Introduction
In the past 15 years, researchers, practitioners, and community residents and leaders
have become increasingly interested in associations among built environments and physical
activity, diet, and obesity. Numerous tools to measure activity and food environments
have been developed but vary in quality and usability. Future progress depends on
aligning these tools with new communication technology and increasing their utility
for planning and policy.
Methods
The Built Environment Assessment Training Institute Think Thank was held in July 2013.
Expert participants discussed priorities, gaps, and promising opportunities to advance
the science and practice of measuring obesity-related built environments. Participants
proposed and voted on recommended future directions in two categories: “big ideas”
and additional recommendations.
Results
Recommendations for the first “big idea” involve developing new, simplified built
environment assessment tools and deploying them through online trainings and easily
accessible web-based apps. Future iterations of the tools would link to databases
of key locations (e.g., parks, food stores); have built-in scoring and analysis; and
provide clear, simple feedback to users. A second “big idea” addresses dissemination
of results from built environment assessments and translation into policies including
land use and food access planning. Additional recommendations include (1) improving
multidisciplinary collaborations; (2) engaging stakeholders across sectors; (3) centralized
data resource centers; (4) increased use of emerging technologies to communicate findings;
and (5) advocating for expanded funding for measurement development, training, and
dissemination.
Conclusions
Implementing these recommendations is likely to improve the quality of built environment
measures and expand their use in research and practice.
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© 2015 American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
