Association of the Built Environment With Physical Activity and Obesity in Older Persons

Berke, Ethan M.; Koepsell, Thomas D.; Moudon, Anne Vernez; Hoskins, Richard; Larson, Eric B.

doi:10.2105/ajph.2006.085837

Cited by 405 publications

(350 citation statements)

References 49 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

322

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…The moderate correlation detected in the male participants is supported by research by Heyn et al, 16 as it was concluded that higher physical activity levels among elderly have a positive influence on BMI. The weak correlation found in females supports research by Burke et al, 17 who struggled to determine whether frequency of walking reduces obesity prevalence in elderly.…”

Section: Physical Activitysupporting

confidence: 72%

An Investigation into Body Mass Index and Lifestyle Characteristics within an Elderly Population

Mills¹,

Hayward²

2016

Obes Res Open J

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Section: Physical Activitysupporting

confidence: 72%

An Investigation into Body Mass Index and Lifestyle Characteristics within an Elderly Population

Mills¹,

Hayward²

2016

Obes Res Open J

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…For older adults, being confident to be physically active and having social support is positively correlated with PA, while feeling too old has an adverse effect (Bauman and Bull, 2007;Carlson et al, 2012). Next to individual characteristics, the relation of neighbourhood built environment factors and PA has been widely studied in the past, mainly showing that people living in highly walkable neighbourhoods tend to be more physically active (Berke et al, 2007;Frank et al, 2010;King et al, 2011;Marshall et al, 2014;Van Holle et al, 2014;Marquet and Miralles-Guasch, 2015). However, a study based on a national survey on Canadian adults reports that there is a positive association between neighbourhood greenness in a 500 m buffer around the home location and leisure-time PA (McMorris et al, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Associations between time spent in green areas and physical activity among late middle-aged adults

Dewulf¹,

Neutens²,

Dyck³

et al. 2016

Geospat Health

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Physical activity is an important facilitator for health and wellbeing, especially for late middle-aged adults, who are more susceptible to cardiovascular diseases. Physical activity performed in green areas is supposed to be particularly beneficial, so we studied whether late middle-aged adults are more active in green areas than in non-green areas and how this is influenced by individual characteristics and the level of neighbourhood greenness. We tracked 180 late middle-aged (58 to 65 years) adults using global positioning system and accelerometer data to know whether and where they were sedentary or active. These data were combined with information on land use to obtain information on the greenness of sedentary and active hotspots. We found that late middle-aged adults are more physically active when spending more time in green areas than in non-green areas. Spending more time at home and in non-green areas was found to be associated with more sedentary behaviour. Time spent in non-green areas was found to be related to more moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) for males and to less MVPA for females. The positive association between time spent in green areas and MVPA was the strongest for highly educated people and for those living in a green neighbourhood. This study shows that the combined use of global positioning system and accelerometer data facilitates understanding of where people are sedentary or physically active, which can help policy makers encourage activity in this age cohort.

show abstract

“…15,16 Pedestrian-oriented designs (e.g., continuous, barrier-free sidewalks, fourway stop signals, and pedestrian amenities) and access to recreational facilities have been shown to be positively associated with mobility in older adults. [17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25] Poor street conditions, heavy traffic, and excessive noise have been shown to be associated with the onset of mobility impairments 1 to 3 years later. 26,27 One study in the city of Chicago found that older adults with movement-related impairments had a fourfold higher odds of reporting severe difficulty walking when living in neighborhoods with streets in poor condition (e.g., cracks, broken curbs, potholes) compared to those living in neighborhoods with streets in good condition.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Optimizing Mobility in Later Life: The Role of the Urban Built Environment for Older Adults Aging in Place

2013

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Hazards in the urban built environment can create barriers to mobility among older adults aging in place. We investigated the relationship between urban built environment characteristics and 15-month trajectories of mobility disability in a sample of 1,188 older adults living in Detroit, MI, a city that has undergone rapid economic and structural decline. Data come from the Michigan Minimum Data Set for Home Care (2001Care ( -2008, an enumerative database of older adults in Michigan who qualify for federal or state-funded home and community-based long-term care through a Medicaid waiver program. Standardized assessments are made at intake and every 90 days by case managers. Built environments were assessed with a virtual audit using the "Street View" feature of Google Earth. A summary accessibility score was created for each block based on a count of the number of accessible features (e.g., continuous barrier-free sidewalks and proximity of public transportation). Using growth mixture models, two latent trajectories of outdoor mobility were identified: one capturing occasional outdoor mobility (representing 83 % of the sample) and one capturing almost no mobility outside the home. Controlling for sociodemographic and health risk factors, individuals living in more accessible environments had a 18 % higher odds of being in the more mobile group (OR01.18, 95 % CI01.01, 1.41). These findings emphasize the importance of the built environment for mobility among urban-dwelling older adults.

show abstract

Association of the Built Environment With Physical Activity and Obesity in Older Persons

Abstract: Findings suggest that neighborhood characteristics are associated with the frequency of walking for physical activity in older people. Whether frequency of walking reduces obesity prevalence is less clear.

Cited by 405 publications

References 49 publications

An Investigation into Body Mass Index and Lifestyle Characteristics within an Elderly Population

An Investigation into Body Mass Index and Lifestyle Characteristics within an Elderly Population

Associations between time spent in green areas and physical activity among late middle-aged adults

Optimizing Mobility in Later Life: The Role of the Urban Built Environment for Older Adults Aging in Place

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About