The built environment and utilitarian walking in small U.S. towns.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

The role of the built environment on walking in rural United States (U.S.) locations is not well characterized. We examined self-reported and measured built environment correlates of walking for utilitarian purposes among adult residents of small rural towns.

Methods

In 2011-12, we collected telephone survey and geographic data from 2152 adults in 9 small towns from three U.S. regions. We performed mixed-effects logistic regression modeling to examine relationships between built environment measures and utilitarian walking ("any" versus "none"; "high" [≥150min per week] versus "low" [<150min per week]) to retail, employment and public transit destinations.

Results

Walking levels were lower than those reported for populations living in larger metropolitan ar

SUBMITTER: Doescher MP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4312190 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature