through their intermediate effects on mothers’ perceptions of neighborhood danger and their tendency to abuse substances during pregnancy. We hypothesize that neighborhood poverty and racial/ethnic concentration combine to produce environments that mothers perceive as unsafe, thereby increasing the likelihood of negative coping behaviors (substance abuse. We expect these behaviors, in turn, to produce lower birth weights. Using data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, a survey of a cohort of children born between 1998 and 2000 and their mothers in large cities in the United States, we find little evidence to suggest that neighborhood circumstances have strong, direct effects on birth weight. Living in a neighborhood with more foreigners had a positive effect on birth weight. To the extent that neighborhood conditions influence birth weight, the effect mainly occurs through an association with perceived neighborhood danger and subsequent negative coping behaviors. Poverty and racial/ethnic concentration increase a mother’s sense that her neighborhood is unsafe. The perception of an unsafe neighborhood, in turn, associates with a greater likelihood of smoking cigarettes and using illegal drugs, and these behaviors have strong and significant effects in reducing birth weight. However, demographic characteristics, rather than perceived danger or substance abuse, mediate the influence of neighborhood characteristics on birth weight.

Community, Democracy, and Neighborhood News.

Science.gov (United States)

Hindman, Elizabeth Blanks

1998-01-01

Contributes to scholarship on democracy, community, and journalism by examining the interplay between communication, democracy, and community at an inner-city neighborhood newspaper. Concludes that, through its focus on neighborhood culture, acknowledgment of conflict, and attempts to provide a forum for the neighborhood's self-definition, the…

A Cost-Benefit Analysis of a State-Funded Healthy Homes Program for Residents With Asthma: Findings From the New York State Healthy Neighborhoods Program.

Science.gov (United States)

Gomez, Marta; Reddy, Amanda L; Dixon, Sherry L; Wilson, Jonathan; Jacobs, David E

Despite considerable evidence that the economic and other benefits of asthma home visits far exceed their cost, few health care payers reimburse or provide coverage for these services. To evaluate the cost and savings of the asthma intervention of a state-funded healthy homes program. Pre- versus postintervention comparisons of asthma outcomes for visits conducted during 2008-2012. The New York State Healthy Neighborhoods Program operates in select communities with a higher burden of housing-related illness and associated risk factors. One thousand households with 550 children and 731 adults with active asthma; 791 households with 448 children and 551 adults with asthma events in the previous year. The program provides home environmental assessments and low-cost interventions to address asthma trigger-promoting conditions and asthma self-management. Conditions are reassessed 3 to 6 months after the initial visit. Program costs and estimated benefits from changes in asthma medication use, visits to the doctor for asthma, emergency department visits, and hospitalizations over a 12-month follow-up period. For the asthma event group, the per person savings for all medical encounters and medications filled was $1083 per in-home asthma visit, and the average cost of the visit was $302, for a benefit to program cost ratio of 3.58 and net benefit of $781 per asthma visit. For the active asthma group, per person savings was $613 per asthma visit, with a benefit to program cost ratio of 2.03 and net benefit of $311. Low-intensity, home-based, environmental interventions for people with asthma decrease the cost of health care utilization. Greater reductions are realized when services are targeted toward people with more poorly controlled asthma. While low-intensity approaches may produce more modest benefits, they may also be more feasible to implement on a large scale. Health care payers, and public payers in particular, should consider expanding coverage, at least for

Perceived School and Neighborhood Safety, Neighborhood Violence and Academic Achievement in Urban School Children

Science.gov (United States)

AJ, Milam; CDM, Furr-Holden; PJ, Leaf

2010-01-01

Community and school violence continue to be a major public health problem, especially among urban children and adolescents. Little research has focused on the effect of school safety and neighborhood violence on academic performance. This study examines the effect of the school and neighborhood climate on academic achievement among a population of 3rd-5th grade students in an urban public school system. Community and school safety were assessed using the School Climate Survey, an annual city-wide assessment of student’s perception of school and community safety. Community violence was measured using the Neighborhood Inventory for Environmental Typology, an objective observational assessment of neighborhood characteristics. Academic achievement was measured using the Maryland State Assessment (MSA), a standardized exam given to all Maryland 3rd-8th graders. School Climate Data and MSA data were aggregated by school and grade. Objective assessments of neighborhood environment and students’ self-reported school and neighborhood safety were both strongly associated with academic performance. Increasing neighborhood violence was associated with statistically significant decreases from 4.2%-8.7% in math and reading achievement; increasing perceived safety was associated with significant increases in achievement from 16%-22%. These preliminary findings highlight the adverse impact of perceived safety and community violence exposure on primary school children’s academic performance. PMID:21197388

Campus Walkability, Pedometer-Determined Steps, and Moderate-to-Vigorous Physical Activity: A Comparison of 2 University Campuses

Science.gov (United States)

Sisson, Susan B.; Mcclain, James J.; Tudor-Locke, Catrine

2008-01-01

Objective and Participants: At 2 Arizona State University (ASU) campuses, the authors measured student activity and distance walked on campus, as well as student-reported walkability around the student union. Methods: Students from ASU-Polytechnic (n = 20, 33% male) and ASU-Tempe (n = 20, 60% male) recorded distance walked on campus and wore…

Neighborhood Quality and Labor Market Outcomes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Damm, Anna Piil

of men living in the neighborhood, but positively affected by the employment rate of non-Western immigrant men and co-national men living in the neighborhood. This is strong evidence that immigrants find jobs in part through their employed immigrant and co-ethnic contacts in the neighborhood of residence...... successfully addresses the methodological problem of endogenous neighborhood selection. Taking account of location sorting, living in a socially deprived neighborhood does not affect labor market outcomes of refugee men. Furthermore, their labor market outcomes are not affected by the overall employment rate...

Neighborhood cohesion, neighborhood disorder, and cardiometabolic risk.

Science.gov (United States)

Robinette, Jennifer W; Charles, Susan T; Gruenewald, Tara L

2018-02-01

Perceptions of neighborhood disorder (trash, vandalism) and cohesion (neighbors trust one another) are related to residents' health. Affective and behavioral factors have been identified, but often in studies using geographically select samples. We use a nationally representative sample (n = 9032) of United States older adults from the Health and Retirement Study to examine cardiometabolic risk in relation to perceptions of neighborhood cohesion and disorder. Lower cohesion is significantly related to greater cardiometabolic risk in 2006/2008 and predicts greater risk four years later (2010/2012). The longitudinal relation is partially accounted for by anxiety and physical activity. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Walkability around primary schools and area deprivation across Scotland.

Science.gov (United States)

Macdonald, Laura; McCrorie, Paul; Nicholls, Natalie; Ellaway, Anne

2016-04-14

A number of studies based in the US, Canada, and Australia, have found evidence of associations between the built environment (BE) and mode of transport to school, and links between active travel and deprivation. Limited research in the UK compares potential BE supports for walking to school by area deprivation. Within this study, we gathered data on BE attributes previously linked to active travel, i.e., street/path connectivity, and dwelling density, created a composite 'walkability score' (WS) for areas around primary schools across urban Scotland, and explored whether poorer areas exhibit lower scores than more affluent areas, or vice versa. We consider this to be a novel approach as few studies have compared BE features by deprivation across a whole country. Address and road/path maps were obtained and primary schools (N = 937) across mainland Scotland were mapped. Schools were attributed income deprivation scores (scores divided into quintiles (Q1: least deprived, Q5: most deprived)). Catchment area (CA) boundaries, i.e., the geographic area representing eligibility for local school attendance, were drawn around schools, and WS calculated for each CA. We compared mean WS by income quintile (ANOVA), for all local authorities (LAs) combined (N = 29), and separately for the four LAs with the greatest number of schools included in the analysis. For all LAs combined, the least deprived quintile (Q1) showed a significantly lower WS (-0.61), than quintiles 3, 4 and 5 (Q2: -0.04 (non-sig), Q3: 0.38, Q4: 0.09, Q5: 0.18); while for Glasgow the second least deprived quintile (Q2) showed significantly higher WS (Q1: 1.35, Q2: 1.73), than middling (Q3: 0.18) and most deprived quintiles (Q4: 0.06, Q5: -0.10). WS differ by deprivation with patterns varying depending on the spatial scale of the analysis. It is essential that less walkable areas are provided with the resources to improve opportunities to engage in active travel.

Who Gentrifies Low-Income Neighborhoods?

Science.gov (United States)

McKinnish, Terra; Walsh, Randall; White, T Kirk

2010-03-01

This paper uses confidential Census data, specifically the 1990 and 2000 Census Long Form data, to study demographic processes in neighborhoods that gentrified during the 1990's. In contrast to previous studies, the analysis is conducted at the more refined census-tract level, with a narrower definition of gentrification and more closely matched comparison neighborhoods. Furthermore, our access to individual-level data with census tract identifiers allows us to separately identify recent in-migrants and long-term residents. Our results indicate that, on average, the demographic flows associated with the gentrification of urban neighborhoods during the 1990's are not consistent with displacement and harm to minority households. In fact, taken as a whole, our results suggest that gentrification of predominantly black neighborhoods creates neighborhoods that are attractive to middle-class black households.

