Associations Between Neighborhood Environment Characteristics And Physical Activity

The neighborhood environment has the potential to influence personal choices to be physically active. Little information is available in national populations of the relationship between environmental supports for physical activity (PA) and PA behaviors. PURPOSE To identify the associations between self-report of neighborhood environmental features for PA and individual PA behaviors in US adults. METHODS 10,455 adults (4,437 men 6,018 women) responded to the National PA and Weight Loss Survey, a random digit dial survey of US households conducted Sept to Dec 2002. As part of a larger survey, respondents reported the presence or absence of neighborhood features (i.e., shops and transit stops within walking distance from home, sidewalks on most streets, places to bicycle, low-cost or free recreational facilities, four-way traffic intersections, and crime rate), their individual PA levels, and demographic data. PA was obtained from the IPAQ as d/wk and min/day of moderate, vigorous, and walking PA and categorized into 3 groups: Health Enhancing PA (> 3 days vig PA and >1,500 MET-min/wk mod-vig-walk PA or >5 d/wk mod-vig-walk PA and >3,000 MET-min/wk of mod-vig-walk PA), Minimally Active (> 3 d/wk vig PA >20 min/d or >5 d/wk mod PA >30 min/d or >5 d/wk walk >30 min/d or >5 d/w mod-vig-walk and 600 MET-min/wk of mod-vig-walk PA), or Inactive (less than above). Logistic regression models were used to calculate crude and adjusted odds ratios (OR, 95% CI) for the likelihood of a specified level of PA given the presence of an environmental support for PA. OR's were adjusted for sex, age, race, and education. RESULTS Based on adjusted OR's, those with shops within walking distance of home (OR = 1.16, CI = 1.02, 1.31), places to bicycle in the neighborhood (OR = 1.32, CI = 1.16, 1.50), free/low cost recreation facilities OR = 1.25, CI = 1.10, 1.42), and lower neighborhood crime (OR = 1.14, CI = 1.01, 1.32) were more likely to have Health Enhancing PA levels than those without the supports. Also, those with a transit stop within 10–15 min walk from home (OR = 1.19, CI = 1.03, 1.37), places to bicycle in the neighborhood (OR = 1.31, CI = 1.14, 1.51), and free/low cost recreation facilities (OR 1.30, CI = 1.12, 1.50) were more likely to be Minimally Active than those without supports. Few differences in responses were observed by sex, age, and race. CONCLUSIONS Environments supportive of purposeful walking/cycling, having free/low cost recreational spaces, and low neighborhood crime are associated with higher levels of PA. These national results support previous findings and suggest environmental changes that could increase PA. Supported by CDC Cooperative Agreement, SIP 20-01, U48/CCU409664.