Moving to an active lifestyle? A systematic review of the effects of residential relocation on walking, physical activity and travel behaviour

Abstract

The results are encouraging for the retrospective longitudinal relocation studies, but weaker evidence exists for the methodologically stronger prospective longitudinal relocation studies. The evidence base is currently limited, and continued longitudinal research should extend the plethora of cross-sectional studies to build higher-quality evidence.

Associations between the built environment and physical activity among adults with low socio-economic status in Canada: a systematic review

“…Although our review found only seven studies, the findings indicate that certain built characteristics are supportive of physical activity within this population. Consistent with previous reviews on the built environment and physical activity among general adult populations (Hajna et al 2015;Ding et al 2018;Farkas et al 2019), we found objectively measured street connectivity, greenness, density of destinations, and overall walkability were positively associated with physical activity among adults with low SES. In contrast to prior research (Orstad et al 2017), associations in our review were more consistent when the built environment was objectively measured rather than self-reported.…”

“…Findings from systematic reviews suggest that neighbourhood built characteristics, including sidewalks, pedestrian connectivity, land-use mix, residential density, and walkability (the combination of several built characteristics into a single index), are positively associated with physical activity (Hajna et al 2015;Kärmeniemi et al 2018;Ding et al 2018;Ding and Gebel 2012;Barnett et al 2017;Van Cauwenberg et al 2011). While this evidence is promising, few reviews have synthesized studies examining relationships between the built environment and physical activity among specific subpopulations (Barnett et al 2017;Van Cauwenberg et al 2011).…”

Towards better evidence-informed global action: lessons learnt from the Lancet series and recent developments in physical activity and public health

“…Although longitudinal studies account for less than 5% of all studies identified through recent literature reviews37–39 and ‘more longitudinal studies are needed’ has been recommended by most studies as a major area of improvement, since 2016, all 11 studies on built environments and physical activity from LMIC have been cross-sectional. To build a stronger evidence base to better inform policy and practice, research on the association between the built environment and physical activity needs to move towards longitudinal designs and to capitalise on opportunities to evaluate ‘natural experiments’, such as environmental interventions40 and residential relocation 41. However, such a transformation in the research paradigm needs to be supported by funding agencies’ willingness to develop rapid and flexible mechanisms.…”

What Hippocrates called ‘Man’s best medicine’: walking is humanity’s path to a better world

“…This is a thoughtful attempt to bridge two dominant individual (micro-level) and population (macro-level) ways of thinking by introducing the social dimension (meso-level) of walking behaviour change. The systematic review by Ding and colleagues7 takes a unique look at the influence of the local built environment on walking behaviour by synthesising studies of residential relocation, that is, studies that examined walking behaviour before and after people relocated between neighbourhoods that differ in environmental attributes. This review adds a valuable dynamic dimension to the existing, predominately cross-sectional, literature on built environment and physical activity.…”