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Effects of Neighborhood Walkability on Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior Long-Term Post-Bariatric Surgery

Obesity Surgery volume 27, pages 1589–1594 (2017)Cite this article

An Erratum to this article was published on 19 December 2016

Abstract

ᅟ

Chronic inactivity and weight regain are serious health concerns following bariatric surgery. Neighborhood walkability is associated with higher physical activity and lower obesity rates in normal weight populations.

Purpose

Explore the influence of neighborhood walkability on physical activity and sedentarism among long-term post-bariatric surgery patients.

Methods

Fifty-eight adults aged 50.5 ± 9.1 years, with a BMI of 34.6 ± 9.7 kg/m2 having undergone surgery 9.8 ± 3.15 years earlier participated in this study. Participants were asked to wear an ActivPAL™ tri-axial accelerometer attached to their mid-thigh for 7-consecutive days, 24 hours/day. The sample was separated into those that live in Car-Dependent (n = 23), Somewhat Walkable (n = 14), Very Walkable (n = 16), and Walker’s Paradise (n = 5) neighborhoods as defined using Walk Score®. ANCOVA was performed comparing Walk Score® categories on steps and sedentary time controlling for age and sex.

Results

Neighborhood walkability did not influence either daily steps (F (3, 54) = 0.921, p = 0.437) or sedentary time (F (3, 54) = 0.465, p = 0.708), Car-Dependent (6359 ± 2712 steps, 9.54 ± 2.46 hrs), Somewhat Walkable (6563 ± 2989 steps, 9.07 ± 2.70 hrs), Very Walkable (5261 ± 2255 steps, 9.97 ± 2.06 hrs), and Walker’s Paradise (6901 ± 1877 steps, 10.14 ± 0.815 hrs).

Conclusion

Walkability does not appear to affect sedentary time or physical activity long-term post-surgery. As the built-environment does not seem to influence activity, sedentarism, or obesity as it does with a normal weight population, work needs to be done to tailor physical activity programming after bariatric surgery.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Kinesiology and Physical Education, McGill University, 475 avenue des Pins Ouest, Montreal, QC, H2W 1S4, Canada

    Ryan E. R. Reid, Tamara E. Carver, Marie-Aude Picard-Turcot, Kathleen M. Andersen & Ross E. Andersen

  2. Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA

    Tyler G. R. Reid

  3. Bariatric Surgery, McGill University Health Center, Montreal, QC, Canada

    Nicolas V. Christou

Authors
  1. Ryan E. R. Reid
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  2. Tamara E. Carver
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  3. Tyler G. R. Reid
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  4. Marie-Aude Picard-Turcot
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  5. Kathleen M. Andersen
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  6. Nicolas V. Christou
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  7. Ross E. Andersen
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ryan E. R. Reid.

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Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

All procedures performed in these studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Additional information

The origianl version of this article was revised to correct a misspelled author name as well as an incorrect author email address.

An erratum to this article is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11695-016-2512-6.

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Reid, R.E., Carver, T.E., Reid, T.G. et al. Effects of Neighborhood Walkability on Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior Long-Term Post-Bariatric Surgery. OBES SURG 27, 1589–1594 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11695-016-2494-4

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Keywords

  • Bariatric surgery
  • Long-term follow-up
  • Obesity
  • Physical activity
  • Sedentary behavior
  • Neighborhood walkability