PURPOSE The aim of this study was to examine the factorial and criterion validity of the Neighborhood Environment Walkability Scale (NEWS) and to develop an abbreviated version (NEWS-A). METHODS A stratified two-stage cluster sample design was used to recruit 1286 adults. The sample was drawn from residential addresses within eight high- and eight low-walkable neighborhoods matched for socioe...

Objective measures of environmental attributes have been used to understand how neighborhood environments relate to physical activity. However, this method relies on detailed spatial data, which are often not easily available. Walk Score® is a free, publicly available web-based tool that shows how walkable a given location is based on objectively-derived proximity to several types of local dest...

PURPOSE To examine the relationship between physical activity and (1) convenience of destinations, measured by whether destinations (such as a park, trail, businesses, and services) are within walking distance of the home, and (2) participants' perception of the quality of their neighborhood surroundings for walking, captured with a global neighborhood "walkability" rating. DESIGN Cross-secti...

BACKGROUND Walking, and in particular, outdoor walking, is the most common form of physical activity for older adults. To date, no study investigated the association between the neighborhood built environment and physical activity habits of older adults of low SES. Thus, our overarching aim was to examine the association between the neighborhood built environment and the spectrum of physical ac...

OBJECTIVE Physical activity, neighborhood walkability, and body mass index (BMI, kg/m(2)) associations were tested using quasi-experimental twin methods. We hypothesized that physical activity and walkability were independently associated with BMI within twin pairs, controlling for genetic and environmental background shared between them. METHODS Data were from 6376 (64% female; 58% identical...

In older adults the relationships between health, fall-related risk factors, perceived neighborhood walkability, walking behavior and intervention impacts are poorly understood. To determine whether: i) health and fall-related risk factors were associated with perceptions of neighborhood walkability; ii) perceived environmental attributes, and fall-related risk factors predicted change in walki...

Studies of neighborhood safety and physical activity have typically neglected to consider the youth's peer context as a modifier of these relationships. This study fills this gap in testing the independent and interactive effects of perceived neighborhood safety and time spent with friends and peers on young adolescents' physical activity and sedentary behavior. Participants (N = 80; ages 13-17...