Does built environment influence physical activity and body postures in homework journeys?

TL;DR

This study investigates how built environment factors like greenery and public transport efficiency influence physical activity and body postures during daily commutes, using objective sensor data and advanced statistical models.

Contribution

It introduces a novel analysis of the impact of environmental features on physical activity and body postures during homework journeys using sensor data and compositional models.

Findings

Greenery and public transport efficiency reduce sedentary postures.

Environmental factors positively influence physical activity levels.

Urban greening and transport improvements can promote healthier lifestyles.

Abstract

Understanding the effects of built environment on physical activity is important for promoting healthy lifestyles in cities. Yet, very few studies have used objective continuous location data and measures of physical activity while addressing biases to causal inference. In addition, the effect of the environment on body postures during trips, albeit of physiological importance, is rarely addressed. Using mixed models for compositional data on sensor-derived physical activity information, we estimated the effects of greenery, destination density, public transport time e ciency, and average area education among 692 homework journeys made by 121 healthy adults (80 men, 41 women). Higher levels of greenery, public transport time e ciency, and average area education along the shortest network path between home and workplaces were found to reduce contemporaneous sedentary postures and increase physical activity. These relationships suggest that decision makers should consider greening cities and improving public transport e ciency as an effective way to reduce the prevalence of sedentary behaviors in our societies.