Physical Activity and the Built Environment: Difference between revisions

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In public health, a built environment refers to physical environments that are designed with health and wellness as integral parts of communities and it includes open spaces, footpaths, cycle lanes, parks, trails.<ref>Renalds, A; Smith T; Hale, P (2010). "A Systematic Review of Built Environment And Health". Family and Community Health.'''33:''' 68-78.</ref>  
In public health, a built environment refers to physical environments that are designed with health and wellness as integral parts of communities and it includes open spaces, footpaths, cycle lanes, parks, trails.<ref>Renalds, A; Smith T; Hale, P (2010). "A Systematic Review of Built Environment And Health". Family and Community Health.'''33:''' 68-78.</ref>  
Physical activity can be classified into four domains of life that describe how people spend their time: recreational, occupational, transport and household activities. Recreational and transport physical activity are relevant to and driven by the built environment features.<ref>Pratt M, Macera CA, Sallis JF, O'Donnel M, Frank LD. Economic interventions to promote physical activity: application of the SLOTH model. Am J Prev Med.2004;27 suppl 3:136-145.</ref>
Using the built environment as an intervention for improving physical activity offers numerous advantages. Diverse to individual level approaches, developing a supportive environment has the potential to achieve biggest reach for long term, population-wide improvements in physical activity levels and facilitate behavior change maintenance.<ref>Kwansnicka D, Dombrowski SU, White M, Sniehotta F. Theoretical explanations for maintenance of behaviour change: a systematic review of behaviour theories. Health Psychol Rev. 2016;10:277-96.</ref>  Also,physical activity interventions that reach a large numbers of people over a sustained period of time are often more cost effective than individual level interventions.<ref>Wu S, Cohen D, Shi Y, Pearson M, Sturm R. Economic Analysis of physical activity interventions. ''Am J Prev Med''. 2011;40(2):149-58.</ref>
Measures of healthy food access and physical activity environments are common measures for obesity prevention project by the Center for Disease Control.<ref>Kahn, LK; Sobush K; Keener D; et al.(2009)."Recommended community strategies and measurements to prevention obesity in the United States". ''MMWR Recomm Rep''. '''58''': 1-26.</ref>


== Features of Built Environment ==
== Features of Built Environment ==
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4.      Community environment- include mostly contextual features of the environment such as aesthetics, cleanliness, traffic, crime safety or community support or cohesion.
4.      Community environment- include mostly contextual features of the environment such as aesthetics, cleanliness, traffic, crime safety or community support or cohesion.
Features of the built environment that has been found to correlate with physical activity levels include mixed land use, population density, street connectivity, and physical infrastructure including footpaths.<ref>Gebel K, Bauman AE, Petticrew M. The physical environment and physical activity: a critical appraisal of review articles. ''Am J Prev Med''. 2007;32(5):361-9</ref>
 
These features have the potential to influence both recreational and travel related physical activity. For instance, certain features of the neighborhood environment- sidewalks, streetlights, and terrain might make recreational activity more appealing. Meanwhile, other characteristics such as residential density proximity to destinations and grid like street patterns might make it easier or more pleasant to walk or bicycle for transportation.
Features of the built environment that has been found to correlate with physical activity levels include mixed land use, population density, street connectivity, and physical infrastructure including footpaths.<ref>Gebel K, Bauman AE, Petticrew M. The physical environment and physical activity: a critical appraisal of review articles. ''Am J Prev Med''. 2007;32(5):361-9</ref> These features have the potential to influence both recreational and travel related physical activity. For instance, certain features of the neighborhood environment- sidewalks, streetlights, and terrain might make recreational activity more appealing. Meanwhile, other characteristics such as residential density proximity to destinations and grid like street patterns might make it easier or more pleasant to walk or bicycle for transportation.


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Revision as of 00:37, 10 August 2017

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Introduction[edit | edit source]

The environment is integral to encouraging physical activity.[1]  The built environment is an aspect of the environment that is increasingly receiving research attention.[2]  Recommended levels of physical activity can be achieved by including activities such as walking, cycling as part of everyday life. This can be encouraged with a supportive built environment. Public health advocates can help shape the design of cities and suburbs in ways to encourage physical activity.  The emphasis on the role of built environment is necessary as encouraging people to be more physically active in an environment that is not supportive is less likely to be effective.

