Do Neighborhoods Make People Active, or Do People Make Active Neighborhoods? Evidence from a Planned Community in Austin, Texas

Details

• Journal Article:
  Preventing Chronic Disease (PCD)
• Personal Author:
  Calise, Tamara Vehige ; Heeren, Timothy ; DeJong, William ; Dumith, Samuel C. ; Kohl, Harold W.
• Description:
  Introduction
  
  Whether patterns of physical activity in different communities can be attributed to the built environment or instead reflect self-selection is not well understood. The objective of this study was to examine neighborhood preferences and behavior-specific physical activity among residents who moved to a new urbanist-designed community.
  
  Methods
  
  We used data from a 2009 survey (n = 424) that was designed and administered to evaluate neighborhood preferences and behavior-specific physical activity before and after residents moved. Data were grouped and stratified by pre-move physical activity levels into low-, middle-, and high-activity groups. We used Student’s paired sample t test and Wilcoxon signed-rank test to compare pre- and post-move scores and used an analysis of variance to compare mean changes as a function of pre-move physical activity level.
  
  Results
  
  After moving, the high-activity group continued to be significantly more active than the middle- and low-activity groups (P < .001). However, we saw the biggest increase in pre- to post-move total physical activity in the low-activity group (mean increase, 176.3 min/wk) compared with the middle- (mean increase, 69.5 min/wk) and high-activity groups (mean decrease, 67.9 min/wk). All 3 groups had significant increases in walking inside the neighborhood for recreation. The preferred neighborhood features with the most significant pre- to post-move change scores were those associated with greater walkability.
  
  Conclusion
  
  This study supports the role the environment plays in physical activity. These data suggest that moving to an activity-friendly neighborhood can positively affect physical activity levels, particularly among residents who had previously been least active.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Adult City Planning Cross-Sectional Studies Environment Design Evidence-Based Medicine Female Humans Male Motor Activity Residence Characteristics Walking Young Adult

  More +
• Source:
  Prev Chronic Dis. 10.
• ISSN:
  1545-1151
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Texas
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  10
• Collection(s):
  Preventing Chronic Disease
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:f251de65e8b7dd2f0e880955eb9566e088cbc19359aeacf0d7f63326c17cde382c247c6920f38231634d269866b07c7ffc8204ef99abf4e118dfafd56feb77f0
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/19620/cdc_19620_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 490.80 KB ]