walkability

Introduction: Research has focused on the built environment (e.g., neighborhood walkability) that supports or hinders physical activity because it is potentially modifiable. This study investigated the associations between changes in neighborhood walkability and changes in physical activity in an adult twin cohort. Methods: Longitudinal data (2009-2020) from 7,439 identical and fraternal twins comprising 2,800 complete pairs from […]

We investigated associations between neighborhood walkability and physical activity using twins (5477 monozygotic and same-sex dizygotic pairs) as “quasi-experimental” controls of genetic and shared environment (familial) factors that would otherwise confound exposure-outcome associations. Walkability comprised intersection density, population density, and destination accessibility. Outcomes included self-reported weekly minutes of neighborhood walking and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) […]

We examined relationships between walkability and health behaviors between and within identical twin pairs, considering both home (neighborhood) walkability and each twin’s measured activity space. Continuous activity and location data (via accelerometry and GPS) were obtained in 79 pairs over 2 weeks. Walkability was estimated using Walk Score® (WS); home WS refers to neighborhood walkability, and […]

An epigenome-wide association study (EWAS) was performed on buccal cells from monozygotic-twins (MZ) reared together as children, but who live apart as adults. Cohorts of twin pairs were used to investigate associations between neighborhood walkability and objectively measured physical activity (PA) levels. Due to dramatic cellular epigenetic sex differences, male and female MZ twin pairs […]

It is unknown whether the built environment influences recovery from low back pain (LBP). Objective: To investigate whether neighbourhood walkability influences the recovery from LBP after adjusting for genetics and shared environmental factors. Study group: We conducted a longitudinal analysis of adult twins with LBP from the Washington State Twin Registry (average follow-up: 1.7 years). […]

Background: Individual sociodemographic and home neighborhood built environment (BE) factors influence the probability of engaging in health-enhancing levels of walking or moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). Methods are needed to parsimoniously model the associations. Methods: Participants included 2392 adults drawn from a community-based twin registry living in the Seattle region. Objective BE measures from four domains […]

The aim of this study was to investigate whether neighborhood walkability moderates the association between low back pain (LBP) and physical activity (PA), using a co-twin design to control for genetics and shared environmental factors. A cross-sectional analysis was performed on 10,228 twins from the Washington State Twin Registry with available data on LBP from […]

Walking is the most popular choice of aerobic physical activity to improve health among U.S. adults. Physical characteristics of the home neighborhood can facilitate or hinder walking. The purpose of this study was to quantify neighborhood walking, using objective methods and to examine the association between counts of walking bouts in the home neighborhood and […]

Body mass index (BMI) has a strong genetic basis, with a heritability around 0.75, but is also influenced by numerous behavioral and environmental factors. Aspects of the built environment (e.g., environmental walkability) are hypothesized to influence obesity by directly affecting BMI, by facilitating or inhibiting behaviors such as physical activity that are related to BMI, […]

Objective: Physical activity, neighborhood walkability, and body mass index (BMI, kg/m(2)) associations were tested using quasi-experimental twin methods. We hypothesized that physical activity and walkability were independently associated with BMI within twin pairs, controlling for genetic and environmental background shared between them. Methods: Data were from 6376 (64% female; 58% identical) same-sex pairs, University of Washington Twin […]

We used a classical twin design and measures of neighborhood walkability and social deprivation, using each twin’s street address, to examine genetic and environmental influences on the residential location of 1389 same-sex pairs from a US community-based twin registry. Within-pair correlations and structural equation models estimated these influences on walkability among younger (ages 18-24.9) and […]