Abstract
Background Walking is a good and simple way to increase people's energy expenditure, but there is limited evidence whether the neighborhood environment correlates differently with recreational and transportation walking. AimTo investigate how recreational walking and transportation walking are associated with the natural and built environmental characteristics of the living environment in the Netherlands, and examine the differences in their associations between weekdays and weekends. Method and data We extracted the total duration of daily walking (in minutes per person) for recreation and transportation of adults aged 18 years and above from the Dutch National Travel Survey 2015–2017 (N = 65,785) and analyzed it as an outcome variable. Objective measures of the natural (i.e., normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), blue space and meteorological conditions) and built environment (i.e., crossing density, land-use mix, and residential building density) around respondents' home addresses were determined for buffers with 300, 600, and 1000 m radii using a geographic information system. To assess associations between recreational and transportation walking and the environmental exposures separately, we fitted Tobit regression models to the walking data, adjusted for multiple confounders. ResultsOn weekdays, people living in areas with less NDVI, higher land-use mix, and higher crossing density were more likely to engage in transportation walking. Recreational walking was negatively associated with NDVI, blue space, crossing density, precipitation and daily average temperature. At weekends, land-use mix supports both recreational and transportation walking. A negative association appeared for NDVI and transportation walking. Daily average rainfall and temperature were inversely correlated with recreational walking. Sensitivity tests indicated that some associations depend on the buffer size. ConclusionsOur findings suggest that the built and natural environments are differently associated with people's recreational and transportation walking. We also found differences in the walking-environment associations between weekdays and weekends. Place-based policies to design walking-friendly neighborhoods may have different implications for different types of walking.
Highlights
Sedentary behavior and physical inactivity are well-known risk factors for developing chronic disease, threatening people’s physical and mental health alike [1]
In the Netherlands, the daily average distance walked by Dutch people is around 800 m [4], it varies significantly across municipalities, which can to a certain extent be attributed to differences in the environment
To address these research gaps, the present study investigated how natural and built environmental exposures are associated with recreational walking and transportation walking
Summary
Sedentary behavior and physical inactivity are well-known risk factors for developing chronic disease, threatening people’s physical and mental health alike [1]. While a few studies found positive associations between walking and land-use diversity, design (street density and intersections), and access to recreational and commercial places [10,11,12], other environmental characteristics (e.g., traffic noise and risk) were reported to be inversely correlated with walking [13, 14]. Aim: To investigate how recreational walking and transportation walking are associated with the natural and built environmental characteristics of the living environment in the Netherlands, and examine the differences in their associations between weekdays and weekends. Results: On weekdays, people living in areas with less NDVI, higher land use mix, higher residential building density, and higher crossing density, were more likely to engage in transportation walking. Place-based policies to design walking-friendly neighborhoods may have different implications for different types of walking
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