California Women with Young Children Use Active Transportation Most Often in Very Unsafe Neighborhoods Regardless of SES

Abstract

Background Women are typically less physically active than men, and active transport can help women meet physical activity recommendations. Little is known about special populations of women, such as women with young children, who may be especially sensitive to neighborhood conditions. The purpose of this study was to investigate the associations of neighborhood context with active transport among women with children after controlling for sociodemographic variables. Methods We used data from the Geographic Research on Wellbeing study (GROW). In 2012-2013, GROW surveyed mothers who participated in California’s Maternal and Infant Health Assessment. The dependent variable was active transport vs. inactive transport. Mothers were coded as doing active transport if they responded that they “walked,” “walked and took public transportation,” or ‘rode a bike,” to most places they went in the past 7 days, and were coded as doing inactive transport if they responded that they “drove” any kind of vehicle or “got rides from someone else.” The independent variables were neighborhood-level (census tract) poverty rates, and income inequality, and perceived neighborhood safety. Using a stratified sample of poor or near-poor ( Results One seventh of mothers reported active transport with mothers in poor/near-poor families having higher proportion of active transport than mothers in higher income families (24% vs. 3%). In adjusted models, poor/near-poor mothers in very unsafe neighborhoods had 2.5 times higher odds of active transport compared with those in very safe neighborhoods, and non-poor mothers in very unsafe neighborhoods had 7.5 times higher odds of active transport compared with those in very safe neighborhoods. Neighborhood-level poverty and income inequality were not statistically significant in the adjusted models. Conclusions Both poor and non-poor women with young children have higher rates of active transportation if they perceive their neighborhoods as very unsafe vs. very safe, presenting added risk for crime, injury, and psychological distress to these most vulnerable women. In contrast, objectively measured poverty rates and income inequality were not related to active transportation. Policy and community resources should be allocated to provide safe routes for women in very unsafe areas where active transport is most likely to occur.