Active Living Research

Background: Improvements in the built environment and changes in land-use policy are promising approaches to increasing physical activity among a largely sedentary population. Opportunities for walking and cycling as part of daily life are important to increasing physical activity and improving health. Yet, local zoning codes and related land-use regulations have made it difficult to create vibrant, mixed-use neighborhoods with well-connected streets and more compact development—the infrastructure necessary to support healthier rates of walking and cycling for transportation.

Background: New tools are needed to examine physical activity and the contexts in which it occurs. Community parks contribute to physical activity, but measuring activity and associated variables in them is challenging because area contexts change and the numbers and characteristics of users are highly variable. 

Background: Reliable and comprehensive measurement of physical activity settings is needed to examine environment-behavior relations.

Methods: Surveyed park professionals (n = 34) and users (n = 29) identified park and playground elements (e.g., trail) and qualities (e.g., condition). Responses guided observational instrument development for environmental assessment of public recreation spaces (EAPRS). Item inter-rater reliability was evaluated following observations in 92 parks and playgrounds. Instrument revision and further reliability testing were conducted with observations in 21 parks and 20 playgrounds.

Results: EAPRS evaluates trail/path, specific use (e.g., picnic), water-related, amenity (e.g., benches), and play elements, and their qualities. Most EAPRS items had goodexcellent reliability, particularly presence/number items. Reliability improved from the original (n = 1088 items) to revised (n = 646 items) instrument for condition, coverage/shade, and openness/visibility items. Reliability was especially good for play features, but cleanliness items were generally unreliable.

Conclusions: The EAPRS instrument provides comprehensive assessment of parks’ and playgrounds’ physical environment, with generally high reliability.

Background: To determine how trail characteristics may influence use, reliable and valid audit tools are needed.

Methods: The Path Environment Audit Tool (PEAT) was developed with design, amenity, and aesthetics/maintenance items. Two observers independently audited 185 trail segments at 6 Massachusetts facilities. GPS-derived items were used as a “gold standard.” Kappa (k) statistics, observed agreement and intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) were calculated to assess inter-observer reliability and validity. Results: Fifteen of 16 primary amenity items had k-values ≥ 0.49 (“moderate”) and all had observed agreement ≥ 81%. Seven binary design items had k-values ranging from 0.19 to 0.71 and three of 5 ordinal items had ICCs ≥ 0.52. Only two aesthetics/maintenance items (n = 7) had moderate ICCs. Observed agreement between PEAT and GPS items was ≥0.77; k-values were ≥ 0.57 for 7 out of 10 comparisons.

Conclusions: PEAT has acceptable reliability for most of its primary items and appears ready for use by researchers and practitioners.

Background: The study’s purpose is to describe the development and evaluate the reliability (inter-observer agreement) and validity (rater agreement with a gold standard) of a direct observation instrument to assess park characteristics that may be related to physical activity.

Methods: A direct observation instrument of 181 items was developed based on a conceptual model consisting of the following domains: features, condition, access, esthetics, and safety. Fifteen pairs of observers were trained and sent to two parks simultaneously to assess two Target Areas each.

Results: Overall domain reliability was 86.9%, and overall geographic area reliability was 87.5%. Overall domain validity was 78.7% and overall geographic area validity was 81.5%.

Conclusions: Inter-rater reliability and validity were generally good, although validity was slightly lower than reliability. Objective items showed the highest reliability and validity. Items that are time-sensitive may need to be measured on multiple occasions, while items asking for subjective responses may require more supervised practice. 

Purpose: To model urban trail traffic as a function of neighborhood characteristics and other factors including weather and day of week.

Methods: We used infrared monitors to measure traffic at 30 locations on five trails for periods ranging from 12 months to more than 4 y. We measured neighborhood characteristics using geographic information systems, satellite imagery, and US Census and other secondary data. We used multiple regression techniques to model daily traffic.

Results: The statistical model explains approximately 80% of the variation in trail traffic. Trail traffic correlates positively and significantly with income, neighborhood population density, education, percent of neighborhood in commercial use, vegetative health, area of land in parking, and mean length of street segments in access networks. Trail traffic correlates negatively and significantly with the percentage of neighborhood residents in age groups greater than 64 and less than 5.

Conclusions: Trail traffic is significantly correlated with neighborhood characteristics. Health officials can use these findings to influence the design and location of trails and to maximize opportunities for increases in physical activity.

Background: Proximity to routine destinations is an important correlate of physical activity. We examined the association between distance from school and physical activity in adolescent girls.

Methods: We mapped the addresses of 1554 sixthgrade girls who participated in the Trial of Activity for Adolescent Girls (TAAG) Study and calculated the shortest distance from home to school along the street network. Using a hierarchical design we examined the association between METweighted moderate to vigorous physical activity (MW- MVPA) and distance to school, while controlling for potential confounders.

Results: Distance to school was inversely associated with weekday MW- MVPA for middle school girls. For every mile the girls lived from their schools, they engaged in an average of 13 fewer MET- weighted minutes per week.

Conclusions: Distance to school is inversely associated with MW-MVPA. The most adversely affected girls lived more than 5 miles from school. Time spent commuting could explain reduced time for physical activity.