School of Public Administration, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, China.
Faculty of Transportation Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, China.
Front Public Health. 2024 Jul 31;12:1424975. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1424975. eCollection 2024.
Walkable neighborhoods are closely related to an increase in walking frequency and the strengthening of social cohesion. These factors, in turn, contribute to lower BMI and other positive health-related outcomes. However, with a rapid increase in aging populations in China and the fact that women are facing more challenges than men as they age, especially mobility challenges because they tend to live longer leading to probabilities to become widowed. Nevertheless, less attention has been paid to understanding the gender difference between these relationships.
Based on a survey of 533 older adults in Dalian, China, this study tried to investigate the intertwined relationship between perceived walkability, social cohesion, walking frequency, and BMI. A Structural Equation Model (SEM) and multiple-group analysis were applied to test the proposed framework.
First, results show that gender differences existed among the above interrelationships, and the most substantial gender gap was found in effects of social cohesion on BMI. Second, perceived walkability only has a direct effect (0.149) on walking frequencies for female seniors. Third, although the relationships between perceived walkability and BMI are not directly related in both male and female models, the indirect connection (-0.053) is substituted for female seniors. Besides, the inhibiting effect of walking on BMI, which is -0.511, is also valid for female seniors. Finally, in terms of the role of social cohesion, both the positive impacts of perceived walkability on it (0.225 for males and 0.325 for females) and its promoting effects on walking have been confirmed in male (0.142) and female models (0.103). The negative direct effect of social cohesion on BMI (-0.083) is only confirmed in male seniors.
Insights derived from this analysis can help bring forward gender-specific interventions to build a more inclusive walkable and social environment to improve the mobility and physical health of older adults.
适宜步行的社区与增加步行频率和增强社会凝聚力密切相关。这些因素反过来又有助于降低 BMI 和其他与健康相关的积极结果。然而，随着中国人口老龄化的快速增长，以及女性在衰老过程中面临的挑战比男性更大，尤其是因为她们的寿命更长而导致的行动不便，从而更容易成为寡妇。然而，人们对理解这些关系中的性别差异关注较少。
本研究基于对中国大连 533 名老年人的调查，试图探讨感知的可步行性、社会凝聚力、步行频率和 BMI 之间相互交织的关系。应用结构方程模型（SEM）和多组分析来检验所提出的框架。
首先，结果表明，上述相互关系存在性别差异，社会凝聚力对 BMI 的影响最大。其次，感知的可步行性仅对女性老年人的步行频率有直接影响（0.149）。第三，虽然感知的可步行性与 BMI 之间的关系在男性和女性模型中没有直接相关，但间接联系（-0.053）被取代为女性老年人。此外，步行对 BMI 的抑制作用（-0.511）也适用于女性老年人。最后，就社会凝聚力的作用而言，感知的可步行性对其的积极影响（男性为 0.225，女性为 0.325）以及其对步行的促进作用（男性为 0.142，女性为 0.103）都得到了证实。社会凝聚力对 BMI 的直接负向影响（-0.083）仅在男性老年人中得到证实。
从这一分析中得出的见解可以帮助提出针对特定性别的干预措施，以建立一个更具包容性的可步行和社交环境，从而提高老年人的流动性和身体健康。
