Miles Rebecca, Panton Lynn
Center for Demography Population Health, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306-2240, USA.
J Community Health. 2006 Oct;31(5):379-92. doi: 10.1007/s10900-006-9021-9.
There is increasing interest in how the quality of community environments influences health. We present the results of a pilot study designed to encourage overweight and obese low-income women to increase their level of physical activity, and explore the factors that either support or constrain their walking. The findings suggest that even relatively small increases in lifestyle physical activity among overweight or obese low-income women (an increase in 2,000 steps per day) can lead to significant weight loss. The interviews we carried out with study participants suggest there are several ways in which the perceived quality of community environments affects low-income women's efforts to increase their steps. Having friends and family living within walking distance was supportive of participant's efforts, in some cases because their homes represented places to walk to, and in others because in addition, friends and family were walking companions. The perceived lack of safety participants reported as a constraint to walking reflected in some cases the fear of being assaulted or harassed, and in others the fear that passers-by would not stop to help if needed. Our findings point to the importance of including community-level interventions that address residents' safety and security concerns, along with future efforts to increase physical activity and decrease obesity among low-socioeconomic status groups.
社区环境质量如何影响健康正日益受到关注。我们展示了一项试点研究的结果，该研究旨在鼓励超重和肥胖的低收入女性增加身体活动水平，并探索支持或限制她们步行的因素。研究结果表明，即使超重或肥胖的低收入女性在生活方式上的身体活动有相对较小的增加（每天增加2000步），也能导致显著的体重减轻。我们对研究参与者进行的访谈表明，社区环境的感知质量有几种方式会影响低收入女性增加步数的努力。有朋友和家人住在步行距离之内对参与者的努力有帮助，在某些情况下是因为他们的家是可以步行前往的地方，而在其他情况下，是因为朋友和家人还是步行伙伴。参与者报告的对安全的感知缺乏是步行的一个限制因素，在某些情况下反映了对被攻击或骚扰的恐惧，而在其他情况下则反映了担心路人在需要时不会停下来帮忙。我们的研究结果指出了纳入解决居民安全和保障问题的社区层面干预措施的重要性，以及未来为提高社会经济地位较低群体的身体活动水平和减少肥胖所做的努力。