Neighborhood-Specific and General Social Support: Which Buffers the Effect of Neighborhood Disorder on Depression?

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Joongbaeck; Ross, Catherine E.

2009-01-01

Is neighborhood-specific social support the most effective type of social support for buffering the effect of neighborhood disorder on depression? Matching theory suggests that it is. The authors extend the research on neighborhood disorder and adult depression by showing that individuals who have higher levels of both general and…

Community gardening in poor neighborhoods in France: A way to re-think food practices?

Science.gov (United States)

Martin, Pauline; Consalès, Jean-Noël; Scheromm, Pascale; Marchand, Paul; Ghestem, Florence; Darmon, Nicole

2017-09-01

Social inequalities in diet are attributed to sociocultural determinants, economic constraints, and unequal access to healthy food. Fruits and vegetables are lacking in the diets of disadvantaged populations. The objective was to test the hypothesis that, in poor neighborhoods, community gardeners will have larger supply of healthy food, especially fruit and vegetables, than non-gardeners. We examined community gardens from the perspective of production, economics and nutrition, and social and symbolic dimensions, through multidisciplinary investigations involving women with access to a community garden plot in a poor neighborhood of Marseille, France. Gardeners' monthly household food supplies (purchases and garden production) were analyzed and compared with those of women with a similar socio-economic profile living in the same neighborhoods, without access to a garden. Twenty-one gardeners participated. Only eleven of them harvested during the month of the study, and the amount they collected averaged 53 g of produce per household member per day. Whether they harvested or not, most gardeners gave preference to diversity, taste and healthiness of produce over quantity produced. Interviews revealed a value assigned to social, cultural and symbolic dimensions: pride in producing and cooking their own produce, related self-esteem, and sharing their produce at the meal table. The only significant difference between the food supplies of gardener and non-gardener households was seen for fruit and vegetables (369 vs. 211 g/d per person). This difference was due to larger purchases of fruit and vegetables, and not to higher quantities produced. In spite of the cross-sectional nature of our study and the small quantities harvested, our results suggest that having access to a community garden could encourage socio-economically disadvantaged women to adopt dietary practices that more closely meet dietary recommendations. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Urbanism, Neighborhood Context, and Social Networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Cornwell, Erin York; Behler, Rachel L

2015-09-01

Theories of urbanism suggest that the urban context erodes individuals' strong social ties with friends and family. Recent research has narrowed focus to the neighborhood context, emphasizing how localized structural disadvantage affects community-level cohesion and social capital. In this paper, we argue that neighborhood context also shapes social ties with friends and family- particularly for community-dwelling seniors. We hypothesize that neighborhood disadvantage, residential instability, and disorder restrict residents' abilities to cultivate close relationships with neighbors and non-neighbor friends and family. Using data from the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP), we find that older adults who live in disadvantaged neighborhoods have smaller social networks. Neighborhood disadvantage is also associated with less close network ties and less frequent interaction - but only among men. Furthermore, residents of disordered neighborhoods have smaller networks and weaker ties. We urge scholars to pay greater attention to how neighborhood context contributes to disparities in network-based access to resources.

The neighborhoods they live in: the effects of neighborhood residence on child and adolescent outcomes.

Science.gov (United States)

Leventhal, T; Brooks-Gunn, J

2000-03-01

This article provides a comprehensive review of research on the effects of neighborhood residence on child and adolescent well-being. The first section reviews key methodological issues. The following section considers links between neighborhood characteristics and child outcomes and suggests the importance of high socioeconomic status (SES) for achievement and low SES and residential instability for behavioral/emotional outcomes. The third section identifies 3 pathways (institutional resources, relationships, and norms/collective efficacy) through which neighborhoods might influence development, and which represent an extension of models identified by C. Jencks and S. Mayer (1990) and R. J. Sampson (1992). The models provide a theoretical base for studying neighborhood mechanisms and specify different levels (individual, family, school, peer, community) at which processes may operate. Implications for an emerging developmental framework for research on neighborhoods are discussed.

Building a National Neighborhood Dataset From Geotagged Twitter Data for Indicators of Happiness, Diet, and Physical Activity.

Science.gov (United States)

Nguyen, Quynh C; Li, Dapeng; Meng, Hsien-Wen; Kath, Suraj; Nsoesie, Elaine; Li, Feifei; Wen, Ming

2016-10-17

food mentions. Surprisingly, fitness centers and nature parks were only modestly associated with higher frequency of physical activity tweets. Greater state-level happiness, positivity toward physical activity, and positivity toward healthy foods, assessed via tweets, were associated with lower all-cause mortality and prevalence of chronic conditions such as obesity and diabetes and lower physical inactivity and smoking, controlling for state median income, median age, and percentage white non-Hispanic. Machine learning algorithms can be built with relatively high accuracy to characterize sentiment, food, and physical activity mentions on social media. Such data can be utilized to construct neighborhood indicators consistently and cost effectively. Access to neighborhood data, in turn, can be leveraged to better understand neighborhood effects and address social determinants of health. We found that neighborhoods with social and economic disadvantage, high urbanicity, and more fast food restaurants may exhibit lower happiness and fewer healthy behaviors.

Who Gentrifies Low-Income Neighborhoods?*

Science.gov (United States)

McKinnish, Terra; Walsh, Randall; White, T. Kirk

2009-01-01

This paper uses confidential Census data, specifically the 1990 and 2000 Census Long Form data, to study demographic processes in neighborhoods that gentrified during the 1990’s. In contrast to previous studies, the analysis is conducted at the more refined census-tract level, with a narrower definition of gentrification and more closely matched comparison neighborhoods. Furthermore, our access to individual-level data with census tract identifiers allows us to separately identify recent in-migrants and long-term residents. Our results indicate that, on average, the demographic flows associated with the gentrification of urban neighborhoods during the 1990’s are not consistent with displacement and harm to minority households. In fact, taken as a whole, our results suggest that gentrification of predominantly black neighborhoods creates neighborhoods that are attractive to middle-class black households. PMID:20161532

Data on healthy food accessibility in Amsterdam, the Netherlands

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Helbich, M; Hagenauer, J

2017-01-01

This data descriptor introduces data on healthy food supplied by supermarkets in the city of Amsterdam, The Netherlands. In addition to two neighborhood variables (i.e., share of autochthons and average housing values), the data comprises three street network-based accessibility measures derived

African Americans’ Access to Healthy Food Options in South Los Angeles Restaurants

Science.gov (United States)

Lewis, LaVonna Blair; Sloane, David C.; Nascimento, Lori Miller; Diamant, Allison L.; Guinyard, Joyce Jones; Yancey, Antronette K.; Flynn, Gwendolyn

2005-01-01

Objectives. We examined availability and food options at restaurants in less affluent (target area) and more affluent (comparison area) areas of Los Angeles County to compare residents’ access to healthy meals prepared and purchased away from home. We also considered environmental prompts that encourage the purchase of various foods. Methods. We designed an instrument to assess the availability, quality, and preparation of food in restaurants. We also assessed advertisements and promotions, cleanliness, and service for each restaurant. We assessed 659 restaurants: 348 in the target area and 311 in the comparison area. Results. The nutritional resource environment in our target area makes it challenging for residents to eat healthy away from home. Poorer neighborhoods with a higher proportion of African American residents have fewer healthy options available, both in food selections and in food preparation; restaurants in these neighborhoods heavily promote unhealthy food options to residents. Conclusions. Environment is important in understanding health status: support for the healthy lifestyle associated with lower risks for disease is difficult in poorer communities with a higher proportion of African American residents. PMID:15798128

Nearest neighbors by neighborhood counting.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Hui

2006-06-01

Finding nearest neighbors is a general idea that underlies many artificial intelligence tasks, including machine learning, data mining, natural language understanding, and information retrieval. This idea is explicitly used in the k-nearest neighbors algorithm (kNN), a popular classification method. In this paper, this idea is adopted in the development of a general methodology, neighborhood counting, for devising similarity functions. We turn our focus from neighbors to neighborhoods, a region in the data space covering the data point in question. To measure the similarity between two data points, we consider all neighborhoods that cover both data points. We propose to use the number of such neighborhoods as a measure of similarity. Neighborhood can be defined for different types of data in different ways. Here, we consider one definition of neighborhood for multivariate data and derive a formula for such similarity, called neighborhood counting measure or NCM. NCM was tested experimentally in the framework of kNN. Experiments show that NCM is generally comparable to VDM and its variants, the state-of-the-art distance functions for multivariate data, and, at the same time, is consistently better for relatively large k values. Additionally, NCM consistently outperforms HEOM (a mixture of Euclidean and Hamming distances), the "standard" and most widely used distance function for multivariate data. NCM has a computational complexity in the same order as the standard Euclidean distance function and NCM is task independent and works for numerical and categorical data in a conceptually uniform way. The neighborhood counting methodology is proven sound for multivariate data experimentally. We hope it will work for other types of data.

