Investigating Neighborhood Walkability and its Association with Physical Activity Levels and Body Composition of a Sample of Maryland Adolescent Girls

Abstract

Recent ecologic studies have begun to focus on characteristics of the built environment that influence physical activity (PA). Specifically, neighborhood walkability is emerging as an important determinant of PA in adults. At this point in time, there is conflicting evidence on how neighborhood walkability influences the PA levels of adolescents. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between individual's neighborhood walk score and individual's body mass index, body fat percentage, weight status, PA levels and meeting PA guidelines in a sample of adolescent girls. Additional analysis investigated the correlation between two objective measures of neighborhood walkability. This analysis was unable to show an association between PA levels or body composition of adolescent girls from the TAAG Maryland field site. Neighborhood walkability as assessed by the website walkscore.com was positively correlated with a GIS derived walkability index (r=.63 p<.0001).