Effect of Urban Form on Exercise and BMI in Black Women

越来越多的人认识到，久坐和肥胖不仅仅是个人问题， 对环境的反应，使其难以活跃和保持健康的体重。我们将使用 来自黑人妇女健康研究（BWHS）的数据，这是一项针对非洲裔美国妇女的大型前瞻性研究， 为了解决这一假设，邻里“行人环境”（城市形式，包括这样的 街道布局和人行道的存在）影响身体活动水平和身体质量指数 (BMI)，不受个体水平因素和社区社会经济地位（SES）的影响。这项研究将 选择三个城市（纽约、洛杉矶和芝加哥），因为每个城市都包含一系列 社区类型，大约13，000名BWHS参与者居住在那里，以及城市形态的详细数据 都是可用的。一位交通和城市规划专家将收集行人的数据， 3个城市的邻里环境，包括土地利用的性质和密度， 公园、人行道的存在、交通速度和流量以及街道结构。这些数据将链接到 BWHS参与者的地理编码住宅地址。我们还将把美国人口普查局关于社会经济地位的数据与 参与者的地址。我们将使用因子分析来确定一组描述 邻里行人环境，提供补充，但不是冗余的信息。 使用多水平纵向回归技术，我们将评估行人的影响 环境对功利性步行、锻炼性步行、剧烈活动、久坐、中度 活动，BMI和体重变化，控制个人因素和社区SES。我们还将 评估城市形态对BMI的影响是否通过身体活动介导。这项研究，第一 一项关于城市形态对非裔美国妇女BMI和身体活动影响的研究， 创新性地融合了交通研究和流行病学领域的技术。BWHS 研究城市的参与者居住在一系列社区，有着广泛的物质基础， 活动水平，并有广泛的BMI水平，包括相当数量的妇女， 肥胖。鉴于非裔美国妇女肥胖和缺乏体育活动的高发率， 阐明城市形态对这一群体身体活动和BMI的作用具有公共卫生重要性。 社会层面的变化可能是必要的，以遏制肥胖流行病，鉴于失败的， 个人层面的干预。为了在社会一级提出政策变革的理由， 需要有令人信服的证据来证明环境对身体活动和肥胖的影响。 拟议的研究有可能提供此类证据，并影响以下领域的政策： 交通/城市规划和公共卫生。

It is increasingly recognized that sedentariness and obesity are not solely individual problems but are responses to an environment that makes it difficult to be active and maintain a healthy weight. We will use data from the Black Women's Health Study (BWHS), a large prospective study of African-American women, to address the hypothesis that the neighborhood "pedestrian environment" (urban form, comprising such factors as street layout and presence of sidewalks) influences levels of physical activity and body mass index (BMI), independent of individual level factors and neighborhood socioeconomic status (SES). The study will focus on three cities (New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago) chosen because each contains a range of neighborhood types, approximately 13,000 BWHS participants live there, and detailed data on urban form are available. An expert in transportation and urban planning will compile data about the pedestrian environment at the neighborhood scale for the 3 cities, including nature and density of land use, proximity to parks, presence of sidewalks, speed and volume of traffic, and street structure. These data will be linked to the geocoded residential addresses of BWHS participants. We will also link U.S. Census data on SES to the participants' addresses. We will use factor analysis to identify a set of variables describing the neighborhood pedestrian environment that contribute complementary but not redundant information. Using multi-level longitudinal regression techniques, we will assess the influence of the pedestrian environment on levels of utilitarian walking, walking for exercise, vigorous activity, sedentariness, moderate activity, BMI, and change in weight, controlling for personal factors and neighborhood SES. We will also assess if an effect of urban form on BMI is mediated through physical activity. The proposed study, the first examination of the influence of urban form on BMI and physical activity in African-American women, is an innovative merging of techniques from the fields of transportation research and epidemiology. BWHS participants in the study cities live in a range of neighborhoods, have a wide range of physical activity levels, and have a wide range of BMI levels, including appreciable numbers of women who are obese. In view of the high prevalence of obesity and physical inactivity in African-American women, elucidation of the role of urban form on physical activity and BMI in this group is of public health importance. Societal level change may be necessary to stem the obesity epidemic, given the failure of interventions at the individual level. To make the case for policy change at the societal level, compelling evidence about the impact of the environment on physical activity and obesity is needed. The proposed study has the potential to provide such evidence and to impact policy in the domains of both transportation/urban planning and public health.