Neighborhood Context and Immigrant Young Children's Development

Science.gov (United States)

Leventhal, Tama; Shuey, Elizabeth A.

2014-01-01

This study explored how neighborhood social processes and resources, relevant to immigrant families and immigrant neighborhoods, contribute to young children's behavioral functioning and achievement across diverse racial/ethnic groups. Data were drawn from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods, a neighborhood-based,…

Beyond Neighborhood Food Environments: Distance Traveled to Food Establishments in 5 US Cities, 2009-2011.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Jodi L; Han, Bing; Cohen, Deborah A

2015-08-06

Accurate conceptualizations of neighborhood environments are important in the design of policies and programs aiming to improve access to healthy food. Neighborhood environments are often defined by administrative units or buffers around points of interest. An individual may eat and shop for food within or outside these areas, which may not reflect accessibility of food establishments. This article examines the relevance of different definitions of food environments. We collected data on trips to food establishments using a 1-week food and travel diary and global positioning system devices. Spatial-temporal clustering methods were applied to identify homes and food establishments visited by study participants. We identified 513 visits to food establishments (sit-down restaurants, fast-food/convenience stores, malls or stores, groceries/supermarkets) by 135 participants in 5 US cities. The average distance between the food establishments and homes was 2.6 miles (standard deviation, 3.7 miles). Only 34% of the visited food establishments were within participants' neighborhood census tract. Buffers of 1 or 2 miles around the home covered 55% to 65% of visited food establishments. There was a significant difference in the mean distances to food establishments types (P = .008). On average, participants traveled the longest distances to restaurants and the shortest distances to groceries/supermarkets. Many definitions of the neighborhood food environment are misaligned with individual travel patterns, which may help explain the mixed findings in studies of neighborhood food environments. Neighborhood environments defined by actual travel activity may provide more insight on how the food environment influences dietary and food shopping choices.

NeighborHood

OpenAIRE

Corominola Ocaña, Víctor

2015-01-01

NeighborHood és una aplicació basada en el núvol, adaptable a qualsevol dispositiu (mòbil, tablet, desktop). L'objectiu d'aquesta aplicació és poder permetre als usuaris introduir a les persones del seu entorn més immediat i que aquestes persones siguin visibles per a la resta d'usuaris. NeighborHood es una aplicación basada en la nube, adaptable a cualquier dispositivo (móvil, tablet, desktop). El objetivo de esta aplicación es poder permitir a los usuarios introducir a las personas de su...

Neighborhood Concentrated Disadvantage and Dating Violence among Urban Adolescents: The Mediating Role of Neighborhood Social Processes.

Science.gov (United States)

Garthe, Rachel C; Gorman-Smith, Deborah; Gregory, Joshua; E Schoeny, Michael

2018-03-14

The link between relationship violence and aspects of neighborhood concentrated disadvantage (e.g., percent of unemployed adults, percent of families below poverty level), has been established. However, the literature examining neighborhood social processes, including informal social control and social cohesion, in relation to adolescent dating violence has shown mixed results with a limited theoretical foundation and methodology. Using a social disorganization theoretical framework, this study examined the mediating role of these neighborhood social processes in the relation between concentrated disadvantage and adolescent dating violence within an urban context. Participants included 605 adult residents in 30 census tracts and 203 adolescents from neighborhoods on the West and South sides of Chicago. Neighborhood-level concentrated disadvantage was measured via Census data, adult residents reported on neighborhood social processes, and youth reported on dating violence. Informal social control was negatively associated with dating violence, and social cohesion was positively associated with dating violence. A multilevel mediation model showed that concentrated disadvantage was related to higher levels of dating violence via lower levels of informal social control. These results extend social disorganization theory to dating violence within an urban context, while also highlighting the important role of neighborhood processes on relationship violence. Implications for research and intervention programming are discussed. © Society for Community Research and Action 2018.

Association between neighbourhood walkability and metabolic risk factors influenced by physical activity: a cross-sectional study of adults in Toronto, Canada.

Science.gov (United States)

Loo, C K Jennifer; Greiver, Michelle; Aliarzadeh, Babak; Lewis, Daniel

2017-04-08

To determine whether neighbourhood walkability is associated with clinical measures of obesity, hypertension, diabetes and dyslipidaemia in an urban adult population. Observational cross-sectional study. Urban primary care patients. 78 023 Toronto residents, aged 18 years and over, who were formally rostered or had at least 2 visits between 2012 and 2014 with a primary care physician participating in the University of Toronto Practice Based Research Network (UTOPIAN), within the Canadian Primary Care Sentinel Surveillance Network (CPCSSN). Differences in average body mass index (BMI), systolic and diastolic blood pressure, fasting blood glucose, haemoglobin A1c (HbA1C), total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein (HDL), low-density lipoprotein and triglyceride between residents in the highest versus the lowest quartile of neighbourhood walkability, as estimated using multivariable linear regression models and stratified by age. Outcomes were objectively measured and were retrieved from primary care electronic medical records. Models adjusted for age, sex, smoking, medications, medical comorbidities and indices of neighbourhood safety and marginalisation. Compared with those in the lowest walkability quartile, individuals in the highest quartile had lower mean BMI (-2.64 kg/m 2 , 95% CI -2.98 to -2.30; pwalkable neighbourhoods and having lower BMI in adults of all ages. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.

Comprehensive Neighborhood Portraits and Child Asthma Disparities.

Science.gov (United States)

Kranjac, Ashley W; Kimbro, Rachel T; Denney, Justin T; Osiecki, Kristin M; Moffett, Brady S; Lopez, Keila N

2017-07-01

Objectives Previous research has established links between child, family, and neighborhood disadvantages and child asthma. We add to this literature by first characterizing neighborhoods in Houston, TX by demographic, economic, and air quality characteristics to establish differences in pediatric asthma diagnoses across neighborhoods. Second, we identify the relative risk of social, economic, and environmental risk factors for child asthma diagnoses. Methods We geocoded and linked electronic pediatric medical records to neighborhood-level social and economic indicators. Using latent profile modeling techniques, we identified Advantaged, Middle-class, and Disadvantaged neighborhoods. We then used a modified version of the Blinder-Oaxaca regression decomposition method to examine differences in asthma diagnoses across children in these different neighborhoods. Results Both compositional (the characteristics of the children and the ambient air quality in the neighborhood) and associational (the relationship between child and air quality characteristics and asthma) differences within the distinctive neighborhood contexts influence asthma outcomes. For example, unequal exposure to PM 2.5 and O 3 among children in Disadvantaged and Middle-class neighborhoods contribute to asthma diagnosis disparities within these contexts. For children in Disadvantaged and Advantaged neighborhoods, associational differences between racial/ethnic and socioeconomic characteristics and asthma diagnoses explain a significant proportion of the gap. Conclusions for Practice Our results provide evidence that differential exposure to pollution and protective factors associated with non-Hispanic White children and children from affluent families contribute to asthma disparities between neighborhoods. Future researchers should consider social and racial inequalities as more proximate drivers, not merely as associated, with asthma disparities in children.

Neighborhood Influences on Perceived Social Support Among Parents: Findings from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods

Science.gov (United States)

Tendulkar, Shalini A.; Koenen, Karestan C.; Dunn, Erin C.; Buka, Stephen; Subramanian, S. V.

2012-01-01

Background Social support is frequently linked to positive parenting behavior. Similarly, studies increasingly show a link between neighborhood residential environment and positive parenting behavior. However, less is known about how the residential environment influences parental social support. To address this gap, we examine the relationship between neighborhood concentrated disadvantage and collective efficacy and the level and change in parental caregiver perceptions of non-familial social support. Methodology/Principal Findings The data for this study came from three data sources, the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (PHDCN) Study's Longitudinal Cohort Survey of caregivers and their offspring, a Community Survey of adult residents in these same neighborhoods and the 1990 Census. Social support is measured at Wave 1 and Wave 3 and neighborhood characteristics are measured at Wave 1. Multilevel linear regression models are fit. The results show that neighborhood collective efficacy is a significant (ß = .04; SE = .02; p = .03), predictor of the positive change in perceived social support over a 7 year period, however, not of the level of social support, adjusting for key compositional variables and neighborhood concentrated disadvantage. In contrast concentrated neighborhood disadvantage is not a significant predictor of either the level or change in social support. Conclusion Our finding suggests that neighborhood collective efficacy may be important for inducing the perception of support from friends in parental caregivers over time. PMID:22493683

Neighborhood influences on perceived social support among parents: findings from the project on human development in Chicago neighborhoods.

