Showing papers by "Barbara B. Brown published in 2007"

Walkable Route Perceptions and Physical Features: Converging Evidence for En Route Walking Experiences.

Abstract: Guided walks near a light rail stop in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah, were examined using a 2 (gender) × 3 (route walkability: low- mixed-, or highwalkability features) design. Trained raters confirmed that more walkable segments had more traffic, environmental, and social safety; pleasing aesthetics; natural features; pedestrian amenities; and land use diversity (using the Irvine-Minnesota physical environment audit) and a superior social milieu rating. According to tape-recorded open-ended descriptions, university student participants experienced walkable route segments as noticeably safer, with a more positive social environment, fewer social and physical incivilities, and more attractive natural and built environment features. According to closed-ended scales, walkable route segments had more pleasant social and/or environmental atmosphere and better traffic safety. Few gender differences were found. Results highlight the importance of understanding subjective experiences of walkability and suggest that these experiences should be an additional focus of urban design.

Physical Activity During the Transition from Adolescence to Adulthood

Abstract: Background: We examine how age, life course roles, and contextual variables relate to both the composition and the overall level of physical activity in late adolescence and early adulthood. Methods: Data on respondents age 15 to 29 y in the 2003 American Time Use Survey are used to estimate multivariate logistic regressions that assess what factors are associated with meeting the recommended level of physical activity. Results: The proportion of respondents who do 30 min or more of team sports declines over the 15 to 29 y age range even after controlling for life course and contextual covariates. Parenthood, employment status, and school enrollment have selective effects on the odds of meeting physical activity recommendations. Conclusions: Given the declines in team sports activities, schools and public health officials should consider the potential benefits of promoting other options such as cardiovascular activities, strength training activities, and/or active transportation.

Household food expenditure patterns: A cluster analysis

Abstract: Jessie X. Fan, Barbara B. Brown, Ken R. Smith, and Cathleen D. Zick are professors in the Department of Family and Consumer Studies at the University of Utah; Lori Kowaleski Jones is an assistant professor in the same department. E-mail: fan@fcs.utah. The 2001 report titled "The Surgeon General's Call to Action to Prevent and Decrease Overweight and Obe sity" identified overweight and obesity as major public health problems, costing U.S. society as much as $117 billion a year and posing as great a threat of death as poverty, smoking, or problem drinking.1 As a first step in screening for overweight and obesity, "Body Mass Index" (BMl) is calculated using a person's weight and height, and this num ber is viewed as being a reliable indicator of body fat for most people.2 The percentage of the U.S. population defined as obese (a BMI greater than 30) or overweight (a BMI greater than 25) has been rising in the past decade. Data from the 1999-2002 National Health and Nutrition

Household Food Expenditure Patterns

Abstract: Jessie X. Fan, Barbara B. Brown, Lori Kowaleski-Jones, Ken R. Smith, and Cathleen D. Zick The 2001 report titled “The Surgeon General’s Call to Action to Prevent and Decrease Overweight and Obesity” identified overweight and obesity as major public health problems, costing U.S. society as much as $117 billion a year and posing as great a threat of death as poverty, smoking, or problem drinking.1 As a first step in screening for overweight and obesity, “Body Mass Index” (BMI) is calculated using a person’s weight and height, and this number is viewed as being a reliable indicator of body fat for most people.2 The percentage of the U.S. population defined as obese (a BMI greater than 30) or overweight (a BMI greater than 25) has been rising in the past decade. Data from the 1999–2002 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) show that 65 percent of U.S. adults ages 20–74 were overweight or obese. This is a substantial increase from the 56 percent estimated from the 1988–1994 NHANES and the 47 percent estimated from the 1976–1980 NHANES.3 The statistics presented for children are equally grim. The percentage of children defined as overweight (a BMI-for-age at or above the 95th percentile of the CDC Growth Charts) has also been increasing. Among children and teens ages 6–19, 16 percent (more than 9 million) are overweight according to the 1999–2000 NHANES data, triple the percentage reported in 1980.4 While numerous suggestions have been offered as possible solutions to the problem, an energy balance approach to the causes of overweight and obesity recognizes the equiHousehold food expenditure patterns: a cluster analysis

Guest Editor's Introduction: Physical Environments, Physical Activity, and Diet Environment-Behavior Perspectives

Abstract: Daily media reports remind us we are too inactive, overeat the wrong foods, and weigh more than we should. Until recently, these unhealthy behaviors have been unlikely to invite consideration by environment and behavior researchers. Thanks to an extraordinary flurry of academic and policy efforts, supported primarily by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the National Institutes of Health, health researchers have pioneered a new interdisciplinary field focused on environmental and policy supports for healthier physical activity and diet choices (Sallis, Kraft, & Linton, 2002). A series of reports have provided conceptual and empirical overviews of the new field (i.e., American Journal of Health Promotion, September 2003; American Journal of Preventive Medicine, May 2002 and February 2005; American Journal of Public Health, September 2003; the Journal of Physical Activity & Health, February 2005). Many environment and behavior researchers may be unaware of the opportunities, given that fewer environmental journals have focused on the new field (but see the Institute for Transportation Journal, June 2003; Transportation Research Board, Special Report 282, 2005; and Journal of the American Planning Association, Winter 2006). Discussion of this special issue started with the Active Living by Design network (now chaired by Anne Lusk) of the Environmental Design Research Association, which has hosted special conference sessions on environment and physical activity funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Discussion continued at the Ecology of Obesity conference hosted by Cornell University’s College of Human Ecology in June 2005. Some researchers predict that younger generations now may die sooner than their parents because of the health effects of inactivity, poor diet, and obesity (Olshansky et al., 2005). The urgency of this health crisis underscores the need to harness the creativity and rigor of environment and behavior research to enable healthier communities. We believe that environment and behavior researchers are well-suited to contribute to the new interdisciplinary field of research, given the nature of our conceptual frameworks and Environment and Behavior Volume 39 Number 1 January 2007 3-5 © 2007 Sage Publications 10.1177/0013916506295575 http://eab.sagepub.com hosted at http://online.sagepub.com