Place matters: A longitudinal analysis measuring the association between neighbourhood walkability and walking by age group and population center size in Canada.

Rania Wasfi,Madeleine Steinmetz-Wood,Yan Kestens,Mary Bowen

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0189472

Rania Wasfi, Madeleine Steinmetz-Wood + Show 2 more

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https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0189472

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Journal: PloS one	Publication Date: Dec 19, 2017
Citations: 24	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: Université de Montréal

Abstract

This study examined the influence of walkability on walking behaviour and assessed whether associations varied according to life-stage and population center (PC) size. Walkability scores were obtained for the six-digit postal codes of residential neighbourhoods of 11,200 Canadians, who participated in biennial assessments of the National Population Health Survey from 1994 to 2010. Participants were stratified by age-group. Mixed-effects logistic regression models were used to estimate the influence of cumulative exposure to neighborhood walkability on utilitarian and exercise walking by PC size and life-stage. Associations of neighbourhood walkability with utilitarian and exercise walking varied according to age-group and PC size. Exposure to high walkable neighborhoods was associated with utilitarian walking in younger and older adults in all PC sizes, except for older adults living in a medium PC. Living in a highly walkable neighborhood in a large PC was associated with walking for exercise in younger (OR: 1.42; 95%CI: 1.20–1.67) and older adults (OR: 2.09; 95%CI: 1.51–2.89). Living in highly walkable neighbourhood in a medium PC was associated with walking for exercise in older adults (OR: 1.62; 95%CI: 1.15–2.29). These results emphasize the need to consider the size and nature of every community, and the age-group of a population when implementing strategies to promote walking.

Highlights

In order to understand the influence of neighbourhood walkability on walking behaviour across life-stages, we stratified the sample into two age groups: younger adults aged 18 to 45 at baseline (1994)—i.e., who were 34 to 61 years old at last follow up (2010), and older adults aged 65 to 90 years old at baseline— who were 81 or older at last follow-up
This research makes an important contribution to the literature by showing that living in a high walkable neighborhood is associated with walking for utilitarian purposes in younger adults located in population centers of all sizes, whereas living in a high walkable neighborhood was only associated with utilitarian walking for older adults living in neighborhoods located in small or large population centers
Results from a cross-sectional study conducted using the Canadian Community Health survey revealed a positive association between the walk score and transport walking for all age groups and for all population center sizes [29]

Summary

Introduction

Eighty five percent of Canadian adults do not meet the recommended 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity per week [1] increasing their risk of contracting chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease [2], coronary heart disease [3], type 2 diabetes [4, 5], breast cancer [4, 6], and colon cancer [4, 7]. Longitudinal association of neighbourhood walkability and walking by age group and population center size

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