Built Environment
The Association Between Neighborhood Public Transportation Usage and Youth Physical Activity
Routine adolescent physical activity is a well-established predictor of positive health across the lifespan, although wide disparities in youth physical activity engagement persist across sex and race/ethnicity. Transportation barriers may be related to adolescents’ ability to access physical activity opportunities. This study examines the association between neighborhood public transportation usage and adolescent physical activity using a national sample.Air Quality Awareness and Behaviors of U.S. Adolescents With and Without Asthma
Among U.S. adolescents, the knowledge that air pollution can impact health is relatively high and varies by the demographics of the respondents and the places they live, but the influence of asthma status is unknown. This study assesses the role of asthma in U.S. adolescents’ awareness, perceptions, and behaviors related to air pollution.Mobility Patterns Before, During, and Anticipated After the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Opportunity to Nurture Bicycling
The purpose of this study is to quantify the immediate and anticipated effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on local travel in the U.S.The Impact of Driving Time to Family Planning Facilities on Preventive Service Use in Ohio
Publicly funded family planning clinics provide preventive health services to low-income populations in the U.S. In recent years, several states, including Ohio, have restricted public funds for organizations that provide or refer patients to abortion care, often resulting in clinic closures. This research evaluates the effects of such closures on preventive service use and access to care among female adults in Ohio.Potential Impact of Autonomous Vehicles on Movement Behavior: A Scoping Review
This scoping review examines the literature as it relates to autonomous vehicles and impact on movement behavior (i.e., physical activity, sedentary behavior, and sleep) or mode choice (e.g., public transit), beliefs about movement behavior or mode choice, or impact on environments that may influence movement behavior or mode choice.Physical Activity Levels and New Public Transit: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
Physical inactivity is a public health concern as it contributes to the rising burden of noncommunicable diseases. Introducing new public transportation options, such as extending or building new light rail or bus rapid transit stations, could encourage commuters to walk to and from public transit stops, thus increasing their physical activity levels. Despite previous research generally finding positive associations between public transit usage and physical activity levels, few have summarized the association between introducing new public transportation options and different intensities of physical activity.Proximity to Liquor Stores and Adolescent Alcohol Intake: A Prospective Study
Cross-sectional studies have reported associations between liquor store availability and alcohol use among adolescents, but few prospective studies have confirmed this association. The aim of this study was to examine whether proximity to liquor stores at age 14 years was associated with alcohol intake at ages 14, 17, and 20 years.Perceived and Observed Food Environments, Eating Behaviors, and BMI
This study examines relationships between perceived and observed nutrition environments, diet, and BMI, in order to examine the criterion validity of the Nutrition Environment Measures Survey–Perceived (NEMS–P).Environmental Supports for Physical Activity, National Health Interview Survey–2015
The Guide to Community Preventive Services recommends combined built environment approaches to increase physical activity, including new or enhanced transportation infrastructure (e.g., sidewalks) and land use and environmental design interventions (e.g., close proximity of local destinations). The aim of this brief report is to provide nationally representative estimates of two types of built environment supports for physical activity: near-home walkable infrastructure and destinations, from the 2015 National Health Interview Survey.Neighborhood Environment and Cognition in Older Adults: A Systematic Review
Some evidence suggests that treating vascular risk factors and performing mentally stimulating activities may delay cognitive impairment onset in older adults. Exposure to a complex neighborhood environment may be one mechanism to help delay cognitive decline.Obesity-Related Policy/Environmental Interventions: A Systematic Review of Economic Analyses
Policy and environmental changes to support and encourage individual-level nutrition and physical activity behavior are underway in many parts of the U.S. and around the world at national, state, and local levels. Yet, to the authors’ knowledge, no summary of the cost-benefit or cost-effectiveness studies of obesity-related policy/environmental interventions exists.Neighborhood Factors and Dating Violence Among Youth: A Systematic Review
The purpose of this review is to summarize the empirical research on neighborhood-level factors and dating violence among adolescents and emerging adults to guide future research and practice.Physical Activity and Food Environment Assessments: Implications for Practice
