title: Neighborhood characteristics favorable to outdoor physical activity: disparities by socioeconomic and racial/ethnic composition.
abstract: This paper uses a socioecological framework to investigate socioeconomic and racial/ethnic disparities in neighborhood characteristics that are associated with outdoor physical activity. We surveyed 632 parents of 5th graders about perceptions of their neighborhood social processes and collected systematic observations of the physical environment on their block-face of residence. Higher poverty neighborhoods and non-White neighborhoods have better accessibility; however, they are less safe, less comfortable, and less pleasurable for outdoor physical activity, and have less favorable social processes. Interventions to reduce disparities in physical activity should address not only the physical environment, but also social processes favorable to physical activity.
authors.affiliation: University of Texas School of Public Health, Houston, TX 77030, USA. Luisa.Franzini@uth.tmc.edu
authors.forename: Luisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Franzini
authors.forename: Wendell
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Taylor
authors.forename: Marc N
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Elliott
authors.forename: Paula
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Cuccaro
authors.forename: Susan R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Tortolero
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Janice Gilliland
authors.forename: Joanne
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Grunbaum
authors.forename: Mark A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Schuster
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D004777:Environment; D005006:Ethnicity; D006801:Humans; D009043:Motor Activity; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology; D010465:Perception; D011204:Poverty Areas; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012931:Social Environment