Faculty of Sport Sciences, Waseda University, Japan; Behavioural Epidemiology Laboratory, Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute, Australia; Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne, Australia.
Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Tohoku University, Japan.
Health Place. 2020 Jan;61:102242. doi: 10.1016/j.healthplace.2019.102242. Epub 2019 Nov 19.
There is a dearth of evidence about how high-density living may influence dog-walking behaviour. We examined associations between neighbourhood built environment attributes and dog-ownership and dog-walking behaviour in Japan. Data from 1058 participants were used. The dog-ownership was 18.8%. All neighbourhood built attributes (excluding availability of parks) were negatively associated with dog-ownership. Among dog-owners, these same attributes were positively associated with any dog-walking in a usual week and with achieving 150-min per week of physical activity through dog-walking alone. These findings provided evidence on the importance of neighbourhood built environment attributes on dog-ownership and dog-walking behaviour in dense and compact areas. The urban design and public health implication of these findings is that the built environment attributes in high-density living areas may have different impacts on dog-ownership and dog-walking: while living in a walkable neighbourhood may not be conducive to dog-ownership, it may support dog-walking in such areas. Programs targeting dog-owners in high-density areas might be needed to encourage them to walk their dogs more. If successful, these programs could contribute to higher physical activity levels among dog-owners.
关于高密度居住如何影响遛狗行为，证据匮乏。我们在日本研究了邻里建成环境特征与犬主和遛狗行为之间的关系。研究使用了 1058 名参与者的数据。犬主比例为 18.8%。所有邻里建成属性（不包括公园的可达性）与犬主比例呈负相关。对于犬主来说，这些相同的属性与在通常一周内进行任何遛狗活动以及通过单独遛狗达到每周 150 分钟的身体活动呈正相关。这些发现为邻里建成环境属性对高密度和紧凑地区犬主和遛狗行为的重要性提供了证据。这些发现对城市设计和公共卫生的影响是，高密度居住地区的建成环境属性可能对犬主和遛狗行为产生不同的影响：虽然居住在可步行的社区可能不利于拥有犬只，但它可能支持在这些地区遛狗。可能需要针对高密度地区犬主的计划来鼓励他们更多地遛狗。如果成功，这些计划可以促使犬主提高身体活动水平。
