Causal evaluation of urban greenway retrofit: A longitudinal study on physical activity and sedentary behavior

Abstract

Studies of the built environment and physical activity (PA) have primarily been cross-sectional. Evidence on the causal impacts of transportation improvements on PA and sedentary behavior (SB) is lacking. This study assessed the effect of retrofitting an urban greenway on PA and SB in Vancouver, Canada. A sample of 524 participants (median age of 44; 57% female) were divided into experimental and control groups, and the effect of exposure to the greenway was examined by using different distance thresholds. Self-report measures of moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) and SB were collected using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ-SF) before (baseline; 2012-2013) and after (follow-up; 2014-2015) construction of the Comox-Helmcken Greenway in 2013. Mixed-effects models estimated the impacts of greenway on MVPA and SB. For participants living near the greenway (≤ 300m), the odds of achieving an average of 20 minutes of daily MVPA doubled (OR=2.00; 95% CI=1.00, 3.98) after the greenway's opening. The odds of being sedentary for more than 9 hours declined by 54% (OR=0.46; 95% CI=0.25, 0.85; p < 0.01) after opening. PA benefits from the greenway declined with distance from 100 meters to 500 meters. Reduction in SB was lowest at 100 meters and greatest at 300 meters. Retrofitting an urban residential neighborhood through greenway intervention can be successful in promoting physical activity while reducing sedentary behavior. Recommendations for future longitudinal research include the use of objective PA measures, studying different neighborhood contexts, collecting more representative samples, and minimizing attrition. Highlights:  A pre-post evaluation of urban greenway on physical activity and sedentary behavior  Participants near the greenway doubled their odds of achieving 20 minutes daily MVPA  The odds of being sedentary for more than 9 hours halved for nearby residents  Physical activity benefits declined with increasing distance from the greenway  Retrofitting an urban greenway can be successful in promoting active lifestyle

Treating two pandemics for the price of one: Chronic and infectious disease impacts of the built and natural environment

“…Additional research shows inverse relationships between these features and time in cars and obesity ( Frank, Andresen, & Schmid, 2004 ). More recently, causal evidence suggests that transit ( Hirsch, DeVries, Brauer, Frank, & Winters, 2018 ) and investments in active transportation infrastructure ( Frank, Hong, & Ngo, 2019 ) can increase physical activity and exposure to more walkable environment over time reduces the risk of obesity and related chronic disease ( Clark et al, 2017 ; Frank, Hong et al, 2019 ). Infectious diseases are far more threatening for those who already have a chronic disease.…”

“…Besides the issue of unobserved heterogeneity (described in Section 2.1 ), the extremely coarse geographic scale upon which population and employment density was measured requires averaging across large areas (entire cities or counties). This averaging across huge areas (entire cities and counties) makes it difficult to detect relationships between physical environments, exposures, behaviors, and health outcomes shown to exist in previous studies ( Ewing et al, 2003 ; Frank et al, 2004 , 2019a ; Frank, Iroz-Elardo et al, 2019 ). Distancing has been the key mechanism to avoid spreading COVID-19.…”

The association between spatial access to physical activity facilities within home and workplace neighborhoods and time spent on physical activities: evidence from Guangzhou, China

“…The outcome variables in this study included time spent on PA over the past week, time spent on MVPA over the past week. PA was classified into three intensity levels: light-intensity PA, moderate-intensity PA, and vigorousintensity PA. Time spent on PA was gauged using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire -Short Form (IPAQ-SF) [41,42].…”

Greenway Cyclists’ Visual Perception and Landscape Imagery Assessment

“…Previous studies of greenways focused mainly on ecological network systems (Flores et al, 1998;Jim and Chen, 2003). However, with more attention given to the health of urban residents, research on environmental factors and healthy behaviors has begun to increase, and the fitness and sports function of the greenway has received more attention (Fitzhugh Eugene et al, 2010;Tully Mark et al, 2013;Frank et al, 2019;Hongyun et al, 2019). Research focusing on greenways for cycling space and other sports activities needs to be urgently undertaken.…”