Impact of the Built Environment and the Neighborhood in Promoting the Physical Activity and the Healthy Aging in Older People: An Umbrella Review

Physical activity would bring in plenty of health benefits, especially recreational physical activity (RPA). Previous studies have suggested that built environment would affect older people’s recreational walking (RW) and RPA, but how the effects exist in a small-scale Chinese city remains unclear. Two hundred and fifty-two older participants were recruited in the city of Yiwu using cross-sectional survey of random samples in 2019. RW and RPA level of participants and perceived scores of built environments were collected using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire and Neighborhood Environment Walkability Scale, respectively. Linear regression analysis was conducted to investigate the association of built environment with older people’s RW and RPA. The results showed that two main factors affecting older people’s RW and RPA were residential density and aesthetics. Additionally, access to services was related to RW, and street connectivity was correlated with RPA. The associations of RW with built environment varied slightly with demographic variables included in the regression model. All the results suggested that lower residential density, better aesthetics environment, and higher street connectivity would motivate older people to engage more in RW and RPA. The better access to services encourages only RW, not RPA, in older people. These findings would be helpful for policy decision makers in the urban construction process in Yiwu. More studies are needed to enlarge the scientific evidence base about small-scale cities in China.

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 94%

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 94%

See 1 more Smart Citation

The Associations of Built Environment with Older People Recreational Walking and Physical Activity in a Chinese Small-Scale City of Yiwu

Yang

Zhao

et al. 2021

“…Access to services was negatively associated with elderly LTPA in Hangzhou. This finding was not in line with previous studies [ 48 , 49 ]. Van et al suggested that perceived short distances to services was significantly positively related to elderly walking/cycling behaviors in Belgium [ 49 ].…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 96%

Comparison Study of Perceived Neighborhood-Built Environment and Elderly Leisure-Time Physical Activity between Hangzhou and Wenzhou, China

Yang

Zhang

et al. 2020

Physical activity and health are of significant importance for the rapid aging population in China. Built environment has been suggested to be associated with elderly physical activity and health. However, the association differences between cities remain unclear. Perceived built environment scores and elderly leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) of 308 elderly in Hangzhou and 304 elderly in Wenzhou were collected using Neighborhood Environment Walkability Scale and International Physical Activity Questionnaire, respectively. A multivariate linear regression method and T-test were used to analyze of the associations between elderly LTPA and built environment and the differences between the two cities, respectively. The results showed that LTPA was positively associated with walking/cycling facilities and crime safety in both cities. LTPA was positively correlated with residential density, aesthetics, pedestrian/traffic safety in Wenzhou and negatively correlated with access to services in Hangzhou. The perceived scores of aesthetics (2.71 vs. 2.45) and pedestrian/traffic safety (2.11 vs. 1.71) in Hangzhou were significantly higher than those in Wenzhou. The results suggested that built environment elements like higher walking/cycling facilities and crime safety may motivate elderly engaging LTPA in both cities. However, LTPA was affected by different factors in these two cities. In the urban redevelopment, survey conducted in its own city would provide meaningful information and cannot be neglected.

“…The present study found that higher LUM was associated with greater prevalence of diabetes in adults aged 60 or over. Previous studies have supported that high-level LUM encourages participation in physical activity due to better access to local destinations that help reduce obesity and diabetes [ 33 , 34 , 35 ]. The elderly, who are more sensitive to stress from their residence environments, might be exposed to higher levels of stresses when living in areas with mixed residential, commercial, and industrial land-use, usually located in urban centers [ 36 , 37 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Objectively Measured Built Environments and Cardiovascular Diseases in Middle-Aged and Older Korean Adults

Lee

Choi

Lee

et al. 2021

This study assesses the association between the objectively measured built environment and cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) in 50,741 adults from the Korean Community Health Survey. The CVD outcomes of hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia, stroke, and myocardial infarction (MI) or angina were derived from self-reported histories of physician diagnoses. Using ArcGIS software and Korean government databases, this study measured the built environment variables for the 546 administrative areas of Gyeonggi province. A Bayesian spatial multilevel model was performed independently in two age groups (i.e., 40–59 years or ≥60 years). After adjusting for statistical significant individual- and community-level factors with the spatial associations, living far from public transit was associated with an increase in the odds of MI or angina in middle-aged adults, while living in neighborhoods in which fast-food restaurants were concentrated was associated with a decrease in the odds of hypertension and stroke. For adults 60 or older, living farther from public physical-activity (PA) facilities was associated with a 15% increased odds for dyslipidemia, compared with living in neighborhoods nearer to PA facilities. These findings suggest that creating a built environment that provides more opportunities to engage in PA in everyday life should be considered a strategy to reduce the prevalence of CVD.