Abstract
Spending time outdoors is associated with increased physical activity; however, high ambient temperature/humidity, together with built environment features in urban versus rural environments, may influence physical activity. We conducted an intervention trial with 89 urban and 88 rural participants performing normal activities on Days 1–2 (baseline) and spending an additional 30 min outdoors on Days 3–7 (intervention) in the summer. Participants wore a pedometer with real-time visual feedback to track daily steps taken and a thermometer clipped to their shoe to track temperatures experienced individually. Hygrometer–thermometers were deployed in participants’ neighborhoods to collect finer resolution ambient heat indexes in addition to regional weather station measurements. Using linear mixed effects models and adjusting for ambient conditions and individual-level factors, participants on average walked 637 (95%CI (83, 1192)) more steps and had a 0.59 °C (95%CI (0.30, 0.88)) lower daily mean individually experienced heat index during intervention days compared to baseline days. The intervention benefit of increased physical activity was greater in rural residents who were less active at baseline, compared to urban residents. Our results suggest adding a small amount of additional time outdoors may improve physical activity without increasing participants’ heat exposure, even during summer in a humid subtropical climate.
Highlights
Weather conditions, including high temperatures and precipitation levels, have been identified as barriers to participation in physical activity [1,2]
We explored factors associated with the probability of intervention compliance in a regression model accounting for ambient conditions and individual-level factors [36]
Models58 were adjusted for participant age, education
Summary
Weather conditions, including high temperatures and precipitation levels, have been identified as barriers to participation in physical activity [1,2]. While physical activity generally peaks in summer [1,3], a lower level of physical activity in summer was noted in Texas residents when the average temperature of the study month was 29 ◦ C (84 ◦ F) [4]. Another study showed a moist tropical climate may be one of the strongest deterrents against physical activity in the U.S, reducing the percent of adults meeting physical activity recommendations by ~20% [5]. Adults in southeastern U.S had the highest prevalence of physical inactivity (28.0%) based on Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. Res. Public Health 2020, 17, 7558; doi:10.3390/ijerph17207558 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph
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