Abstract
Introduction: Environmental and policy approaches to promote physical activity, such
as walking trail construction and promotion, are being widely recommended, yet sparse
data exist on their effectiveness. In conjunction with ongoing community-intervention
projects in Missouri, walking trails are being built, promoted, and evaluated. Objectives
include determining: (1) patterns and correlates of walking, (2) the availability
of places to walk and perform other forms of physical activity, (3) the extent of
walking trail use and possible effects on rates of physical activity, and (4) attitudes
toward the trails and their uses.
Methods: In 12 rural counties in Missouri we used a cross-sectional telephone survey
to ask a population-based sample of residents aged >18 years (n = 1269) some standard and specially developed questions about walking behaviors,
knowledge, and attitudes.
Results: Only 19.5% of respondents were classified as regular walkers. About one third
of respondents (36.5%) reported having access to walking trails in their area, and
50.3% reported having access to indoor facilities for exercise. Among persons with
access to walking trails, 38.8% had used the trails. Groups who were more likely to
have used the walking trails included women, persons with more education, those making
$35,000 or more per year, and regular walkers. Among persons who had used the trails,
55.2% reported they had increased their amount of walking since they began using the
trail. Women and persons with a high school education or less were more than twice
as likely to have increased the amount of walking since they began using the walking
trails.
Conclusions: Walking trails may be beneficial in promoting physical activity among
segments of the population at highest risk for inactivity, in particular women and
persons in lower socioeconomic groups.
Keywords
To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
Purchase one-time access:
Academic & Personal: 24 hour online accessCorporate R&D Professionals: 24 hour online accessOne-time access price info
- For academic or personal research use, select 'Academic and Personal'
- For corporate R&D use, select 'Corporate R&D Professionals'
Subscribe:
Subscribe to American Journal of Preventive MedicineAlready a print subscriber? Claim online access
Already an online subscriber? Sign in
Register: Create an account
Institutional Access: Sign in to ScienceDirect
References
US Department of Health and Human Services. Physical activity and health. A report of the surgeon general. Atlanta, GA: US Department of Health and Human Services; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1996.
- A meta-analysis of the factors affecting exercise-induced changes in body mass, fat mass, and fat-free mass in males and females.Int J Obesity. 1991; 15: 717-726
- Identifying correlates of walking for exercise.Prev Med. 1989; 18: 856-866
- Lifestyle activity. Current recommendations.Sports Med. 1996; 22: 1-7
- Comparison of lifestyle and structured interventions to increase physical activity and cardiorespiratory fitness.JAMA. 1999; 281: 327-334
- Effects of walking on mortality among nonsmoking retired men.NE J Med. 1998; 338: 94-99
- A prospective study of walking as compared with vigorous exercise in the prevention of coronary heart disease in women.NE J Med. 1999; 341: 650-658
- The epidemiology of walking for exercise.Am J Public Health. 1995; 85: 706-710
- Walking to health.Sports Medicine. 1997; 23: 306-332
- Physical activity and public health.JAMA. 1995; 273: 402-407
- Self-reported physical inactivity by degree of urbanization--United States, 1996.MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 1998; 47: 1097-1100
- Policy as intervention.Am J Public Health. 1995; 85: 1207-1211
Bauman A, Bellew B. Environmental and policy approaches to promoting physical activity. In: Commonwealth Institute, ed. Health in the Commonwealth. London: Commonwealth Institute; 1999.
- Environmental and policy approaches to cardiovascular disease prevention through physical activity.Health Ed Q. 1995; 22: 499-511
- Environmental and policy interventions to promote physical activity.Am J Prev Med. 1998; 15: 379-397
- how to promote physical activity in your community. Association of State and Territorial Directors of Health Promotion and Public Health Education, Washington, DC1996
- Promoting physical activity. Human Kinetics, Champaign, IL1999
- 1990 census of population and housing short form. US Dept of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Washington, DC1992
- Cardiovascular risk reduction in rural minority communities.J Health Educ. 1998; 29: 158-165
- Preventing cardiovascular disease through community-based risk reduction.Am J Public Health. 1996; 86: 206-213
- Changes in newspaper coverage of cardiovascular health issues in conjunction with a community-based intervention.Health Educ Res. 1996; 11: 479-486
- Developing and evaluating a cardiovascular risk reduction project.Am J Health Beh. 1997; 21: 333-344
- The behavioral risk factor surveys.Am J Prev Med. 1985; 1: 9-14
- Design, characteristics, and usefulness of state-based behavioral risk factor surveillance.Public Health Report. 1988; 103: 366-375
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. Available at: http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/brfss/. Accessed on month/day/1999.
- Sampling methods for random digit dialing.J Am Stat Assoc. 1978; 73: 40-46
- Reliability of information on physical activity and other chronic disease risk factors among US women aged 40 years or older.Am J Epidem. 1999; 149: 379-391
The American Association for Public Opinion Research. standard definitions: final dispositions of case codes and outcome rates for rdd telephone surveys and in-person household surveys. Ann Arbor, MI: AAPOR; 1998.
- The relationship between presence of exercise equipment in the home and physical activity level.Am J Health Promotion. 1997; 11: 363-365
- A multivariate study of determinants of vigorous exercise in a community sample.Prev Med. 1989; 18: 20-34
- Assessing perceived physical environmental variables that may influence physical activity.Res Q Exer Sports. 1997; 68: 345-351
- Distance between homes and exercise facilities related to frequency of exercise among San Diego residents.Public Health Reports. 1990; 105: 179-185
- Factors influencing the use of physical activity facilities.Health Promotion J Australia. 1997; 7: 16-21
- Facility access and self-reward as methods to promote physical activity among healthy sedentary adults.Am J Health Promotion. 1994; 8: 257-262
- How much physical activity should we do? The case for moderate amounts and intensities of physical activity.Med ScienceSports Exer. 1996; 67: 193-205
- Neighborhood safety and the prevalence of physical inactivity—selected states, 1996.MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 1999; 48: 143-146
- Using Chronic Disease Data. Centers for Disease Control, Atlanta, GA1992
- Characteristics of survey participants with and without a telephone.J Clin Epidem. 1998; 51: 55-60
- The Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System questionnaire.Am J Public Health. 1993; 83: 1768-1772
- Reliability of the behavioral risk factor survey in a triethnic population.Am J Epidem. 1991; 133: 489-500
Article info
Identification
Copyright
© 2000 American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
