This pilot study investigates the impact of active design (AD) strategies on physical activity (PA) among adults living in two Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified affordable housing developments in the South Bronx, New York. One building incorporates LEED Innovation in Design (ID) Credit: Design for Health through Increased Physical Activity. Tenants in an affordable housing building (AH) incorporating active design strategies completed PA self-assessments at their lease signing and one year later in 2015. Trained research assistants obtained body measurements. Residents of neighboring non-AD affordable housing (MCV) served as a comparison. Thirty four adults were recruited from AH and 29 from MCV, retention was 56% (n = 19) and 52% (n = 15) respectively at one year. The two groups' body mass index (BMI) and high-risk waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) were not statistically significantly different when analyzed as continuous variables, although BMI category had a greater decline at AH than at MCV (p = 0.054). There was a 31.5% increase in AH participants meeting MPA requirements and a statistically significant improvement in females (p = 0.031); while there was no change in the MCV participants overall or when stratified by gender. AH participants were significantly more likely to have reported increased stair use and less likely to have reported no change or decreased stair use than participants from MCV participants (p = 0.033). Housing has a role in individual health outcomes and behavior change, broad adoption of active design strategies in affordable housing is warranted to improve physical activity measures.

Physical inactivity increases risk of chronic disease. Few studies examine how built environment interventions increase physical activity (PA). Active design (AD) utilizes strategies in affordable housing to improve resident health. We assessed how AD housing affects PA among low-income families in Brooklyn, New York. Participants were recruited at lease signings in 2016 from a new AD apartment complex and two recently renovated comparison buildings without AD features. Eligibility included age ≥18 years with no contraindications to exercise. Anthropometric data were collected. PA was self-reported using the Recent and Global Physical Activity Questionnaires. Smartphone users shared their tracked step. Data collection was repeated one year after move-in. All data were analyzed using SPSS. Eighty-eight eligible participants completed the initial questionnaire (36 AD and 52 from 2 comparison buildings) at baseline (T0). There were no differences between AD and comparison cohorts in: stair use, PA, sitting time or, mean waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) at T0. However, the AD cohort had a lower baseline BMI (27.6 vs. 31.0, p = 0.019). At one-year follow-up (T1), 75 participants completed our survey including a 64% retention rate among those who previously completed the T0 questionnaire. Among T0 questionnaire respondents, mean daily steps increased at T1 among AD participants who moved from an elevator building (∆6782, p = 0.051) and in the comparison group (∆2960, p = 0.023). Aggregate moderate work-related activity was higher at T1 in the AD building (746 vs. 401, p = 0.031). AD building women reported more work-related PA overall but AD men engaged in more moderate recreational PA. Living in an AD building can enhance low-income residents’ PA. More research with objective measures is needed to identify strategies to sustain higher PA levels and overall health.