Active Living in Latino Communities
Date:
02/01/2008
Description:
Flores, G.R. (2008). Active Living in Latino Communities. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 34(4), 369-370.
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Findings from the 2007 Active Living Research Conference: Implications for Future Research
Date:
02/01/2008
Description:
Pratt, C.A. (2008). Findings from the 2007 Active Living Research Conference: Implications for Future Research. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 34(4), 366-368.
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The Power of Research: We Can Reverse the Childhood Obesity Epidemic
Date:
02/01/2008
Description:
Proctor, D.C. (2008). The Power of Research: We Can Reverse the Childhood Obesity Epidemic. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 34(4), 354-365.
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Assessing Perceptions of Environments for Active Living
Date:
02/01/2008
Description:
Nasar, J.L. (2008). Assessing Perceptions of Environments for Active Living. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 34(4), 357-363.
Abstract:
Background: Substantial research has been done on the relationship of physical environments to active living, much of it using observational measures of physical properties. Although this research is important, it produces an incomplete picture. Perceptions of environmental factors may affect physical activity. There is particular value in learning about people’s perceptions of environmental factors that are associated with increased or decreased likelihood of physical activity.
Methods: The present paper surveys and evaluates various options for measuring perceptions of specific environments and alternatives for study designs and methods. Referring to the relevant studies and concepts in environmental psychology, environmental perception, and related disciplines, it identifies and evaluates the measurement methods.
Results: The measurement of environmental perceptions must take into consideration the selection of respondents, measurement of environmental variables, sampling and mode of presentation of the environmental stimuli, and response measures.
Conclusions: Research can build on current knowledge of environmental perception to explore measures and methods of particular relevance to understanding people’s likelihood of using places for physical activity.
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Urban Residents' Priorities for Neighborhood Features: A Survey of New Orleans Residents After Hurricane Katrina
Date:
02/01/2008
Description:
Hong, T. & Farley, T.A. (2008). Urban Residents’ Priorities for Neighborhood Features: A Survey of New Orleans Residents After Hurricane Katrina. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 34(4), 353-356.
Funding Source:
Funding by the Active Living Research program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Abstract:
Background: Efforts to promote physical activity through environmental changes in low-income, urban, and minority areas should be informed by an understanding of the value that residents place on different neighborhood features and characteristics.
Methods: Neighborhood rebuilding preferences among 442 New Orleans residents after the damage from Hurricane Katrina were assessed by a random-digit-dialed telephone survey conducted between April 25, 2006 and May 2, 2006. The survey instrument assessed the importance (on a 5-point Likert-type scale on which 1=not at all important and 5=extremely important) for 24 neighborhood features and characteristics. Ratings of neighborhood features were compared by race and income.
Results: Overall, residents rated most highly the features that reflected low levels of neighborhood crime and disorder. There was moderate support for features that promote physical activity, specifically sidewalks and crosswalks, neighborhood grocery stores, and parks or playgrounds. Blacks rated more highly than whites 13 neighborhood features such as good schools, lack of noise, a park or playground, affordable housing, health clinics, and the absence of liquor stores. The low-income group rated the following features as being more important than the high-income group: affordable housing, a bus or streetcar line, and the presence of a corner store.
Conclusions: New Orleans residents’ top neighborhood priority is reducing crime and disorder, but all groups otherwise support neighborhood features that promote physical activity.
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Designed to Deter: Community Barriers to Physical Activity for People with Visual or Motor Impairments
Date:
02/01/2008
Description:
Kirchner, C.E., Gerber, E.G., & Smith, B.C. (2008). Designed to Deter: Community Barriers to Physical Activity for People with Visual or Motor Impairments. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 34(4), 349-352.
Funding Source:
Funding by the Active Living Research program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Abstract:
Background: People with disabilities are more likely to be obese, in poor health, and get less physical activity than the general population. However, research on community factors for physical activity has generally either excluded most people with disabilities, or overlooked relevant factors of community accessibility. This exploratory study investigated environmental factors affecting people with motor impairments and people with visual impairments in urban neighborhoods.
