title: Meteorological conditions are associated with physical activities performed in open-air settings.
abstract: Meteorological conditions (MC) are believed to modify physical activity. However, studies in this area are limited and none have looked at the associations between MC and physical activity in open-air settings. Therefore, we examined the relationships between MC and physical activities performed on sidewalks/streets and outdoor oval tracks. Observation techniques were used to count individuals walking to school, exercising on oval tracks and walking/jogging/biking on sidewalks/streets. Meteorological conditions were obtained from an Automated Surface Observing System located at a nearby airport for the same time periods physical activities were observed. On weekdays, fewer children were seen walking to school and more bicyclists were observed on sidewalks/streets as wind speed increased (p < 0.05). Ambient and apparent temperatures were positively (p < 0.05) and humidity and barometric pressure negatively (p < 0.005) related to the number of individuals walking on the track. Meteorological conditions were not significantly associated with physical activities observed on weekends. Multiple linear regression analyses showed that apparent temperature (+), barometric pressure (-) and dew point (-) accounted for 58.0% of the variance in the number of walkers on the track. A significant proportion of the variance (>30%) in the number of joggers and the length of time they jogged was accounted for by apparent temperature (+) and dew point (-). We found that meteorological conditions are related to physical activity in open-air settings. The results embellish the context in which environmental-physical activity relationships should be interpreted and provide important information for researchers applying the observation method in open-air settings.
authors.affiliation: Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences, MO 64106, USA. rsuminski@kcumb.edu
authors.forename: Richard R
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Suminski
authors.forename: Walker C
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Poston
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Market
authors.forename: Melissa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hyder
authors.forename: Pyle A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Sara
mesh_terms: D003627:Data Interpretation, Statistical; D004777:Environment; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008124:Locomotion / Q000502:physiology*; D008923:Missouri; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000502:physiology*; D014887:Weather