There is growing interest in the use of physical activity and nutrition environmental measures by both researchers and practitioners. Built environment assessment methods and tools range from simple to complex and encompass perceived, observed, and geographic data collection. Even though challenges in tool selection and use may exist for non-researchers, there are opportunities to incorporate these measures into practice. The aims of this paper are to (1) describe examples of built environment assessment methods and tools in the practice context; (2) present case studies that outline successful approaches for the use of built environment assessment tools and data among practitioners; and (3) make recommendations for both research and practice.Food and Physical Activity Environments: An Energy Balance Approach for Research and Practice
Increases in the prevalence of overweight and obesity are a function of chronic, population-level energy imbalance, whereby energy intakes exceed energy expenditures. Although sometimes viewed in isolation, energy intakes and expenditures in fact exist in a dynamic interplay: energy intakes may influence energy expenditures and vice versa. Obesogenic environments that promote positive energy balance play a central role in the obesity epidemic, and reducing obesity prevalence will require re-engineering environments to promote both healthy eating and physical activity.The Role of Physicians in Promoting Healthier Built Environments
The normal physician treats the problem; the good physician treats the person; the best physician treats the community. —Chinese proverbNeighborhood Walkability: Field Validation of Geographic Information System Measures
Given the health benefits of walking, there is interest in understanding how physical environments favor walking. Although GIS-derived measures of land-use mix, street connectivity, and residential density are commonly combined into indices to assess how conducive neighborhoods are to walking, field validation of these measures is limited.Public Health and the Green Building Industry: Partnership Opportunities for Childhood Obesity Prevention
Improving the design of the built environment to promote health and well-being is an emerging priority within public health, particularly as a component of efforts to address the ongoing epidemic of childhood obesity.1–4 Research suggests that environmental design at multiple spatial scales, ranging from regional land use and transportation planning,5 to accessibility of public transit,6 to building characteristics such as stair placement,7,8 and even the design of food trays9 in contexts such as school cafeterias, can influence dietary choices and physical activity.Walkable Communities and Adolescent Weight
Neighborhood design features have been associated with health outcomes, including the prevalence of obesity.Taking Up Cycling After Residential Relocation: Built Environment Factors
To successfully stimulate cycling, it is necessary to understand the factors that facilitate or inhibit cycling. Little is known about how changes in the neighborhood environment are related to changes in cycling behavior.Obesogenic Environments in Youth: Concepts and Methods from a Longitudinal National Sample
To effectively prevent and reduce childhood obesity through healthy community design, it is essential to understand which neighborhood environment features influence weight gain in various age groups. However, most neighborhood environment research is cross-sectional, focuses on adults, and is often carried out in small, nongeneralizable geographic areas. Thus, there is a great need for longitudinal neighborhood environment research in diverse populations across the life cycle. This paper describes (1) insights and challenges of longitudinal neighborhood environment research and (2) advancements and remaining gaps in measurement and study design that examine individuals and neighborhoods within the context of the broader community.Objective Assessment of Obesogenic Environments in Youth: Geographic Information System Methods and Spatial Findings from the Neighborhood Impact on Kids Study
GIS-based walkability measures designed to explain active travel fail to capture “playability” and proximity to healthy food. These constructs should be considered when measuring potential child obesogenic environments.Obesogenic Neighborhood Environments, Child and Parent Obesity: The Neighborhood Impact on Kids Study
Identifying neighborhood environment attributes related to childhood obesity can inform environmental changes for obesity prevention.Patterns of Obesogenic Neighborhood Features and Adolescent Weight: A Comparison of Statistical Approaches
Few studies have addressed the potential influence of neighborhood characteristics on adolescent obesity risk, and findings have been inconsistent.Spatial Classification of Youth Physical Activity Patterns
Physical activity is an essential element in reducing the prevalence of obesity, but much is unknown about the intensity and location of physical activity among youth—this is important because adolescent health behaviors are predictive of behaviors in adults.Use of Global Positioning Systems to Study Physical Activity and the Environment: A Systematic Review
The GPS represents an innovative way to objectively assess the spatial locations of physical activity behavior. The aim of this systematic review was to determine the capability of GPS to collect high-quality data on the location of activities in research on the relationship between physical activity and the environment.
