School of Geography & Earth Sciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
BMC Public Health. 2011 Apr 4;11:212. doi: 10.1186/1471-2458-11-212.
There is mounting concern over increasing rates of physical inactivity and overweight/obesity among children and adult in Canada. There is a clear link between the amount of walking a person does and his or her health. The purpose of this paper is to assess the health factors, socio-economic characteristics and urban-regional variations of walking to work among adults in Canada.
Data is drawn from two cycles of the Canadian Community Health Survey: 2001 and 2005. The study population is divided into three groups: non-walkers, lower-duration walkers and high-duration walkers. Logistic regression modeling tests the association between levels of walking and health related outcomes (diabetes, high blood pressure, stress, BMI, physical activity), socio-economic characteristics (sex, age, income, education) and place of residence (selected Census Metropolitan Areas).
In 2005, the presence of diabetes and high blood pressure was not associated with any form of walking. Adults within the normal weight range were more likely to be high-duration walkers. Females and younger people were more likely to be lower-duration walkers but less likely to be high-duration walkers. There was a strong association between SES (particularly relative disadvantage) and walking to work. In both 2001 and 2005, the conditions influencing walking to work were especially prevalent in Canada's largest city, Toronto, as well as in several small to medium sized urban areas including Halifax, Kingston, Hamilton, Regina, Calgary and Victoria.
A number of strategies can be followed to increase levels of walking in Canada. It is clear that for many people walking to work is not possible. However, strategies can be developed to encourage adults to incorporate walking into their daily work and commuting routines. These include mass transit walking and workplace walking programs.
加拿大儿童和成年人的身体活动不足和超重/肥胖率不断上升，这引起了越来越多的关注。一个人行走的量与他或她的健康状况之间存在明显的联系。本文旨在评估加拿大成年人步行上班的健康因素、社会经济特征和城市-区域差异。
数据来自加拿大社区健康调查的两个周期：2001 年和 2005 年。研究人群分为三组：非步行者、低时长步行者和高时长步行者。逻辑回归模型测试了步行水平与健康相关结果（糖尿病、高血压、压力、BMI、身体活动）、社会经济特征（性别、年龄、收入、教育）和居住地（选定的都会区）之间的关联。
2005 年，糖尿病和高血压的存在与任何形式的步行都没有关联。处于正常体重范围内的成年人更有可能是高时长步行者。女性和年轻人更有可能是低时长步行者，但不太可能是高时长步行者。SES（特别是相对劣势）与步行上班之间存在很强的关联。在 2001 年和 2005 年，影响步行上班的条件在加拿大最大的城市多伦多以及几个中小城市地区（包括哈利法克斯、金斯敦、汉密尔顿、里贾纳、卡尔加里和维多利亚）尤为普遍。
可以采取多种策略来提高加拿大的步行水平。很明显，对于许多人来说，步行上班是不可能的。然而，可以制定策略来鼓励成年人将步行纳入他们的日常工作和通勤常规中。这些策略包括大众交通步行和工作场所步行计划。
