Journal article

Could strength of exposure to the residential neighbourhood modify associations between walkability and physical activity?

VC Ivory, T Blakely, J Pearce, K Witten, N Bagheri, H Badland, G Schofield

Social Science and Medicine | Published : 2015

Abstract

The importance of neighbourhoods for health and wellbeing may vary according to an individual's reliance on their local resources, but this assertion is rarely tested. We investigate whether greater neighbourhood 'exposure' through reliance on or engagement with the residential setting magnifies neighbourhood-health associations. Methods: Three built environment characteristics (destination density, streetscape (attractiveness of built environment) and street connectivity) and two physical activity components (weekday and weekend accelerometer counts) were measured for 2033 residents living in 48 neighbourhoods within four New Zealand cities in 2009-2010, giving six different built environme..

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University of Melbourne Researchers

Grants

Awarded by European Commission


Funding Acknowledgements

We thank all members of the URBAN team as well as the study participants for their contribution to the research. Financial support for this study was provided through The Health Research Council of New Zealand who funded the URBAN Study (HRC 07/356) and the Neighbourhood and Health Study (part of the Health Inequalities Research Programme - HRC 08/48). The authors are independent from the funder and the funder had no role in the design and conduct of the study, or the preparation of the manuscript.