title: Association between perceived neighborhood environment and walking among adults in 4 cities in Japan.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Recent research highlights the importance of environment as a determinant of physical activity; however, evidence among Japanese is sparse. The aim of this study was to examine the association between perceived neighborhood environment and neighborhood walking for multiple purposes among Japanese.
  
  
  METHODS
  We conducted a population-based, cross-sectional study of 1461 Japanese adults (age: 48.2 +/- 14.1 years, men: 44.8%). Neighborhood environment and walking were assessed by a validated questionnaire. The odds ratio of active walkers was calculated in relation to environmental characteristics after adjustment for age, sex, and other potential confounders.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Participants were more likely to walk when they perceived that there was high residential density (odds ratio, 1.47; 95% confidence interval, 1.11-1.96), fair land use mix-diversity (1.37, 1.04-1.81), good walking/cycling facilities (1.56, 1.19-2.04), and attractive aesthetics (1.49, 1.14-1.95). Environmental factors associated with walking differed with respect to the purpose for walking. The environmental characteristics associated with walking for daily errands and with walking for commuting were similar, and included residential density and land use mix. Walking for leisure was associated with walking/cycling facilities, aesthetics, and traffic safety. Stratified analyses showed some sex-specific associations. Among women, there was an unexpected inverse association of leisure walking with both residential density and land use mix-diversity.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The association between neighborhood environment and walking differed by walking purpose. The results were generally consistent with those of studies conducted in Western countries, except for the association of high residential density and good land use mix-diversity with less leisure walking in women. These results suggest possible targets for environmental interventions to promote walking.
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, Tokyo Medical University, 6-1-1 Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160-8402, Japan. inoue@tokyo-med.ac.jp
authors.forename: Shigeru
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Inoue
authors.forename: Yumiko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ohya
authors.forename: Yuko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Odagiri
authors.forename: Tomoko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Takamiya
authors.forename: Kaori
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ishii
authors.forename: Makiko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kitabayashi
authors.forename: Kenichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Suijo
authors.forename: James F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Sallis
authors.forename: Teruichi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shimomitsu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002947:Cities; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004779:Environment Design / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016017:Odds Ratio; D012111:Residence Characteristics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016138:Walking / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D055815:Young Adult
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