Science.gov (United States)

Tendulkar, Shalini A; Koenen, Karestan C; Dunn, Erin C; Buka, Stephen; Subramanian, S V

2012-01-01

Social support is frequently linked to positive parenting behavior. Similarly, studies increasingly show a link between neighborhood residential environment and positive parenting behavior. However, less is known about how the residential environment influences parental social support. To address this gap, we examine the relationship between neighborhood concentrated disadvantage and collective efficacy and the level and change in parental caregiver perceptions of non-familial social support. The data for this study came from three data sources, the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (PHDCN) Study's Longitudinal Cohort Survey of caregivers and their offspring, a Community Survey of adult residents in these same neighborhoods and the 1990 Census. Social support is measured at Wave 1 and Wave 3 and neighborhood characteristics are measured at Wave 1. Multilevel linear regression models are fit. The results show that neighborhood collective efficacy is a significant (ß = .04; SE = .02; p = .03), predictor of the positive change in perceived social support over a 7 year period, however, not of the level of social support, adjusting for key compositional variables and neighborhood concentrated disadvantage. In contrast concentrated neighborhood disadvantage is not a significant predictor of either the level or change in social support. Our finding suggests that neighborhood collective efficacy may be important for inducing the perception of support from friends in parental caregivers over time.

Schools, Neighborhood Risk Factors, and Crime

Science.gov (United States)

Willits, Dale; Broidy, Lisa; Denman, Kristine

2013-01-01

Prior research has identified a link between schools (particularly high schools) and neighborhood crime rates. However, it remains unclear whether the relationship between schools and crime is a reflection of other criminogenic dynamics at the neighborhood level or whether schools influence neighborhood crime patterns independently of other…

What are the associations between neighbourhood walkability and sedentary time in New Zealand adults? The URBAN cross-sectional study.

Science.gov (United States)

Hinckson, Erica; Cerin, Ester; Mavoa, Surzanne; Smith, Melody; Badland, Hannah; Witten, Karen; Kearns, Robin; Schofield, Grant

2017-10-22

We estimated associations between objectively determined neighbourhood 'walkability' attributes and accelerometer-derived sedentary time (ST) by sex, city or type of day. A cross-sectional study. The URBAN (Understanding the Relationship between Activity and Neighbourhoods) study was conducted in 48 neighbourhoods across four cities in New Zealand (August 2008 to October 2010). The response rate was 41% (2029 recruited participants/5007 eligible households approached). In total, 1762 participants (aged 41.4±12.1, mean±SD) met the data inclusion criteria and were included in analyses. The exposure variables were geographical information system (GIS) measures of neighbourhood walkability (ie, street connectivity, residential density, land-use mix, retail footprint area ratio) for street network buffers of 500 m and 1000 m around residential addresses. Participants wore an accelerometer for 7 days. The outcome measure was average daily minutes of ST. Data were available from 1762 participants (aged 41.4±12.1 years; 58% women). No significant main effects of GIS-based neighbourhood walkability measures were found with ST. Retail footprint area ratio was negatively associated with sedentary time in women, significant only for 500 m residential buffers. An increase of 1 decile in street connectivity was significantly associated with a decrease of over 5 min of ST per day in Christchurch residents for both residential buffers. Neighbourhoods with proximal retail and higher street connectivity seem to be associated with less ST. These effects were sex and city specific. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

Distribution of green infrastructure along walkable roads

Science.gov (United States)

Low-income and minority neighborhoods frequently lack healthful resources to which wealthier communities have access. Though important, the addition of facilities such as recreation centers can be costly and take time to implement. Urban green infrastructure, such as street trees...

Internet Bad Neighborhoods Aggregation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Moreira Moura, Giovane; Sadre, R.; Sperotto, Anna; Pras, Aiko; Paschoal Gaspary, L.; De Turk, Filip

Internet Bad Neighborhoods have proven to be an innovative approach for fighting spam. They have also helped to understand how spammers are distributed on the Internet. In our previous works, the size of each bad neighborhood was fixed to a /24 subnetwork. In this paper, however, we investigate if

Negative life events vary by neighborhood and mediate the relation between neighborhood context and psychological well-being.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Katherine King

Full Text Available Researchers have speculated that negative life events are more common in troubled neighborhoods, amplifying adverse effects on health. Using a clustered representative sample of Chicago residents (2001-03; n = 3,105 from the Chicago Community Adult Health Survey, we provide the first documentation that negative life events are highly geographically clustered compared to health outcomes. Associations between neighborhood context and negative life events were also found to vary by event type. We then demonstrate the power of a contextualized approach by testing path models in which life events mediate the relation between neighborhood characteristics and health outcomes, including self-rated health, anxiety, and depression. The indirect paths between neighborhood conditions and health through negative life event exposure are highly significant and large compared to the direct paths from neighborhood conditions to health. Our results indicate that neighborhood conditions can have acute as well as chronic effects on health, and that negative life events are a powerful mechanism by which context may influence health.

Negative life events vary by neighborhood and mediate the relation between neighborhood context and psychological well-being.

Science.gov (United States)

King, Katherine; Ogle, Christin

2014-01-01

Researchers have speculated that negative life events are more common in troubled neighborhoods, amplifying adverse effects on health. Using a clustered representative sample of Chicago residents (2001-03; n = 3,105) from the Chicago Community Adult Health Survey, we provide the first documentation that negative life events are highly geographically clustered compared to health outcomes. Associations between neighborhood context and negative life events were also found to vary by event type. We then demonstrate the power of a contextualized approach by testing path models in which life events mediate the relation between neighborhood characteristics and health outcomes, including self-rated health, anxiety, and depression. The indirect paths between neighborhood conditions and health through negative life event exposure are highly significant and large compared to the direct paths from neighborhood conditions to health. Our results indicate that neighborhood conditions can have acute as well as chronic effects on health, and that negative life events are a powerful mechanism by which context may influence health.

Neighborhood perceptions and allostatic load

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

van Deurzen, Ioana; Rod, Naja Hulvej; Christensen, Ulla

2016-01-01

An influential argument explaining why living in certain neighborhoods can become harmful to one's health maintains that individuals can perceive certain characteristics of the neighborhood as threatening and the prolonged exposure to a threatening environment could induce chronic stress. Following...... this line of argumentation, in the present study we test whether subjective perceptions of neighborhood characteristics relate to an objective measure of stress-related physiological functioning, namely allostatic load (AL). We use a large dataset of 5280 respondents living in different regions of Denmark...... and we account for two alternative mechanisms, i.e., the objective characteristics of the living environment and the socio-economic status of individuals. Our results support the chronic stress mechanisms linking neighborhood quality to health. Heightened perceptions of disorder and pollution were found...

Neighborhood influences on perceived social support among parents: findings from the project on human development in Chicago neighborhoods.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shalini A Tendulkar

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Social support is frequently linked to positive parenting behavior. Similarly, studies increasingly show a link between neighborhood residential environment and positive parenting behavior. However, less is known about how the residential environment influences parental social support. To address this gap, we examine the relationship between neighborhood concentrated disadvantage and collective efficacy and the level and change in parental caregiver perceptions of non-familial social support. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: The data for this study came from three data sources, the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (PHDCN Study's Longitudinal Cohort Survey of caregivers and their offspring, a Community Survey of adult residents in these same neighborhoods and the 1990 Census. Social support is measured at Wave 1 and Wave 3 and neighborhood characteristics are measured at Wave 1. Multilevel linear regression models are fit. The results show that neighborhood collective efficacy is a significant (ß = .04; SE = .02; p = .03, predictor of the positive change in perceived social support over a 7 year period, however, not of the level of social support, adjusting for key compositional variables and neighborhood concentrated disadvantage. In contrast concentrated neighborhood disadvantage is not a significant predictor of either the level or change in social support. CONCLUSION: Our finding suggests that neighborhood collective efficacy may be important for inducing the perception of support from friends in parental caregivers over time.

Neighborhoods, US, 2017, Zillow, SEGS

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — This web service depicts nearly 17,000 neighborhood boundaries in over 650 U.S. cities. Zillow created the neighborhood boundaries and is sharing them with the...

Neighborhood Disadvantage and Physical Function: The Contributions of Neighborhood-Level Perceptions of Safety From Crime and Walking for Recreation.

Science.gov (United States)

Loh, Venurs H Y; Rachele, Jerome N; Brown, Wendy J; Ghani, Fatima; Turrell, Gavin

2018-04-20

Residents of more socioeconomically disadvantaged neighborhoods are more likely to report poorer physical function, although the reasons for this remain unknown. It is possible that neighborhood-level perceptions of safety from crime contribute to this relationship through its association with walking for recreation. Data were obtained from the fourth wave (collected in 2013) of the HABITAT (How Areas in Brisbane Influence HealTh and AcTivity) multilevel longitudinal study of middle- to older-aged adults (46-74 y) residing in 200 neighborhoods in Brisbane, Australia. The data were analyzed separately for men (n = 2190) and women (n = 2977) using multilevel models. Residents of the most disadvantaged neighborhoods had poorer physical function, perceived their neighborhoods to be less safe from crime, and do less walking for recreation. These factors accounted for differences in physical function between disadvantaged and advantaged neighborhoods (24% for men and 25% for women). This study highlights the importance of contextual characteristics, through their associations with behaviors, that can have in explaining the relationship between neighborhood disadvantage and physical function. Interventions aimed at improving neighborhood safety integrated with supportive environments for physical activity may have positive impact on physical function among all socioeconomic groups.

