TY - JOUR
T1 - Walk score®
T2 - Associations with purposive walking in recent cuban immigrants
AU - Brown, Scott C.
AU - Pantin, Hilda
AU - Lombard, Joanna
AU - Toro, Matthew
AU - Huang, Shi
AU - Plater-Zyberk, Elizabeth
AU - Perrino, Tatiana
AU - Perez-Gomez, Gianna
AU - Barrera-Allen, Lloyd
AU - Szapocznik, José
N1 - Funding Information:
The work presented in this paper was supported by a research grant from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (Grant No. 1R01-DK-074687; JS, principal investigator; TP, project director).
PY - 2013/8
Y1 - 2013/8
N2 - Background Walk Score® is a nationally and publicly available metric of neighborhood walkability based on proximity to amenities (e.g., retail, food, schools). However, few studies have examined the relationship of Walk Score to walking behavior. Purpose To examine the relationship of Walk Score to walking behavior in a sample of recent Cuban immigrants, who overwhelmingly report little choice in their selection of neighborhood built environments when they arrive in the U.S. Methods Participants were 391 recent healthy Cuban immigrants (mean age=37.1 years) recruited within 90 days of arrival in the U.S., and assessed within 4 months of arrival (mean=41.0 days in the U.S.), who resided throughout Miami-Dade County FL. Data on participants' addresses, walking, and sociodemographics were collected prospectively from 2008 to 2010. Analyses conducted in 2011 examined the relationship of Walk Score for each participant's residential address in the U.S. to purposive walking, controlling for age, gender, education, BMI, days in the U.S., and habitual physical activity level in Cuba. Results For each 10-point increase in Walk Score, adjusting for covariates, there was a significant 19% increase in the likelihood of purposive walking, a 26% increase in the likelihood of meeting physical activity recommendations by walking, and 27% more minutes walked in the previous week. Conclusions Results suggest that Walk Score is associated with walking in a sample of recent immigrants who initially had little choice in where they lived in the U.S. These results support existing guidelines indicating that mixed land use (such as parks and restaurants near homes) should be included when designing walkable communities.
AB - Background Walk Score® is a nationally and publicly available metric of neighborhood walkability based on proximity to amenities (e.g., retail, food, schools). However, few studies have examined the relationship of Walk Score to walking behavior. Purpose To examine the relationship of Walk Score to walking behavior in a sample of recent Cuban immigrants, who overwhelmingly report little choice in their selection of neighborhood built environments when they arrive in the U.S. Methods Participants were 391 recent healthy Cuban immigrants (mean age=37.1 years) recruited within 90 days of arrival in the U.S., and assessed within 4 months of arrival (mean=41.0 days in the U.S.), who resided throughout Miami-Dade County FL. Data on participants' addresses, walking, and sociodemographics were collected prospectively from 2008 to 2010. Analyses conducted in 2011 examined the relationship of Walk Score for each participant's residential address in the U.S. to purposive walking, controlling for age, gender, education, BMI, days in the U.S., and habitual physical activity level in Cuba. Results For each 10-point increase in Walk Score, adjusting for covariates, there was a significant 19% increase in the likelihood of purposive walking, a 26% increase in the likelihood of meeting physical activity recommendations by walking, and 27% more minutes walked in the previous week. Conclusions Results suggest that Walk Score is associated with walking in a sample of recent immigrants who initially had little choice in where they lived in the U.S. These results support existing guidelines indicating that mixed land use (such as parks and restaurants near homes) should be included when designing walkable communities.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84880283726&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84880283726&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.amepre.2013.03.021
DO - 10.1016/j.amepre.2013.03.021
M3 - Article
C2 - 23867028
AN - SCOPUS:84880283726
VL - 45
SP - 202
EP - 206
JO - American Journal of Preventive Medicine
JF - American Journal of Preventive Medicine
SN - 0749-3797
IS - 2
ER -