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Research to understand the impact of neighborhoods on health has grown significantly over the past decade as public health has more fully embraced a social ecological perspective. Neighborhood effects have been documented for a broad range of health and social outcomes, including birth weight, injury, mental health, and physical activity, among others (Diez-Roux, 2001 xClose
Diez-Roux, A. (2001). Investigating neighborhood and area effects on health. American Journal of Public Health, 91(11), 1783-1789.; Rauh et al., 2001 xClose
Rauh, V., Andrews, H., Garfinkel, R. (2001). The contribution of maternal age to racial disparities in birthweight: A multilevel perspective. American Journal of Public Health, 91, 1815-1824.; Cubbin et al., 2000 xClose
Cubbin, C., LeClerre, F., Smith, F. (2000). Socioeconomic status and injury mortality: Individual and neighbourhood determinants. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 54, 517-524.; Leventhal & Brooks-Gunn, 2003 xClose
Leventhal, T., Brooks-Gunn, J. (2003). Moving to opportunity: An experimental study of neighborhood effects on mental health. American Journal of Public Health, 93(9), 1576-82.; Hoehner et al., 2005 xClose
Hoehner, C., Ramirez, L., Elliot, M., Handy, S., Brownson, R. (2005). Perceived and objective environmental measures and physical activity among urban adults. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 28(2S2), 105-116.). Physical activity occurs in behavior settings (e.g., neighborhoods) (Barker, 1968 xClose
Barker, R. (1968). Ecological psychology. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press; Humpel et al., 2002 xClose
Humpel, N., Owen, N., Leslie, E. (2002). Environmental factors associated with adults’ participation in physical activity: A review. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 22(3), 188-199.) which are "specific, identifiable units of the environment -…- that because they combine both physical and social elements of the environment into one unit, have very powerful influences on human behavior." (Scott, 2005; p. 297 xClose
Scott, M. (2005). A powerful theory and a paradox: Ecological psychologists after Barker. Environment and Behavior, 37(3), 295-329.). Research on physical activity and neighborhood environments indicates that people are more physically active in neighborhoods with recreational facilities, a mixture of land uses, connected streets, higher residential density, and enjoyable scenery (Humpel et al., 2002 xClose
Humpel, N., Owen, N., Leslie, E. (2002). Environmental factors associated with adults’ participation in physical activity: A review. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 22(3), 188-199.; Saelens et al., 2003 xClose
Saelens, B., Sallis, J., Black, J., Chen, D. (2003). Neighborhood-based differences in physical activity: An environment scale evaluation. American Journal of Public Health, 93(9), 1552-1448.). |
