Faculty of Sport Sciences, Waseda University, 2-579-15 Mikajima, Tokorozawa, Saitama, 359-1192, Japan.
Behavioural Epidemiology Laboratory, Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute, Melbourne, Australia.
Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2018 Apr 3;15(1):33. doi: 10.1186/s12966-018-0668-2.
Inconsistent associations of neighbourhood walkability with adults' body weight have been reported. Most studies examining the relationships of walkability and adiposity are cross-sectional in design. We examined the longitudinal relationships of two walkability indices - conventional walkability and space syntax walkability, and their individual components, with weight change among adults over four years.
Data were from the Physical Activity in Localities and Community study in Adelaide, Australia. In 2003-2004, 2650 adults living in 154 Census Collection Districts (CCDs) returned baseline questionnaires; in 2007-2008, the follow-up survey was completed by 1098. Participants reported their weight at baseline and at follow-up. Neighbourhood walkability indices were calculated using geographic information systems and space syntax software. Linear marginal models using generalized estimating equations with robust standard errors were fitted to examine associations of the two walkability indices and their individual components with the weight at follow-up, adjusting for baseline weight, socio-demographic variables, and spatial clustering at the level of CCD.
The overall mean weight gain over four years was 1.5 kg. The two walkability indices were closely correlated (r = 0.76, p < 0.01). No significant associations were found between the overall neighbourhood walkability indices and weight change. Among walkability components, there was a marginally significant negative association between space syntax measure of street integration and weight change: one standard deviation increment in street integration was associated with 0.31 kg less weight gain (p = 0.09).
Using a prospective study design and a novel space-syntax based measure of walkability, we were not able to identify relationships between neighbourhood walkability with weight gain. This is consistent with other inconclusive findings on the built environment and obesity. Research on the built environment and adults' weight gain may need to consider not just local environments but also a larger scale environment within a city or workplace environment in order to capture multiple behaviours relevant to weight gain.
社区步行环境与成年人体重的相关性研究结果并不一致。大多数研究采用的是横断面设计，以检验步行环境与肥胖之间的关系。本研究旨在探究两种步行环境指标——传统步行环境和空间句法步行环境及其组成部分，与成年人四年间体重变化的纵向关系。
本研究数据来自澳大利亚阿德莱德的“社区环境中的体力活动”研究。2003-2004 年，居住在 154 个普查区的 2650 名成年人完成了基线问卷调查；2007-2008 年，其中 1098 人完成了随访调查。参与者在基线和随访时报告了自己的体重。利用地理信息系统和空间句法软件计算了社区步行环境指数。采用广义估计方程的线性边际模型，使用稳健标准误差，在调整基线体重、社会人口统计学变量和普查区水平的空间聚类后，检验了两种步行环境指数及其组成部分与随访时体重的相关性。
四年间，参与者的平均体重增加了 1.5 公斤。两种步行环境指数密切相关（r=0.76，p<0.01）。整体社区步行环境指数与体重变化之间无显著相关性。在步行环境组成部分中，街道连通度的空间句法测量值与体重变化呈负相关，即街道连通度增加一个标准差与体重增加减少 0.31 公斤（p=0.09）。
采用前瞻性研究设计和新颖的基于空间句法的步行环境测量方法，我们未能发现社区步行环境与体重增加之间存在关联。这与其他关于建筑环境与肥胖的不确定研究结果一致。关于建筑环境与成年人体重增加的研究可能需要考虑不仅是当地环境，还需要考虑城市或工作场所环境中的更大规模环境，以捕捉与体重增加相关的多种行为。
