The relationship between perceived neighbourhood walkability and neighbourhood specific walking among Calgarian adults:

1. The relationship between perceived neighbourhood walkability and neighbourhood specific walking among Calgarian adults: Preliminary findings from the EcoEUFORIA project Public Health in Canada: Reducing Health Inequalities Through Evidence and Action, Canadian Public Health Association Conference, Halifax, Nova Scotia, 1-4 June 2008

2. Acknowledgements EcoEUFORIA team Dr Alan Shiell (PI) Dr Tish Doyle-Baker Dr Christine Friedenreich Dr Bev Sandalack Ms Whitney Smithers Dr Billie Giles-Corti Dr Gavin McCormack Funding Canadian Institutes of Health Research (project support) Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research (salary support) Project support Calgary Health Region, Survey and Evaluation Unit (telephone-interviews) Ms Brianna Butchart, Ms Betsy Setch and Dr Andrea Koop (data entry)

3. It is becoming too easy to be less physically active!

4. Even walking the dog does not guarantee physical activity anymore!

5. Physical activity is being engineered out of our daily lives in many ways

6. The problem is that being less active increases the risk of developing chronic disease

7. Population-based problems require population-based answers Creating built environments that are supportive of physical activity is one strategy for increasing physical activity participation at the population level

8. Why is the built environment important for promoting physical activity at a population level? Creating supportive built environments has the potential to influence the behaviour of entire communities and populations and not just individuals

9. Why is the built environment important for promoting physical activity at a population level? Creating supportive built environments has the potential to influence behaviour over a long time (e.g. many generations) because of its semi-permanency Stephen AvenueStephen Avenue

10. Why is the built environment important for promoting physical activity at a population level? Creating supportive built environments can encourage people to be active without them even thinking about it

11. Major attributes that contribute to a supportive environment for physical activity1,2 Land use mix and destinations close to home Recreational and utilitarian Connectivity Street patterns that make pedestrian movement convenient but motor vehicle movement less convenient Appeal and aesthetics Trees, architecture, interesting, separation of pedestrians and motor vehicles Safe places Personal safety, traffic safety, evidence of order (i.e. no graffiti or vandalism) Residential density See other people active, surveillance, economically viable for small business 1McCormack et al (2004) An update of recent evidence of the relationship between objective and self-reported measures of the physical environment and physical activity behaviours. Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport 2 Humpel et al (2002) Environmental factors associated with adults' participation in physical activity: A review. American Journal of Preventive Medicine

12. The EcoEUFORIA project Definition Economic Evaluation of Using Urban Form to Increase Activity Overall objective To examine the cost effectiveness of creating pedestrian-friendly neighbourhoods as a an intervention for increasing physical activity and improving health Project context Calgary metropolitan area

13. The EcoEUFORIA project Methods (sampling) Two random samples (n = 2200 each wave) Wave 1: conducted in Summer/Early fall (August to October, 2007) Wave 2: conducted in Winter/Early spring (January to April, 2008) Telephone-interview with a follow-up postal survey Interviews conducted by CHR Households sampled from directory of listed telephone numbers One person per household >18 years

14. The EcoEUFORIA project Methods (telephone-interviews) Neighbourhood-specific physical activity behaviour1,2 Inside versus outside the neighbourhood Neighbourhood defined as a 15-minute walk from home Walking for transportation; walking for recreation; vigorous-intensity physical activity; and moderate-intensity physical activity Frequency and duration during a usual week 1McCormack, Shiell, Doyle-Baker, Friedenreich, Sandalack, & Giles-Corti (in press). Testing the reliability of neighborhood-specific measures of physical activity among Canadian adults. Journal of Physical Activity and Health 2Giles-Corti et al. (2006) Development of a reliable measure of walking within and outside the local neighborhood: RESIDE's Neighborhood Physical Activity Questionnaire. Preventive Medicine

15. The EcoEUFORIA project Reasons for residential-selection1 Importance of certain neighbourhood characteristics associated with physical activity Affordability, aesthetics, attractive scenery and cleanliness Proximity to: public transport; parks; shops; services; work; recreation; and trails Ease of walking and driving Access to places to be physically active Neighbourhood self-selection A major limitation of previous research Psychological variables (TBP) and demographics Cerin et al (2007). Destinations that matter: Associations with walking for transport. Health and Place

16. The EcoEUFORIA project Methods (postal-survey) Included those completing the telephone-survey and agreeing to follow-up Two follow-up letters sent and incentive for returned surveys Captured data: Perceptions of neighbourhood walkability (ANEWS)1 Social support (dog ownership, club membership, friends and family) Social capital and sense of community Self-rated health and height and weight Motor vehicle access and driving behaviour Demographics 1http://www.ipenproject.org (International Physical Activity and Environment Network)

17. The EcoEUFORIA project Results to date (wave 1 completed) N = 2200 telephone-interviews completed (RR ˜34%) N = 1813 agreed to postal-survey (RR ˜ 82%) N = 1055 returned completed postal-survey (RR ˜ 58%) Respondents returning the postal-survey are similar on most demographic attributes to those completing the telephone-interview but not agreeing to postal survey

18. Results Perceptions of neighbourhood walkability assessed using the Abbreviated Neighbourhood Walkability Scale (ANEWS)

19. Perceptions of neighbourhood walkability (ANEWS subscales)

20. Results Where does walking take place in relation to neighbourhoods and how is it associated with walkability?

21. Where does physical activity take place (participation)?

22. Prevalence of walking for transport inside the neighbourhood by neighbourhood walkability

23. Prevalence of walking for recreation inside the neighbourhood by neighbourhood walkability Point out that once this is stratified by gender several association become significantPoint out that once this is stratified by gender several association become significant

24. Where does physical activity take place (minutes)?

25. Spearman’s Rank correlations between perceptions of neighbourhood walkability (ANEWS subscales) and walking inside the neighbourhood

26. Prevalence of walking inside the neighbourhood by perceived overall walkability

27. Minutes of walking inside the neighbourhood by perceived overall walkability

28. Conclusions Most walking behaviour is undertaken close to home Different attributes of the built environment are associated with specific types of walking (i.e. for transport versus recreation) Preliminary analysis adjusting for demographics (age, gender, education, No. children<18 years at home) show similar patterns of results Next step: examine the relationship between objective measures of the built environment and physical activity behaviour

29. For more information Dr Gavin McCormack, PhD AHFMR Postdoctoral Research Fellow Population Health Intervention Research Centre University of Calgary Phone: 403-220-8193 Email: gmccorma@ucalgary.ca