Conduct Disorder and Neighborhood Effects.

Science.gov (United States)

Jennings, Wesley G; Perez, Nicholas M; Reingle Gonzalez, Jennifer M

2018-05-07

There has been a considerable amount of scholarly attention to the relationship between neighborhood effects and conduct disorder, particularly in recent years. Having said this, it has been nearly two decades since a comprehensive synthesis of this literature has been conducted. Relying on a detailed and comprehensive search strategy and inclusion criteria, this article offers a systematic and interdisciplinary review of 47 empirical studies that have examined neighborhood effects and conduct disorder. Described results suggest that there are generally robust linkages between adverse neighborhood factors and conduct disorder and externalizing behavior problems, as 67 of the 93 (72.04%) effect sizes derived from these studies yielded statistically significant neighborhood effects. The review also identifies salient mediating and moderating influences. It discusses study limitations and directions for future research as well.

Planning the Green Walkable City: Conceptualizing Values and Conflicts for Urban Green Space Strategies in Stockholm

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hélène Littke

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Urban green spaces are essential elements of cities, contributing to the quality of life in numerous ways. However, densification strategies create a complex relationship between urban development and the quality, as well as the quantity, of urban green space. This paper examines the Green Walkable City Programme in Stockholm, a document developed to supplement the comprehensive plan as a strategic backbone for green urban planning. Based on interviews and content analysis, this paper identifies and discusses concerns raised in the development of the planning programme, and addresses the importance of urban green space for citizens’ well-being. The new comprehensive plan has introduced a shift in the attitude towards the urban green space in Stockholm. The need for urban growth is used to justify development of green fields, and a focus on the quality, rather than the quantity, of urban green space is promoted. Despite this progress, the public requests definitions for this quality approach and fears that nature within the city will be “parkified”. Therefore, this paper offers a critical reflection on the role of the Green Walkable City Programme, its situation within the context of Swedish green urban planning, and various areas of concern that have been highlighted.

Neighborhood Ethnic Density as an Explanation for the Academic Achievement of Ethnic Minority Youth Placed in Neighborhood Disadvantage

Science.gov (United States)

Madyun, Na'im; Lee, Moosung

2010-01-01

The underachievement of ethnic minority youth from disadvantaged neighborhoods is a pervasive educational issue this nation is facing. Based on an ecological perspective, we examined the contextual effects of neighborhood ethnic density and neighborhood disadvantage on the academic achievement of Hmong immigrant youths. Utilizing hierarchical…

Geometrical tile design for complex neighborhoods.

Science.gov (United States)

Czeizler, Eugen; Kari, Lila

2009-01-01

Recent research has showed that tile systems are one of the most suitable theoretical frameworks for the spatial study and modeling of self-assembly processes, such as the formation of DNA and protein oligomeric structures. A Wang tile is a unit square, with glues on its edges, attaching to other tiles and forming larger and larger structures. Although quite intuitive, the idea of glues placed on the edges of a tile is not always natural for simulating the interactions occurring in some real systems. For example, when considering protein self-assembly, the shape of a protein is the main determinant of its functions and its interactions with other proteins. Our goal is to use geometric tiles, i.e., square tiles with geometrical protrusions on their edges, for simulating tiled paths (zippers) with complex neighborhoods, by ribbons of geometric tiles with simple, local neighborhoods. This paper is a step toward solving the general case of an arbitrary neighborhood, by proposing geometric tile designs that solve the case of a "tall" von Neumann neighborhood, the case of the f-shaped neighborhood, and the case of a 3 x 5 "filled" rectangular neighborhood. The techniques can be combined and generalized to solve the problem in the case of any neighborhood, centered at the tile of reference, and included in a 3 x (2k + 1) rectangle.

Spatial Supermarket Redlining and Neighborhood Vulnerability: A Case Study of Hartford, Connecticut.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Mengyao; Debarchana, Ghosh

2016-02-01

The disinclination of chain supermarkets to locate or pull out existing stores from impoverished neighborhoods is termed as "supermarket redlining". This paper attempts to map and understand the spatial effects of potential supermarket redlining on food vulnerability in urban disadvantaged neighborhoods of Hartford, Connecticut. Using a combination of statistical and spatial analysis functions, we first, built a Supermarket Redlining Index (SuRI) from five indicators such as sales volume, employee count, accepts food coupons from federally assisted programs, and size and population density of the service area to rank supermarkets in the order of their importance. Second, to understand the effect of redlining, a Supermarket Redlining Impact Model (SuRIM) was built with eleven indicators describing both the socioeconomic and food access vulnerabilities. The interaction of these vulnerabilities would identify the final outcome: neighborhoods where the impact of supermarket redlining would be critical. Results mapped critical areas in the inner-city of Hartford where if a nearby supermarket closes or relocates to a suburb with limited mitigation efforts to gill the grocery gap, a large number of minority, poor, and disadvantaged residents will experience difficulties to access healthy food leading to food insecurity or perhaps a food desert. We also suggest mitigation efforts to reduce the impact of large supermarket closures.

Neighborhood Social Cohesion and Sleep Outcomes in the Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander National Health Interview Survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Young, Marielle C; Gerber, Monica W; Ash, Tayla; Horan, Christine M; Taveras, Elsie M

2018-05-16

Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders (NHPIs) have the lowest attainment of healthy sleep duration among all racial and ethnic groups in the United States. We examined associations of neighborhood social cohesion with sleep duration and quality. Cross-sectional analysis of 2,464 adults in the NHPI National Health Interview Survey (2014). Neighborhood social cohesion was categorized as a continuous and categorical variable into low (15) according to tertiles of the distribution of responses. We used multinomial logistic regression to examine the adjusted odds ratio of short and long sleep duration relative to intermediate sleep duration. We used binary logistic regression for dichotomous sleep quality outcomes. Sleep outcomes were modeled as categorical variables. 40% of the cohort reported short (9 hours) duration. Mean (SE, range) social cohesion score was 12.4 units (0.11, 4-16) and 23% reported low social cohesion. In multivariable models, each 1 SD decrease in neighborhood social cohesion score was associated with higher odds of short sleep duration (OR: 1.14, 95% CI: 1.02, 1.29). Additionally, low social cohesion was associated with increased odds of short sleep duration (OR: 1.53, 95% CI: 1.10, 2.13). No associations between neighborhood social cohesion and having trouble falling or staying asleep and feeling well rested were found. Low neighborhood social cohesion is associated with short sleep duration in NHPIs.

Neighborhood and Network Disadvantage among Urban Renters

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Matthew Desmond

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Drawing on novel survey data, this study maps the distribution of neighborhood and network disadvantage in a population of Milwaukee renters and evaluates the relationship between each disadvantage and multiple social and health outcomes. We find that many families live in neighborhoods with above average disadvantage but are embedded in networks with below average disadvantage, and vice versa. Neighborhood (but not network disadvantage is associated with lower levels of neighborly trust but also with higher levels of community support (e.g., providing neighbors with food. Network (but not neighborhood disadvantage is associated with lower levels of civic engagement. Asthma and diabetes are associated exclusively with neighborhood disadvantage, but depression is associated exclusively with network disadvantage. These findings imply that some social problems may be better addressed by neighborhood interventions and others by network interventions.

Functional Interpretation of Neighborhood Public Spaces in Terms of Identity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hamid Majedi

2015-03-01

Full Text Available The aim of this article is to evaluate the effect of neighborhood public space transformation due to rapid urbanization in Tehran since 1960s, on the formation of neighborhood identity. In order to find the role of public spaces in enhancing neighborhood identities, two middle class neighborhoods with different spatial organizations are compared with each other: Nazi Abad a planned neighborhood and Mehran a typical unplanned neighborhood which developed through rapid urbanization.   Next, the effect of neighborhood public spaces on neighborhood inhabitants is evaluated from two perspectives: Perceptual dimension and social dimension. The findings indicate that planned spatial organization and various neighborhood public spaces result in stronger neighborhood identity. It enhances both perceptual dimension of neighborhood identity(place attachment and its social dimension (sense of community. In contrast unplanned spatial organization which is the typical feature of Tehran neighborhoods leads to weak neighborhood identity.

Neighborhood Built and Social Environments and Change in Weight Status over the Summer in Low-Income Elementary School Children.

