Perceptions of the residential environment may be associated with preterm delivery (PTD), though few studies exist. Data from the Life-course Influences on Fetal Environments (LIFE) Study (metropolitan Detroit, Michigan, 2009-2011) were used to examine whether perceptions of the current social and physical environment were associated with PTD rates among postpartum African-American women (n = 1...

BACKGROUND Built environment and policy interventions are effective strategies for controlling the growing worldwide deaths from physical inactivity-related non-communicable diseases. To improve built environment research and develop African specific evidence, it is important to first tailor built environment measures to African contexts and assess their psychometric properties across African c...

Optimization of existing measurement tools is necessary to explore links between aspects of the neighborhood built environment and health behaviors or outcomes. We evaluate a scoring method for virtual neighborhood audits utilizing the Active Neighborhood Checklist (the Checklist), a neighborhood audit measure, and assess street segment representativeness in low-income neighborhoods. Eighty-two...

BACKGROUND This study examined the associations of subjective and objective measures of the neighbourhood environment with the transportation physical activity of community-dwelling older persons in Singapore. METHOD A modified version of the Neighborhood Environment Walkability Scale (NEWS) and Geographical Information System (GIS) measures of the built environment characteristics were relat...

Walking is the most popular choice of aerobic physical activity to improve health among U.S. adults. Physical characteristics of the home neighborhood can facilitate or hinder walking. The purpose of this study was to quantify neighborhood walking, using objective methods and to examine the association between counts of walking bouts in the home neighborhood and neighborhood walkability. This w...

INTRODUCTION There are significant differences in physical inactivity in various geographical areas and among demographic groups. Previous research suggests that walking is the most common form of physical activity; however, not all built environments support walking for recreational or transportation purposes. OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to assess the extent to which area-level f...

Introduction: There are significant differences in physical inactivity in various geographical areas and among demographic groups. Previous research suggests that walking is the most common form of physical activity; however, not all built environments support walking for recreational or transportation purposes. Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess the extent to which area-level f...

Background: Overweight is a global issue of epidemic proportions, and its negative influence on individual health is clear. However, the relation between environment and overweight is not thoroughly clear, especially concerning to the perceived environment and the physical and social aspects. Therefore, this study aimed to analyze potential associations between the perceived environment and ove...

BACKGROUND The relationship between children's physical neighborhood environment and their physical activity, has been largely investigated. However in recent reviews, only a few significant and consistent direct associations between children's physical neighborhood environment and their physical activity were found. This is possibly due to the fact that the location where children's physical a...

BACKGROUND Too much sitting, including time spent sitting in cars, is associated with poor health outcomes. Identifying the built-environment attributes that may reduce vehicular sitting time can inform future initiatives linking the public health, urban design, and transportation sectors. METHODS Data collected in 2003-2004 from adult residents (n = 2521) of Adelaide, Australia were used. Lo...