Factors affecting outdoor exposure in winter: population-based study

Abstract

The extent of outdoor exposure during winter and factors affecting it were examined in a cross-sectional population study in Finland. Men and women aged 25-74 years from the National FINRISK 2002 sub-study (n=6,591) were queried about their average weekly occupational, leisure-time and total cold exposure during the past winter. The effects of gender, age, area of residence, occupation, ambient temperature, self-rated health, physical activity and education on cold exposure were analysed. The self-reported median total cold exposure time was 7 h/week (8 h men, 6 h women),<1 h/week (2 h men, 0 h women) at work, 4 h/week (5 h men, 4 h women) during leisure time and 1 h/week (1 h men, 1.5 h women) while commuting to work. Factors associated with increased occupational cold exposure among men were: being employed in agriculture, forestry and industry/mining/construction or related occupations, being less educated and being aged 55-64 years. Factors associated with increased leisure-time cold exposure among men were: employment in industry/mining/construction or related occupations, being a pensioner or unemployed, reporting at least average health, being physically active and having college or vocational education. Among women, being a housewife, pensioner or unemployed and engaged in physical activity increased leisure-time cold exposure, and young women were more exposed than older ones. Self-rated health was positively associated with leisure time cold exposure in men and only to a minor extent in women. In conclusion, the subjects reported spending 4% of their total time under cold exposure, most of it (71%) during leisure time. Both occupational and leisure-time cold exposure is greater among men than women.

Weather impacts on leisure activities in Halifax, Nova Scotia

“…However, the provision of facilities and programs is not enough to promote physical activity engagement, because access to these indoor structured physical activities is also dependent upon reducing constraints associated with mobility (Merrill et al 2005), especially for the elderly (Spinney et al 2009) who are also more "weather sensitive" (Von Mackensen et al 2005). Interventions aimed at increasing participation in outdoor leisure activities during cold temperatures must also consider those suffering from respiratory or cardiovascular conditions (Mäkinen et al 2006), because they are also especially sensitive to the impact of thermal comfort.…”

An initial assessment of the bioclimatic comfort in an outdoor public space in Lisbon

“…Besides, only 4% of the women wore skirts at the time of the interview, leading to the conclusion that clothing cannot account for the differences. Bearing in mind that the perception of the wind is closely linked to the perception of the air temperature (Nikolopoulou and Lykoudis 2006;Stathopoulos 2006), it is worth mentioning the results found by Mäkinen et al (2006) in a study on outdoor exposure in the winter in Finland; although this latter study was conducted in a different climatic context, the authors found that men report being more exposed to the cold during their leisure time than women, which could be partially explained by preferences and cultural differences. Also, Fanger (1972) has argued that women are more sensitive than men to deviations from the thermal optimum.…”

Children sleeping outdoors in winter: parents' experiences of a culturally bound childcare practice

“…(5). A cold environment includes all the environmental conditions that activate body temperature regulation to help diminish heat loss and stimulate heat production (6,7).…”