Abstract
Background
Walking is known as the most common type of physical activity that may be influenced by the built environment, which in turn may affect the health of residents. The current study aimed at investigating the relationship of the built environment to exercise and recreational walking in residential neighborhoods.
Method
Five hundred questionnaires were distributed from March to May 2016 in four residential neighborhoods of Bandar Abbas in Iran, out of which 398 questionnaires turned out to be qualified to be used in the study. Furthermore, the number of parks as well as their total area were estimated within a radius of 1500 m from the respondents’ living place.
Results
Considering the participants’ gender, the appealing characteristics of built environment were more likely to increase walking activity among females than males. The association between walking patterns and environmental factors was different between male and female residents. In addition, the correlations between walking behavior and some other socio-demographic factors were determined.
Conclusion
The present study suggests that urban planners and designers as well as public health promoters need to highly consider the contribution of built environment variables in neighborhoods as well as socio-demographic variables to promote walking behavior changes among the adult population.
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Acknowledgements
This research was performed as a part of the PhD thesis of the author. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my advisor Dr. Norsidah Ujang for sharing her pearls of wisdom with me during the course of this research.
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This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
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Aliyas, Z. Built environment correlates of walking for recreation or exercise. J Public Health (Berl.) 27, 349–356 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10389-018-0956-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10389-018-0956-y