A Pilot Study of Healthy Living Options at 16 Truck Stops Across the United States

Details

• Alternative Title:
  Am J Health Promot
• Personal Author:
  Lincoln, Jennifer E. ; Birdsey, Jan ; Sieber, W. Karl ; Chen, Guang-X. ; Hitchcock, Edward M. ; Nakata, Akinori ; Robinson, Cynthia F.
• Description:
  Purpose ; There is a growing body of evidence that the built environment influences diet and exercise and, as a consequence, community health status. Since long-haul truck drivers spend long periods of time at truck stops, it is important to know if this built environment includes resources that contribute to the emotional and physical well-being of drivers. ; Setting ; The truck stop environment was defined as the truck stop itself, grocery stores, and medical clinics near the truck stop that could be accessed by a large truck or safely on foot. ; Design ; Researchers at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) developed and utilized a checklist to record the availability of resources for personal hygiene and comfort, communication and mental stimulation, health care, safety, physical activity, and nutrition at truck stops. ; Subjects ; The NIOSH checklist was used to collect data at a convenience sample of 16 truck stops throughout the United States along both high-flow and low-flow truck traffic routes. ; Measures ; The checklist was completed by observation within and around the truck stops. ; Results ; No truck stops offered exercise facilities, 94% lacked access to health care, 81% lacked a walking path, 50% lacked fresh fruit, and 37% lacked fresh vegetables in their restaurant or convenience store. ; Conclusion ; The NIOSH found that most truck stops did not provide an overall healthy living environment.
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• Subjects:
  • Article
  • truck stop
  • obesity
  • nutrition
  • exercise
  • safety
• Source:
  Am J Health Promot. 32(3):546-553
• Pubmed ID:
  27687618
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC5373917
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Funding:
  CC999999/ImCDC/Intramural CDC HHS/United States
• Volume:
  32
• Issue:
  3
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/44893/cdc_44893_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 381.00 KB]
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:ebf89c3c0c4748332706f58ff640d8914f805955f43ebb948ed0ab2df9ce5415