Science.gov (United States)

Miles, Rebecca; Wang, Yuxia; Johnson, Suzanne Bennett

2018-05-31

Neighborhoods can provide opportunities for children to maintain a healthy weight or encourage unhealthy weight gain. Which neighborhood characteristics matter most remains poorly understood. We investigated links between neighborhood characteristics and weight change over the summer in children from 12 elementary schools with a high proportion of children from low-income families, in a mid-sized city in the US South. Mixed models and objective measures of height and weight were used. Study participants were 2770 children (average age 8.3, range 5.6⁻12.6 years). Older and female children and those who were already overweight were more likely to gain weight over the summer compared to younger, male, and normal weight children. Overweight children who lived near 2 or more small grocery stores gained less weight than overweight children who lived near 0 (weight change, p = 0.0468; body mass index (BMI) change, p = 0.0209) or 1 store (weight change, p = 0.0136; BMI change, p = 0.0033). Normal weight children living in neighborhoods with more large multifamily buildings gained more weight over the summer, although this association only approached significance. Additional efforts to understand which neighborhood factors have greater significance for overweight compared to normal weight children are warranted.

Neighborhood level risk factors for type 1 diabetes in youth: the SEARCH case-control study

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Liese Angela D

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background European ecologic studies suggest higher socioeconomic status is associated with higher incidence of type 1 diabetes. Using data from a case-control study of diabetes among racially/ethnically diverse youth in the United States (U.S., we aimed to evaluate the independent impact of neighborhood characteristics on type 1 diabetes risk. Data were available for 507 youth with type 1 diabetes and 208 healthy controls aged 10-22 years recruited in South Carolina and Colorado in 2003-2006. Home addresses were used to identify Census tracts of residence. Neighborhood-level variables were obtained from 2000 U.S. Census. Multivariate generalized linear mixed models were applied. Results Controlling for individual risk factors (age, gender, race/ethnicity, infant feeding, birth weight, maternal age, number of household residents, parental education, income, state, higher neighborhood household income (p = 0.005, proportion of population in managerial jobs (p = 0.02, with at least high school education (p = 0.005, working outside the county (p = 0.04 and vehicle ownership (p = 0.03 were each independently associated with increased odds of type 1 diabetes. Conversely, higher percent minority population (p = 0.0003, income from social security (p = 0.002, proportion of crowded households (0.0497 and poverty (p = 0.008 were associated with a decreased odds. Conclusions Our study suggests that neighborhood characteristics related to greater affluence, occupation, and education are associated with higher type 1 diabetes risk. Further research is needed to understand mechanisms underlying the influence of neighborhood context.

Neighborhood Disadvantage, Neighborhood Safety and Cardiometabolic Risk Factors in African Americans: Biosocial Associations in the Jackson Heart Study

Science.gov (United States)

Clark, Cheryl R.; Ommerborn, Mark J.; Hickson, DeMarc A.; Grooms, Kya N.; Sims, Mario; Taylor, Herman A.; Albert, Michelle A.

2013-01-01

Objective We examined associations between neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantage, perceived neighborhood safety and cardiometabolic risk factors, adjusting for health behaviors and socioeconomic status (SES) among African Americans. Methods Study participants were non-diabetic African Americans (n = 3,909) in the baseline examination (2000–2004) of the Jackson Heart Study. We measured eight risk factors: the metabolic syndrome, its five components, insulin resistance and cardiovascular inflammation. We assessed neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantage with US Census 2000 data. We assessed perceived neighborhood safety, health behaviors and SES via survey. We used generalized estimating equations to estimate associations with a random intercept model for neighborhood effects. Results After adjustment for health behaviors and SES, neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantage was associated with the metabolic syndrome in women (PR 1.13, 95% CI 1.01, 1.27). Lack of perceived safety was associated with elevated glucose (OR 1.36, 95% CI 1.03, 1.80) and waist circumference (PR 1.06, 95% CI 1.02, 1.11) among women, and with elevated glucose (PR 1.30, 95% CI 1.02, 1.66) and insulin resistance (PR 1.25, 95% CI 1.08, 1.46) among men. Conclusions Neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantage and perceived safety should be considered as targets for intervention to reduce cardiometabolic risks among African Americans. PMID:23691005

Social Capital and Walkability as Social Aspects of Sustainability

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shannon H. Rogers

2013-08-01

Full Text Available The concepts of sustainability and sustainable development are frequently described as having three main components, sometimes referred to as the three pillars or the triple bottom line: environmental, economic, and social. Because of an historical focus in the sustainability field on correcting environmental problems, much consideration has been given to environmental issues, especially how they interface with economic ones. Frequently mentioned but rarely examined, the social aspects of sustainability have been considered the weakest and least described pillar. After a brief review of existing concepts and theories, this paper uses a case study approach to examine the third pillar more comprehensively and offers social capital as one measure of social sustainability. Specifically, social capital was used to measure the social-environmental interface of communities. The positive correlation between aspects of the built environment, specifically walkability, and social capital suggests that measuring a social aspect of sustainability may be feasible, especially in the context of community development.

Neighborhood Poverty and Adolescent Development

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McBride Murry, Velma; Berkel, Cady; Gaylord-Harden, Noni K.; Copeland-Linder, Nikeea; Nation, Maury

2011-01-01

This article provides a comprehensive review of studies conducted over the past decade on the effects of neighborhood and poverty on adolescent normative and nonnormative development. Our review includes a summary of studies examining the associations between neighborhood poverty and adolescent identity development followed by a review of studies…

Strategies of Building a Stronger Sense of Community for Sustainable Neighborhoods: Comparing Neighborhood Accessibility with Community Empowerment Programs

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Te-I Albert Tsai

2014-05-01

Full Text Available New Urbanist development in the U.S. aims at enhancing a sense of community and seeks to return to the design of early transitional neighborhoods which have pedestrian-oriented environments with retail shops and services within walking distances of housing. Meanwhile, 6000 of Taiwan’s community associations have been running community empowerment programs supported by the Council for Cultural Affairs that have helped many neighborhoods to rebuild so-called community cohesion. This research attempts to evaluate whether neighborhoods with facilities near housing and shorter travel distances within a neighborhood would promote stronger social interactions and form a better community attachment than neighborhoods that have various opportunities for residents to participate in either formal or informal social gatherings. After interviewing and surveying residents from 19 neighborhoods in Taipei’s Beitou District, and correlating the psychological sense of community with inner neighborhood’s daily travel distances and numbers of participatory activities held by community organizations under empowerment programs together with frequencies of regular individual visits and casual meetings, statistical evidence yielded that placing public facilities near residential locations is more effective than providing various programs for elevating a sense of community.

Neighborhood crime and transit station access mode choice - phase III of neighborhood crime and travel behavior.

Science.gov (United States)

2015-08-01

This report provides the findings from the third phase of a three-part study about the influences of neighborhood crimes on travel : mode choice. While previous phases found evidence that high levels of neighborhood crime discourage people from choos...

Defensible Spaces in Philadelphia: Exploring Neighborhood Boundaries Through Spatial Analysis

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Rory Kramer

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Few spatial scales are as important to individual outcomes as the neighborhood. However, it is nearly impossible to define neighborhoods in a generalizable way. This article proposes that by shifting the focus to measuring neighborhood boundaries rather than neighborhoods, scholars can avoid the problem of the indefinable neighborhood and better approach questions of what predicts racial segregation across areas. By quantifying an externality space theory of neighborhood boundaries, this article introduces a novel form of spatial analysis to test where potential physical markers of neighborhood boundaries (major roads, rivers, railroads, and the like are associated with persistent racial boundaries between 1990 and 2010. Using Philadelphia as a case study, the paper identifies neighborhoods with persistent racial boundaries. It theorizes that local histories of white reactions to black in-migration explain which boundaries persistently resisted racial turnover, unlike the majority of Philadelphia’s neighborhoods, and that those racial boundaries shape the location, progress, and reaction to new residential development in those neighborhoods.

Diet quality and cognitive function in an urban sample: findings from the Healthy Aging in Neighborhoods of Diversity across the Life Span (HANDLS) study.

Science.gov (United States)

Wright, Regina S; Waldstein, Shari R; Kuczmarski, Marie Fanelli; Pohlig, Ryan T; Gerassimakis, Constance S; Gaynor, Beatrice; Evans, Michele K; Zonderman, Alan B

2017-01-01

Poor diet quality contributes to morbidity, including poor brain health outcomes such as cognitive decline and dementia. African Americans and individuals living in poverty may be at greater risk for cognitive decrements from poor diet quality. Cross-sectional. Baltimore, MD, USA. Participants were 2090 African Americans and Whites (57 % female, mean age=47·9 years) who completed two 24 h dietary recalls. We examined cognitive performance and potential interactions of diet quality with race and poverty status using baseline data from the Healthy Aging in Neighborhoods of Diversity across the Life Span (HANDLS) study. Healthy Eating Index-2010 (HEI-2010) scores were calculated and interpreted using federal guidelines. A neurocognitive test battery was administered to evaluate cognitive function over several domains. Linear regression analyses showed that lower HEI-2010 scores were associated with poorer verbal learning and memory (PDiet quality within the sample was poor. Significant interactions of HEI-2010 and poverty status (all Pdiet quality was associated with higher performance on tests of attention and cognitive flexibility, visuospatial ability and perceptual speed among those below the poverty line. No significant race interactions emerged. Higher diet quality was associated with better performance on two measures of verbal learning and memory, irrespective of race and poverty status. Findings suggest that diet quality and cognitive function are likely related at the population level. Future research is needed to determine whether the association is clinically significant.