Methods: Quantitative and qualitative methods were used with a nonrandom sample (n=134) of users of four types of assistive mobility technologies: guide dogs, long canes, and motorized and manual wheelchairs. From July 2005 to August 2006, the sample participated in two
telephone surveys. Between the surveys, a stratified random subsample (n=32) engaged in an ethnographic phase of observation and interviews.
Results: Most participants in all groups using assistive mobility technologies rated their neighborhoods as accessible, although they also reported many specific barriers. Users of assistive mobility technologies differed in the amount of reported physical activity and on specific barriers. Problems with sidewalk pavement and puddles/poor drainage were the most frequently mentioned environmental barriers, by 90% and 80%, respectively. Users of assistive mobility technologies were more similar on main strategies for dealing with barriers. All groups reported having to plan routes for outings, to alter planned routes, to go more slowly than planned, or to wait for a different time.
Conclusions: Despite legislative requirements for accommodation, people with disabilities face barriers to physical activity, both in the built and social environments. Determined people with disabilities were able to overcome barriers, but required additional expenditure of resources to do so. Community design that can include people with disabilities requires detailed understanding of barriers specific both to types of impairments and to different types of assistive mobility technologies.
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Physical Activity Among Adolescents: When Do Parks Matter?
Date:
02/01/2008
Description:
Babey, S.H., Hastert, T.A., Yu, H., & Brown, E.R. (2008). Physical Activity Among Adolescents: When Do Parks Matter? American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 34(4), 345-348.
Funding Source:
Funding by the Active Living Research program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and The California Endowment
Abstract:
Background: The availability of places to engage in physical activity may influence physical activity levels. This study examined whether the relationship between physical activity and access to parks differs depending on adolescents’ sociodemographic, housing, and neighborhood characteristics.
Methods: Data were analyzed from 4010 adolescents who responded to the 2003 California Health Interview Survey (CHIS). Analyses were conducted in 2005–2006. Five sets of logistic regressions were conducted to examine the relationship between physical activity and access to a safe park among adolescents living in (1) urban versus rural areas; (2) apartment buildings versus houses, (3) neighborhoods perceived as unsafe versus safe; (4) lower- versus higher-income families; and (5) adolescents who were Latino, African American, Asian, or white. Analyses also examined interactions between park access and these factors.
Results: Access to a safe park was positively associated with regular physical activity and negatively associated with inactivity for adolescents in urban areas, but not rural areas. Additionally, adolescents with access to a safe park were less likely to be inactive than those without access
among those living in (1) apartment buildings, (2) unsafe neighborhoods, and (3) lowerincome families. Park access was not associated with regular physical activity for these groups. The association between park access and physical activity varied by race/ethnicity.
Conclusions: These findings suggest that the relationship between physical activity and access to parks differs depending on adolescents’ sociodemographic, housing, and neighborhood characteristics, and that parks may be particularly important for promoting physical activity among urban adolescents.
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Preventing Childhood Obesity Through State Policy: Predictors of Bill Enactment
Date:
02/01/2008
Description:
Boehmer, T.K., Luke, D.A., Haire-Joshu, D.L., Bates, H.S., & Brownson, R.C. (2008). Preventing Childhood Obesity Through State Policy: Predictors of Bill Enactment. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 34(4), 333-340.
Funding Source:
Funding by the Active Living Research program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Abstract:
Background: To address the epidemic of childhood obesity, health professionals are examining policies that address obesogenic environments; however, there has been little systematic examination of state legislative efforts in childhood obesity prevention. Using a policy research framework, this study sought to identify factors that predict successful enactment of childhood obesity prevention in all 50 states.
Methods: A legislative scan of bills introduced during 2003–2005 in all 50 states identified 717 bills related to childhood obesity prevention. Multilevel logistic regression modeling was performed in 2006 to identify bill-level (procedure, composition, and content) and state-level (sociodemographic, political, economic, and industrial) factors associated with bill enactment.