The built environment is defined as the part of the physical environment that is constructed or modified by human activity.[3] It includes homes, schools, workplaces, parks or recreation areas, green-ways, business areas and transportation systems.[4]

In public health, a built environment refers to physical environments that are designed with health and wellness as integral parts of communities and it includes open spaces, footpaths, cycle lanes, parks, trails.[5]

Physical activity can be classified into four domains of life that describe how people spend their time: recreational, occupational, transport and household activities. Recreational and transport physical activity are relevant to and driven by the built environment features.[6]

Using the built environment as an intervention for improving physical activity offers numerous advantages. Diverse to individual level approaches, developing a supportive environment has the potential to achieve biggest reach for long term, population-wide improvements in physical activity levels and facilitate behavior change maintenance.[7] Also,physical activity interventions that reach a large numbers of people over a sustained period of time are often more cost effective than individual level interventions.[8]

Measures of healthy food access and physical activity environments are common measures for obesity prevention project by the Center for Disease Control.[9]

Features of Built Environment[edit | edit source]

Built environment features that are hypothesized to be associated with recreational activity have been divided into four categories;

1.      Recreational resources - include walking trails, biking trails, parks and open spaces

2.      Land use characteristics- include residential and employment density, land use mix (types of buildings, services and businesses in the community), street connectivity (grid pattern, cul-de-sac s and loop holes) and proximity of destinations (shops, employment and services) to residences.

3.      Neighborhood form characteristics- include availability of sidewalks and street light

4.      Community environment- include mostly contextual features of the environment such as aesthetics, cleanliness, traffic, crime safety or community support or cohesion.

Features of the built environment that has been found to correlate with physical activity levels include mixed land use, population density, street connectivity, and physical infrastructure including footpaths.[10] These features have the potential to influence both recreational and travel related physical activity. For instance, certain features of the neighborhood environment- sidewalks, streetlights, and terrain might make recreational activity more appealing. Meanwhile, other characteristics such as residential density proximity to destinations and grid like street patterns might make it easier or more pleasant to walk or bicycle for transportation.

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Recent Related Research (from Pubmed)[edit | edit source]

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References[edit | edit source]

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  1. Goldstein B. The environment and health:a conversation with CDC chief Jeffrey Koplan; tracing intersections between behaviour and environment fascinates this top health officer. Health Affairs 2002;21:179-184 [Pub Med]
  2. Sallis JF, Floyd MF, Rodriguez DA, Saelens BE. Role of built environments in physical activity, obesity, and cardiovascular disease. Circulation. 2012;125(5):729-37
  3. Saelens BE, Handy SL. Built environment correlates of walking: a review. Med Sci Sport Exer. 2008;40(7 Suppl):S550-66.
  4. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences 2004 p 2
  5. Renalds, A; Smith T; Hale, P (2010). "A Systematic Review of Built Environment And Health". Family and Community Health.33: 68-78.
  6. Pratt M, Macera CA, Sallis JF, O'Donnel M, Frank LD. Economic interventions to promote physical activity: application of the SLOTH model. Am J Prev Med.2004;27 suppl 3:136-145.
  7. Kwansnicka D, Dombrowski SU, White M, Sniehotta F. Theoretical explanations for maintenance of behaviour change: a systematic review of behaviour theories. Health Psychol Rev. 2016;10:277-96.
  8. Wu S, Cohen D, Shi Y, Pearson M, Sturm R. Economic Analysis of physical activity interventions. Am J Prev Med. 2011;40(2):149-58.
  9. Kahn, LK; Sobush K; Keener D; et al.(2009)."Recommended community strategies and measurements to prevention obesity in the United States". MMWR Recomm Rep. 58: 1-26.
  10. Gebel K, Bauman AE, Petticrew M. The physical environment and physical activity: a critical appraisal of review articles. Am J Prev Med. 2007;32(5):361-9