Neighborhood Economic Enterprises: An Analysis, Survey, and Guide to Resources in Starting Up Neighborhood Enterprises.

Science.gov (United States)

Kotler, Neil G.

This pamphlet provides information on the history of and current trends toward neighborhood economic enterprises and provides guidance for setting up such enterprises. A bibliography of books, articles, and newsletters that have information on how to start and sustain neighborhood businesses and cooperatives is provided. Also included is a list of…

NEWS for Africa: adaptation and reliability of a built environment questionnaire for physical activity in seven African countries.

Science.gov (United States)

Oyeyemi, Adewale L; Kasoma, Sandra S; Onywera, Vincent O; Assah, Felix; Adedoyin, Rufus A; Conway, Terry L; Moss, Sarah J; Ocansey, Reginald; Kolbe-Alexander, Tracy L; Akinroye, Kingsley K; Prista, Antonio; Larouche, Richard; Gavand, Kavita A; Cain, Kelli L; Lambert, Estelle V; Aryeetey, Richmond; Bartels, Clare; Tremblay, Mark S; Sallis, James F

2016-03-08

Built environment and policy interventions are effective strategies for controlling the growing worldwide deaths from physical inactivity-related non-communicable diseases. To improve built environment research and develop African specific evidence, it is important to first tailor built environment measures to African contexts and assess their psychometric properties across African countries. This study reports on the adaptation and test-retest reliability of the Neighborhood Environment Walkability Scale in seven sub-Saharan African countries (NEWS-Africa). The original NEWS comprising 8 subscales measuring reported physical and social attributes of neighborhood environments was systematically adapted for Africa through extensive input from physical activity and public health researchers, built environment professionals, and residents in seven African countries: Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, South Africa and Uganda. Cognitive testing of NEWS-Africa was conducted among diverse residents (N = 109, 50 youth [12 - 17 years] and 59 adults [22 - 67 years], 69 % from low socioeconomic status [SES] neighborhoods). NEWS-Africa was translated into local languages and evaluated for 2-week test-retest reliability in adult participants (N = 301; female = 50.2 %; age = 32.3 ± 12.9 years) purposively recruited from neighborhoods varying in walkability (high and low walkable) and SES (high and low income) and from villages in six of seven participating countries. The original 67 NEWS items was expanded to 89 scores (76 individual NEWS items and 13 computed scales). Several modifications were made to individual items, and some new items were added to capture important attributes in the African environment. A new scale on personal safety was created, and the aesthetics scale was enlarged to reflect African specific characteristics. Over 95 % of all NEWS-Africa scores (items plus computed scales) demonstrated evidence of "excellent" (ICCs�

A review of neighborhood effects and early child development: How, where, and for whom, do neighborhoods matter?

Science.gov (United States)

Minh, Anita; Muhajarine, Nazeem; Janus, Magdalena; Brownell, Marni; Guhn, Martin

2017-07-01

This paper describes a scoping review of 42 studies of neighborhood effects on developmental health for children ages 0-6, published between 2009 and 2014. It focuses on three themes: (1) theoretical mechanisms that drive early childhood development, i.e. how neighborhoods matter for early childhood development; (2) dependence of such mechanisms on place-based characteristics i.e. where neighborhood effects occur; (3) dependence of such mechanisms on child characteristics, i.e. for whom is development most affected. Given that ecological systems theories postulate diverse mechanisms via which neighborhood characteristics affect early child development, we specifically examine evidence on mediation and/or moderation effects. We conclude by discussing future challenges, and proposing recommendations for analyses that utilize ecological longitudinal population-based databases. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Ethnicity at the individual and neighborhood level as an explanation for moving out of the neighborhood

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schaake, K.; Burgers, J.; Mulder, C.H.

2010-01-01

We address the influence of both the ethnic composition of the neighborhood and the ethnicity of individual residents on moving out of neighborhoods in the Netherlands. Using the Housing Research Netherlands survey and multinomial logistic regression analyses of moving out versus not moving or

Rapid Development, Build-Out Ratio and Subsequent Neighborhood Turnover

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

George O. Rogers

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Neighborhood development is primarily comprised of structural elements that include design elements, nearby amenities and ecological attributes. This paper assumes that the process of development itself also influences the character of the neighborhood—specifically, that the rate of development and build-out ratio influences neighborhood turnover. While the structural components clearly set a framework for development, the process of development expresses the character of the neighborhood in subtle messages conveyed through the market. Neighborhoods in the rapidly growing university town of College Station, Texas are analyzed in terms of neighborhood design, nearby amenities and landscape ecology components. Residential property records are used to characterize each neighborhood in terms of the rate of development and current build-out ratio. The multivariate analysis indicates that the development rate increases subsequent neighborhood turnover rates while the build-out ratio decreases it.

Neighborhood decline and the economic crisis : an introduction

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Kempen, Ronald; Bolt, Gideon; van Ham, Maarten

2016-01-01

Urban neighborhoods are still important in the lives of its residents. Therefore, it is important to find out how the recent global financial and economic crisis affects these neighborhoods. Which types of neighborhoods and which residents suffer more than others? This introduction provides an

Neighborhood Energy/Economic Development project

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1991-12-31

Energy costs impact low income communities more than anyone else. Low income residents pay a larger percentage of their incomes for energy costs. In addition, they generally have far less discretionary energy use to eliminate in response to increasing energy prices. Furthermore, with less discretionary income, home energy efficiency improvements are often too expensive. Small neighborhood businesses are in the same situation. Improved efficiency in the use of energy can improve this situation by reducing energy costs for residents and local businesses. More importantly, energy management programs can increase the demand for local goods and services and lead to the creation of new job training and employment opportunities. In this way, neighborhood based energy efficiency programs can support community economic development. The present project, undertaken with the support of the Urban Consortium Energy Task Force, was intended to serve as a demonstration of energy/economic programming at the neighborhood level. The San Francisco Neighborhood Energy/Economic Development (NEED) project was designed to be a visible demonstration of bringing the economic development benefits of energy management home to low-income community members who need it most. To begin, a Community Advisory Committee was established to guide the design of the programs to best meet needs of the community. Subsequently three neighborhood energy/economic development programs were developed: The small business energy assistance program; The youth training and weatherization program; and, The energy review of proposed housing development projects.

Neighborhood Effects on Health: Concentrated Advantage and Disadvantage

Science.gov (United States)

Finch, Brian K.; Do, D. Phuong; Heron, Melonie; Bird, Chloe; Seeman, Teresa; Lurie, Nicole

2010-01-01

We investigate an alternative conceptualization of neighborhood context and its association with health. Using an index that measures a continuum of concentrated advantage and disadvantage, we examine whether the relationship between neighborhood conditions and health varies by socio-economic status. Using NHANES III data geo-coded to census tracts, we find that while largely uneducated neighborhoods are universally deleterious, individuals with more education benefit from living in highly educated neighborhoods to a greater degree than individuals with lower levels of education. PMID:20627796

A qualitative study of shopper experiences at an urban farmers' market using the Stanford Healthy Neighborhood Discovery Tool.

Science.gov (United States)

Buman, Matthew P; Bertmann, Farryl; Hekler, Eric B; Winter, Sandra J; Sheats, Jylana L; King, Abby C; Wharton, Christopher M

2015-04-01

To understand factors which enhance or detract from farmers' market shopper experiences to inform targeted interventions to increase farmers' market utilization, community-building and social marketing strategies. A consumer-intercept study using the Stanford Healthy Neighborhood Discovery Tool to capture real-time perceptions via photographs and audio narratives. An urban farmers' market in a large metropolitan US city. Thirty-eight farmers' market shoppers, who recorded 748 unique coded elements through community-based participatory research methods. Shoppers were primarily women (65 %), 18-35 years of age (54 %), non-Hispanic (81 %) and white (73 %). Shoppers captured 291 photographs (7·9 (sd 6·3) per shopper), 171 audio narratives (5·3 (sd 4·7) per shopper), and ninety-one linked photograph + audio narrative pairs (3·8 (sd 2·8) per shopper). A systematic content analysis of the photographs and audio narratives was conducted by eight independent coders. In total, nine common elements emerged from the data that enhanced the farmers' market experience (61·8 %), detracted from the experience (5·7 %) or were neutral (32·4 %). The most frequently noted elements were freshness/abundance of produce (23·3 %), product presentation (12·8 %), social interactions (12·4 %) and farmers' market attractions (e.g. live entertainment, dining offerings; 10·3 %). While produce quality (i.e. freshness/abundance) was of primary importance, other contextual factors also appeared important to the shoppers' experiences. These results may inform social marketing strategies to increase farmers' market utilization and community-building efforts that target market venues.

