Abstract
Studies have proved that activity and fitness behaviors are closely related to the quality of life and health status of the elderly. However, different intensities of physical activity (PA)—walking, moderate PA, and vigorous PA—have different correlations with the built environment (BE). This study combines the high and low socioeconomic status (SES) of Guangzhou to establish two types of BE models. The physical activity time of 600 elderly people was collected from questionnaires. Through ArcGIS software, 300 m, 500 m, 800 m, and 1000 m buffer zones were identified, and the land use diversity, street design, population density, distance to destination, distance to public transportation—the five Ds of the BE—were measured. SPSS software was adopted to analyze the correlation between the BE and PA. Results: The PA of people living in low-SES areas was more dependent on the BE, whereas the correlation may be limited in high SES areas. Moreover, in low SES areas, walking was negatively correlated with street connectivity; moderate PA was positively correlated with street connectivity and the shortest distance to the subway station, but negatively correlated with the density of entertainment points of interest (POIs). Studying the relevant factors of the environment can propose better strategies to improve the initiative of the elderly to engage in PA.
Highlights
The rapid development of the social economy has brought people a high quality of living standard
The built environment was compared by high-income and low-income areas, which included the land mix, street connectivity, population density, and buffer scale; the physical activity level was divided into four categories: sitting, walking, moderate physical activity, and vigorous physical activity
It was clear that walking, moderate, and vigorous physical activity times were generally higher in high socioeconomic areas than in low socioeconomic areas, and, the sedentary time was generally higher for older people in low socioeconomic areas than in high socioeconomic areas
Summary
The rapid development of the social economy has brought people a high quality of living standard. According to the international standard, a region is considered to have entered an aging society when its population aged 65 years or above reaches 7% and an aged society when the figure reaches 14%. This means that China is very close to a moderately aging society. According to the Prediction of China’s Health Commission, the elderly population in China is expected to peak at 487 million around 2050, accounting for 34.98% of the total population Both the number of elderly people and the proportion of the total population have reached their peak, and
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