Effect of Urban Form on Exercise and BMI in Black Women

人们越来越认识到久坐和肥胖不仅仅是个人问题，而是 对让人很难活跃并保持健康体重的环境的反应。我们将使用 来自黑人女性健康研究(BWHS)的数据，这是一项针对非裔美国女性的大型前瞻性研究， 为了解决这样的假设，即邻里之间的“步行环境”(城市形态，包括 街道布局和人行道的存在等因素会影响身体活动水平和身体质量指数 (BMI)，独立于个人水平因素和邻里社会经济地位(SES)。这项研究将 重点关注三个城市(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，以及关于城市形态的详细数据 都是可用的。一名交通和城市规划专家将汇编有关行人的数据 3个城市邻里尺度的环境，包括土地利用的性质和密度，邻近 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址。我们还将把SES上的美国人口普查数据链接到 参与者的地址。我们将使用因子分析来确定一组描述 提供互补而非冗余信息的街区步行环境。 使用多水平纵向回归技术，我们将评估行人的影响 功利步行、锻炼步行、剧烈活动、久坐、适度的环境水平 活动、BMI和体重变化，控制个人因素和邻居SES。我们还将 评估城市形态对BMI的影响是否通过体力活动进行调节。拟议的研究是第一个 研究城市形态对非裔美国女性BMI和体力活动的影响，是一项 创新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不同的社区，有广泛的身体状况 活动水平，并具有广泛的BMI水平，包括相当数量的女性 都很肥胖。鉴于非裔美国女性肥胖率高，缺乏运动， 在这一群体中，阐明城市形态对身体活动和BMI的作用具有公共卫生重要性。 社会层面的改变可能是遏制肥胖症流行的必要手段，因为 个人层面的干预措施。为了在社会层面上提出政策改变的理由， 我们需要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这样的证据，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.