Girls' self-efficacy in the context of neighborhood gender stratification.

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Soller, Brian; Jackson, Aubrey L

2018-05-01

Scholars have linked neighborhood characteristics to self-efficacy, but few have considered how gender factors into this association. We integrate literature on neighborhoods, gender stratification, and self-efficacy to examine the association between women's relative resources among neighborhood residents and adolescents' self-efficacy. We hypothesize that girls report more self-efficacy when they reside in neighborhoods where women have more socioeconomic resources relative to men. We test this hypothesis using data from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods and the 1990 Census. Results from multilevel regression models with gender-interacted effects indicate the neighborhood level of women's relative resources was not associated with boys' self-efficacy. However, girls reported higher self-efficacy when women's relative resources in their neighborhoods were greater. This association persisted after including potential individual- and neighborhood-level confounding variables. Our study underscores the importance of attending to gendered processes when understanding how neighborhoods impact youth. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Better Buildings Neighborhood Program Progress Stories

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

None

2012-04-19

n neighborhoods across the country, stories are emerging constantly of individuals, businesses, and organizations that are benefiting from energy efficiency. Included are the stories of real people making their homes, businesses, and communities better with the help of the Better Buildings Neighborhood Program.

Neighborhood social capital and individual health.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mohnen, S.M.; Groenewegen, P.P.; Völker, B.; Flap, H.

2011-01-01

Neighborhood social capital is increasingly considered to be an important determinant of an individual's health. Using data from the Netherlands we investigate the influence of neighborhood social capital on an individual's self-reported health, while accounting for other conditions of health on

Effects of semantic neighborhood density in abstract and concrete words.

Science.gov (United States)

Reilly, Megan; Desai, Rutvik H

2017-12-01

Concrete and abstract words are thought to differ along several psycholinguistic variables, such as frequency and emotional content. Here, we consider another variable, semantic neighborhood density, which has received much less attention, likely because semantic neighborhoods of abstract words are difficult to measure. Using a corpus-based method that creates representations of words that emphasize featural information, the current investigation explores the relationship between neighborhood density and concreteness in a large set of English nouns. Two important observations emerge. First, semantic neighborhood density is higher for concrete than for abstract words, even when other variables are accounted for, especially for smaller neighborhood sizes. Second, the effects of semantic neighborhood density on behavior are different for concrete and abstract words. Lexical decision reaction times are fastest for words with sparse neighborhoods; however, this effect is stronger for concrete words than for abstract words. These results suggest that semantic neighborhood density plays a role in the cognitive and psycholinguistic differences between concrete and abstract words, and should be taken into account in studies involving lexical semantics. Furthermore, the pattern of results with the current feature-based neighborhood measure is very different from that with associatively defined neighborhoods, suggesting that these two methods should be treated as separate measures rather than two interchangeable measures of semantic neighborhoods. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Neighborhood social capital and individual health

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mohnen, S.M.; Groenewegen, P.P.; Völker, B.G.M.; Flap, H.D.

2010-01-01

Neighborhood social capital is increasingly considered to be an important determinant of an individual’s health. Using data from the Netherlands we investigate the influence of neighborhood social capital on an individual’s self-reported health, while accounting for other conditions of health on

Network neighborhood analysis with the multi-node topological overlap measure.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Ai; Horvath, Steve

2007-01-15

The goal of neighborhood analysis is to find a set of genes (the neighborhood) that is similar to an initial 'seed' set of genes. Neighborhood analysis methods for network data are important in systems biology. If individual network connections are susceptible to noise, it can be advantageous to define neighborhoods on the basis of a robust interconnectedness measure, e.g. the topological overlap measure. Since the use of multiple nodes in the seed set may lead to more informative neighborhoods, it can be advantageous to define multi-node similarity measures. The pairwise topological overlap measure is generalized to multiple network nodes and subsequently used in a recursive neighborhood construction method. A local permutation scheme is used to determine the neighborhood size. Using four network applications and a simulated example, we provide empirical evidence that the resulting neighborhoods are biologically meaningful, e.g. we use neighborhood analysis to identify brain cancer related genes. An executable Windows program and tutorial for multi-node topological overlap measure (MTOM) based analysis can be downloaded from the webpage (http://www.genetics.ucla.edu/labs/horvath/MTOM/).

Transport attitudes, residential preferences, and urban form effects on cycling and car use

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Transport attitudes, residential preferences, and urban form effects on cycling and car use. Promotion of walking and cycling is part of policies at multiple levels and reasoned in public health as well as environmental sustainability outcomes. Urban form and neighborhood characteristics are thou....... Reduced car use seems to require a high degree of convenience of not driving – by means of very short, walkable distances to services...

Neighborhood quality and labor market outcomes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Damm, Anna Piil

2014-01-01

of refugee men. Their labor market outcomes are also not affected by the overall employment rate and the overall average skill level in the neighborhood. However, an increase in the average skill level of non-Western immigrant men living in the neighborhood raises their employment probability, while...

NEIGHBORHOOD NORMS AND SUBSTANCE USE AMONG TEENS

Science.gov (United States)

Musick, Kelly; Seltzer, Judith A.; Schwartz, Christine R.

2008-01-01

This paper uses new data from the Los Angeles Family and Neighborhood Survey (L.A. FANS) to examine how neighborhood norms shape teenagers’ substance use. Specifically, it takes advantage of clustered data at the neighborhood level to relate adult neighbors’ attitudes and behavior with respect to smoking, drinking, and drugs, which we treat as norms, to teenagers’ own smoking, drinking, and drug use. We use hierarchical linear models to account for parents’ attitudes and behavior and other characteristics of individuals and families. We also investigate how the association between neighborhood norms and teen behavior depends on: (1) the strength of norms, as measured by consensus in neighbors’ attitudes and conformity in their behavior; (2) the willingness and ability of neighbors to enforce norms, for instance, by monitoring teens’ activities; and (3) the degree to which teens are exposed to their neighbors. We find little association between neighborhood norms and teen substance use, regardless of how we condition the relationship. We discuss possible theoretical and methodological explanations for this finding. PMID:18496598

Neighborhood differences in social capital in Ghent (Belgium): a multilevel approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Neutens, Tijs; Vyncke, Veerle; De Winter, Dieter; Willems, Sara

2013-11-13

Little research has focused on the spatial distribution of social capital, despite social capital's rising popularity in health research and policy. This study examines the neighborhood differences in social capital and the determinants that explain these differences. Five components of neighborhood social capital are identified by means of factor and reliability analyses using data collected in the cross-sectional SWING study from 762 inhabitants in 42 neighbourhoods in the city of Ghent (Belgium). Neighborhood differences in social capital are explored using hierarchical linear models with cross-level interactions. Significant neighborhood differences are found for social cohesion, informal social control and social support, but not for social leverage and generalized trust. Our findings suggest that neighborhood social capital depends on both characteristics of individuals living in the neighborhood (attachment to neighborhood) and characteristics of the neighborhood itself (deprivation and residential turnover). Our analysis further shows that neighborhood deprivation reinforces the negative effect of declining neighborhood attachment on social cohesion and informal social control. This study foregrounds the importance of contextual effects in encouraging neighborhood social capital. Given the importance of neighborhood-level characteristics, it can be anticipated social capital promoting initiatives are likely to be more effective when tailored to specific areas. Second, our analyses show that not all forms of social capital are influenced by contextual factors to the same extent, implying that changes in neighborhood characteristics are conducive to, say, trust while leaving social support unaffected. Finally, our analysis has demonstrated that complex interrelationships between individual- and neighborhood-level variables exist, which are often overlooked in current work.

Cultural mechanisms and the persistence of neighborhood violence.

Science.gov (United States)

Kirk, David S; Papachristos, Andrew V

2011-01-01

Sociologists have given considerable attention to identifying the neighborhood-level social-interactional mechanisms that influence outcomes such as crime, educational attainment, and health. Yet, cultural mechanisms are often overlooked in quantitative studies of neighborhood effects. This paper adds a cultural dimension to neighborhood effects research by exploring the consequences of legal cynicism. Legal cynicism refers to a cultural frame in which people perceive the law as illegitimate, unresponsive, and ill equipped to ensure public safety. The authors find that legal cynicism explains why homicide persisted in certain Chicago neighborhoods during the 1990s despite declines in poverty and declines in violence city-wide.

Self-Reported Physical Activity within and outside the Neighborhood: Criterion-Related Validity of the Neighborhood Physical Activity Questionnaire in German Older Adults