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Online Program

332771
Does Access to Recreational Open Space in One's Daily Activity Space Promote Physical Activity: A day-level EMA study of African-American Women


Tuesday, November 3, 2015 : 3:30 p.m. - 3:50 p.m.

Irina Horoi, MA, BA, Department of Economics, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL
Shannon N. Zenk, PhD, MPH, FAAN, College of Nursing, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL
Kelly Jones, BSN, College of Nursing, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL
Purpose:  While people spend considerable time outside of their immediate neighborhood, relatively little is known about the effect of environmental attributes including recreational open space (OS) in this activity space on physical activity. Using ecological momentary assessment (EMA), this study examined whether daily recreational OS exposure in the activity space was related to daily variations in physical activity. Importantly this study accounts for time-invariant factors to address potential bias.

Methods: African-American women participants (n=101) were asked to wear accelerometers and global positioning system (GPS) loggers (location recorded every 30 seconds) for seven consecutive days. Multiple physical activity variables were constructed at the day-level from accelerometer data: average activity counts per minute, minutes of moderate and vigorous physical activity (natural log), and sedentary behavior as percent of total minutes. Daily activity-space measures–convex hull, one standard-deviation ellipse, and 0.25-mile route buffer--were constructed based on GPS data. Percentage of recreational OS was then measured for each. Linear regression with person-level fixed-effects was used to model the physical activity measures on percentage recreational OS controlling for time-varying factors.

Results: Recreational OS in the route buffer was positively associated with average activity counts per minute and negatively associated with sedentary behavior. While no significant associations between recreational OS and physical activity were found for the other activity-space measures, patterns were consistent.

Conclusion: Policies to protect and promote recreational OS may help to increase activity and decrease sedentary time in African-American women, a group at higher risk for insufficient physical activity and obesity.

Learning Areas:

Environmental health sciences
Public health or related public policy

Learning Objectives:
Describe how various daily activity space measures of individuals can be constructed from frequent GPS points. Explain when and why regressions with person-level fixed effects are useful. List one indicator that links environmental attributes of daily activity spaces to physical activity behavior in African American women.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I've worked on research projects that study health and the built-in environment of vulnerable populations for 2 years along side pursuing a PhD in economics. These projects have focused on understanding what aspects of both the physical and social environment influence food choices and physical activity in African American women--a population with higher risk for obesity and other food and physical activity related health conditions. Recently one of these coauthored projects published in Appetite.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

Back to: 4347.0: Spaces and Places for Physical Activity