Built Environment
Physical Activity, Sedentary Behavior, and Retirement: The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis
Physical activity and sedentary behavior are major risk factors for chronic disease. These behaviors may change at retirement, with implications for health in later life. The study objective was to describe longitudinal patterns of moderate to vigorous and domain-specific physical activity and TV watching by retirement status.Neighborhood Environments and Physical Activity: A Longitudinal Study of Adolescents in a Natural Experiment
Experimental and quasi-experimental evidence on the relationship between adolescents’ physical activity and their physical activity environments is scarce. This study provides natural experimental evidence using within-person longitudinal variation in physical activity environments resulting from the compulsory re-assignment of military families to new installations, termed permanent changes of station.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).Violent Crime and Park Use in Low-Income Urban Neighborhoods
Crime and safety are often cited as potential hurdles to park use and park-based physical activity. Using comprehensive data sources including both objective and subjective measurements at the park level and the individual level, this study aimed to assess the association between crime rates and use of local parks in low-income urban neighborhoods.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.Residential Green Space Quantity and Quality and Child Well-being: A Longitudinal Study
There are few studies on the potential benefits of green space quantity and quality for child well-being. The authors hypothesized that more and better quality residential green space would be favorable for well-being and that these associations could be subject to effect modification across childhood.Helmet Use Among Personal Bicycle Riders and Bike Share Users in Vancouver, BC
Public bike share users have low prevalence of helmet use, and few public bike share systems make helmets available. In summer 2016, a public bike share system launched in Vancouver, BC. Each bicycle is equipped with a free helmet, in response to BC’s all-ages compulsory helmet law. This study assessed the prevalence of helmet use among adult cyclists on personal and public bicycles in Vancouver.Increases in Use and Activity Due to Urban Renewal: Effect of a Natural Experiment
Urban green space and other recreational facilities are associated with physical activity. For adolescents living in multistory housing, public outdoor spaces that support physical activity may play an important role in activity promotion strategies. However, stronger evidence for a relation between the built environment and adolescent physical activity is scarce.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.The Built Environment and Cognitive Disorders: Results From the Cognitive Function and Ageing Study II
Built environment features have been related to behavior modification and might stimulate cognitive activity with a potential impact on cognitive health in later life. This study investigated cross-sectional associations between features of land use and cognitive impairment and dementia, and also explored urban and rural differences in these associations.A Reliable, Feasible Method to Observe Neighborhoods at High Spatial Resolution
Systematic social observation (SSO) methods traditionally measure neighborhoods at street level and have been performed reliably using virtual applications to increase feasibility. Research indicates that collection at even higher spatial resolution may better elucidate the health impact of neighborhood factors, but whether virtual applications can reliably capture social determinants of health at the smallest geographic resolution (parcel level) remains uncertain. This paper presents a novel, parcel-level SSO methodology and assesses whether this new method can be collected reliably using Google Street View and is feasible.The Social Determinants of Health Core: Taking a Place-Based Approach
There is growing recognition that health disparities research needs to incorporate social determinants in the local environment into explanatory models. In the transdisciplinary setting of the Mid-South Transdisciplinary Collaborative Center (TCC), the Social Determinants of Health (SDH) Core developed an approach to incorporating SDH across a variety of studies. This place-based approach, which is geographically based, transdisciplinary, and inherently multilevel, is discussed.Street Connectivity and Obesity Risk: Evidence From Electronic Health Records
This study aimed to determine the feasibility of using electronic health record (EHR) data from a federally qualified health center (FQHC) to assess the association between street connectivity, a measure of walkability for the local environment, and BMI obtained from EHRs.Built Environment and Depression in Low-Income African Americans and Whites
Urban environments are associated with a higher risk of adverse mental health outcomes; however, it is unclear which specific components of the urban environment drive these associations.Spatial Patterns and Neighborhood Characteristics of Overall Suicide Clusters in Florida From 2001 to 2010
Although spatial examination of mortality and morbidity is becoming more common in health studies, the investigation of suicide death clusters within the neighborhood context is underutilized. The purpose of this ecological study is to detect high- and low-risk clusters of suicide deaths in Florida and determine which neighborhood characteristics distinguish clusters from non-clusters.Adult BMI and Access to Built Environment Resources in a High-Poverty, Urban Geography
The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between BMI and access to built environment resources in a high-poverty, urban geography.The First National Study of Neighborhood Parks: Implications for Physical Activity
An extensive infrastructure of neighborhood parks supports leisure time physical activity in most U.S. cities; yet, most Americans do not meet national guidelines for physical activity. Neighborhood parks have never been assessed nationally to identify their role in physical activity.Neighborhood Walkability and Adiposity in the Women’s Health Initiative Cohort
Neighborhood environments may play a role in the rising prevalence of obesity among older adults. However, research on built environmental correlates of obesity in this age group is limited. The current study aimed to explore associations of Walk Score, a validated measure of neighborhood walkability, with BMI and waist circumference in a large, diverse sample of older women.Perceived Neighborhood Environment and Physical Activity: The International Physical Activity and Environment Network Adult Study in Mexico
There is compelling evidence linking physical activity with environmental characteristics in high-income countries, but evidence among low- and middle-income countries is scarce and results are inconsistent. This study assessed associations between perceived measures of the built environment and objectively measured physical activity among Mexican adults.Obesogenic Retail Food Environments Around New Zealand Schools: A National Study
This is the first nationwide spatial analysis of retail food environments around more and less socioeconomically deprived schools in New Zealand.Neighborhood Greenness and Chronic Health Conditions in Medicare Beneficiaries
Prior studies suggest that exposure to the natural environment may impact health. The present study examines the association between objective measures of block-level greenness (vegetative presence) and chronic medical conditions, including cardiometabolic conditions, in a large population-based sample of Medicare beneficiaries in Miami-Dade County, Florida.Education and the Relationship Between Supermarket Environment and Diet
Supermarkets are a major source of food for many families. Knowledge of how educational attainment affects the relationship between in-store environments of supermarkets and diet is needed. This study examined the relationship between maternal dietary quality and overall in-store supermarket environment, and assessed the effect modification of educational attainment.The Toxic Food Environment Around Elementary Schools and Childhood Obesity in Mexican Cities
The childhood obesity epidemic is a global concern. There is limited evidence in Mexico linking the local food environment to obesity. The purpose of this study is to describe the links between the local food environment around elementary schools and schoolchildren’s BMI in two Mexican cities.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.Urban Vegetative Cover Fragmentation in the U.S.: Associations With Physical Activity and BMI
Urban vegetative cover provides a range of ecosystem services including contributions to human health and well-being. Urbanization exerts tremendous pressure on this natural resource, causing fragmentation and loss of urban greenspace. This study aimed to examine associations between vegetative cover fragmentation and physical activity and BMI at the county scale in the U.S. metropolitan statistical areas greater than 1 million in population.
