Environmental, Policy, and Cultural Factors Related to Physical Activity in Urban, African American Women

Abstract

This study was part of a multi-site project carried out with seven universities throughout the United States to identify cultural, environmental, and policy determinants of physical activity in ethnic minority women aged 20 to 50 years. Following an extensive literature review, nine core research questions were created to examine potential barriers to physical activity as well as enabling factors. Methods and findings presented are from six focus groups of low-income, urban African American women. These focus groups were held at each of two health centers serving communities in Chicago, Illinois, that are predominantly African American and low income and have households usually headed by women. Forty-eight women participated, with 5 to 11 in each group. Most (85%) were unmarried, 40% had less than a high school education, and 33% were neither employed nor attending school. Findings reflected the influence of a culture of poverty and the importance of environmental safety and community support. The findings will be used to inform the development of community-based exercise interventions and policies that are culturally and socially sensitive to the needs of low-income, urban African American women.

Cultural Differences in Attitudes towards Urban Parks and Green Spaces

“…Although urban parks are seen as a place that provide many benefits for urban people (Bedimo-Rung et al, 2005;Gobster & Westphal, 2004;Page et al, 1994;Pretty et al, 2005), there are also studies that show one of the main reasons for deterring people, especially women, from using urban parks is concern for personal safety (Burgess et al, 1988;Hayward & Weitzer, 1984;Madge, 1997;Talbot & Kaplan, 1984;Wilbur et al, 2002). Jorgensen et al (2002) assume that these are not localised problems and that large numbers of people in the UK and elsewhere are deprived of beneficial contact with nature because of fear.…”

Landscape and well-being: a scoping study on the health-promoting impact of outdoor environments

“…Addy et al (2004) found that people gain additional motivation for regular physical activity when they trust their neighbours, when they perceive their neighbours as active, and when they have the opportunity to use nearby parks, playgrounds and sport fields. As for social differentiation, studies have indicated that the preferences and needs related to places as well as the access to places for physical activity vary according to gender, age and ethnic background (Eyler et al 1998;Kaspar and Bühler 2006;Lee et al 2001;Payne et al 2002;Wilbur et al 2002). Authors have emphasised the importance of providing basic constructional conditions to make spaces for health-promoting physical activities as user friendly as possible (Giles-Corti and Donovan 2002;Wendel-Vos et al 2004).…”

Neighborhood Characteristics, Adherence to Walking, and Depressive Symptoms in Midlife African American Women

“…24,26,28,29 The only study with a large representative sample of African American women found that women who reported vigorous exercise in both high school and adulthood had the lowest odds of depressive symptoms. 30 Despite evidence showing that perceived lack of neighborhood safety [46][47][48] and unpleasant aesthetics 49-53 (e.g., deterioration) are barriers to physical activity, only 1 of the 9 observational studies included these neighborhood problems. That study failed to examine the interaction between neighborhood problems and physical activity on depressive symptoms.…”