Results: Seventeen percent of bills were enacted. Bill-level factors associated with increased likelihood of enactment included having more than one sponsor; bipartisan sponsorship; introduction in the state senate; budget proposals; and content areas related to safe routes to school, walking/biking trails, model school policies, statewide initiatives, and task forces and studies. State-level political factors, including 2-year legislative session and Democratic control of both chambers, increased enactment. An indicator of state socioeconomic status was inversely associated with bill enactment; economic and industrial variables were not significantly related to bill enactment.
Conclusions: In general, bill-level factors were more influential in their effect on policy enactment than state-level factors. This study provides policymakers, practitioners, and advocacy groups with strategies to develop more politically feasible childhood obesity prevention policies, including the identification of several modifiable bill characteristics that might improve bill enactment.
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Urban Containment Policies and Physical Activity: A Time-Series Analysis of Metropolitan Areas, 1990-2002
Date:
02/01/2008
Description:
Aytur, S.A., Rodriguez, D.A., Evenson, K.R., & Catellier, D.J. (2008). Urban Containment Policies and Physical Activity: A Time-Series Analysis of Metropolitan Areas, 1990-2002. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 34(4), 320-332.
Funding Source:
Funding by the Active Living Research program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the NIH and National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) Public Health Service Training Grant
Abstract:
Background: Urban containment policies attempt to manage the location, character, and timing of growth to support a variety of goals such as compact development, preservation of greenspace, and efficient use of infrastructure. Despite prior research evaluating the effects of urban containment policies on land use, housing, and transportation outcomes, the public health implications of these policies remain unexplored. This ecologic study examines relationships among urban containment policies, state adoption of growthmanagement legislation, and population levels of leisure and transportation-related physical activity in 63 large metropolitan statistical areas from 1990 to 2002.
Methods: Multiple data sources were combined, including surveys of urban containment policies, the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, the U.S. Census of Population, the National Resources Inventory, and the Texas Transportation Institute Urban Mobility Study. Mixed
models were used to examine whether urban containment policies and state adoption of growth-management legislation were associated with population levels of leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) and walking/bicycling to work over time.
Results: Strong urban containment policies were associated with higher population levels of LTPA and walking/bicycling to work during the study period. Additionally, residents of states with legislation mandating urban growth boundaries reported significantly more minutes of LTPA/week compared to residents of states without such policies. Weak urban containment policies showed inconsistent relationships with physical activity.
Conclusions: This study provides preliminary evidence that strong urban containment policies are associated with higher population levels of LTPA and active commuting. Future research should examine potential synergies among state, metropolitan, and local policy processes that may strengthen these relationships.
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Neighborhood Design and Walking: A Quasi-Experimental Longitudinal Study
Date:
02/01/2008
Description:
Wells, N.M. & Yang, Y. (2008). Neighborhood Design and Walking: A Quasi-Experimental Longitudinal Study. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 34(4), 313-319.
Funding Source:
Funding by the Active Living Research program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Bronfenbrenner Life Course Center at Cornell University
Abstract:
Background: Few studies have employed longitudinal data to examine associations between the physical environment and walking.
Methods: Using cross-sectional (n70) and longitudinal (n32) data (collected 2003–2006), associations of neighborhood design and demographics with walking were examined. Participants were low-income, primarily African-American women in the southeastern U.S. Through a natural experiment, some women relocated to neo-traditional communities (experimental group) and others moved to conventional suburban neighborhoods (control group).
Results: Post-move cross-sectional comparisons indicated that women in neo-traditional neighborhoods did not, on average, walk more than women in suburban neighborhoods. Race and household size were significant predictors of physical activity. Additionally, using longitudinal data, this study controlled for the effects of pre-move walking and demographics. Analyses examined the effects of environmental factors (e.g., density, land-use mix, street-network patterns) on post-move walking. Women who moved to places with fewer culs-de-sac, on average, walked more. Unexpectedly, increases in land-use mix were associated with less walking.
Conclusions: Results suggest that neo-traditional neighborhood features alone (e.g., sidewalks, front porches, small set-back distances) may not be enough to affect walking; however, changes in street patterns may play a role.
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