20 research outputs found
Spatial heterogeneity of the relationships between environmental characteristics and active commuting: towards a locally varying social ecological model
Ischaemic conditioning and targeting reperfusion injury: a 30 year voyage of discovery
To commemorate the auspicious occasion of the 30th anniversary of IPC, leading pioneers in the field of cardioprotection gathered in Barcelona in May 2016 to review and discuss the history of IPC, its evolution to IPost and RIC, myocardial reperfusion injury as a therapeutic target, and future targets and strategies for cardioprotection. This article provides an overview of the major topics discussed at this special meeting and underscores the huge importance and impact, the discovery of IPC has made in the field of cardiovascular research
Assessing opportunities for physical activity in the built environment of children: interrelation between kernel density and neighborhood scale
Objective Measures of the Built Environment and Physical Activity in Children: From Walkability to Moveability
Features of the built environment that may influence physical activity
(PA) levels are commonly captured using a so-called walkability index. Since such
indices typically describe opportunities for walking in everyday life of adults, they
might not be applicable to assess urban opportunities for PA in children.
Particularly, the spatial availability of recreational facilities may have an impact
on PA in children and should be additionally considered. We linked individual data
of 400 2- to 9-year-old children recruited in the European IDEFICS study to
geographic data of one German study region, based on individual networkdependent
neighborhoods. Environmental features of the walkability concept and
the availability of recreational facilities, i.e. playgrounds, green spaces, and parks,
were measured. Relevant features were combined to a moveability index that
should capture urban opportunities for PA in children. A gamma log-regression
model was used to model linear and non-linear effects of individual variables on
accelerometer-based moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) stratified by
pre-school children (G6 years) and school children (≥6 years). Single environmental
features and the resulting indices were separately included into the model to
investigate the effect of each variable on MVPA. In school children, commonly
used features such as residential density bβ ¼ 0:5⋅10−4; p ¼ 0:02 , intersection density
bβ ¼ 0:003; p ¼ 0:04 , and public transit density bβ ¼ 0:037; p ¼ 0:01 showed
a positive effect on MVPA, while land use mix revealed a negative effect on MVPA
bβ ¼ −0:173; p ¼ 0:13 . In particular, playground density bβ ¼ 0:048; p ¼ 0:01
and density of public open spaces, i.e., playgrounds and parks combined
bβ ¼ 0:040; p ¼ 0:01 , showed positive effects on MVPA. However, availability
of green spaces showed no effect on MVPA. Different moveability indices
were constructed based on the walkability index accounting for the
negative impact of land use mix. Moveability indices showed also strong
effects on MVPA in school children for both components, expanded by playground density bβ ¼ 0:014; p ¼ 0:008 or by public open space density
bβ ¼ 0:014; p ¼ 0:007 , but no effects of urban measures and moveability
indices were found in pre-school children. The final moveability indices capture
relevant opportunities for PA in school children. Particularly, availability of public
open spaces seems to be a strong predictor of MVPA. Future studies involving
children should consider quantitative assessment of public recreational facilities in
larger cities or urban sprawls in order to investigate the influence of the
moveability on childhood PA in a broader sample
Reconsidering Access: Park Facilities and Neighborhood Disamenities in New York City
With increasing concern about rising rates of obesity, public health researchers have begun to examine the availability of parks and other spaces for physical activity, particularly in cities, to assess whether access to parks reduces the risk of obesity. Much of the research in this field has shown that proximity to parks may support increased physical activity in urban environments; however, as yet, there has been limited consideration of environmental impediments or disamenities that might influence individuals’ perceptions or usage of public recreation opportunities. Prior research suggests that neighborhood disamenities, for instance crime, pedestrian safety, and noxious land uses, might dissuade people from using parks or recreational facilities and vary by neighborhood composition. Motivated by such research, this study estimates the relationship between neighborhood compositional characteristics and measures of park facilities, controlling for variation in neighborhood disamenities, using geographic information systems (GIS) data for New York City parks and employing both kernel density estimation and distance measures. The central finding is that attention to neighborhood disamenities can appreciably alter the relationship between neighborhood composition and spatial access to parks. Policy efforts to enhance the recreational opportunities in urban areas should expand beyond a focus on availability to consider also the hazards and disincentives that may influence park usage