• Judy Kruger, Sandra A Ham, David Berrigan, and Rachel Ballard-Barbash.
• Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 4770 Buford Highway, NE (MS K-46), Atlanta, GA 30341, USA. ezk0@cdc.gov
• Prev Med. 2008 Sep 1; 47 (3): 329-34.

ObjectiveThis paper aims to contrast the demographic correlates of leisure and transportation walking.MethodsUsing data from the 2005 National Health Interview Survey (n=31,482), this paper reports on the prevalence of transportation walking and leisure walking for U.S. adults and examines the variation in prevalence across different socio-demographic groups. The prevalence of transportation walking and leisure walking for U.S. adults (> or =5 days/week for > or =30 min/day) was calculated using data from the 2005 National Health Interview Survey.ResultsIn the United States, 41.5% of adults walked for leisure and 28.2% walked for transportation in intervals of at least 10 min. The highest prevalence of transportation walking was among black non-Hispanic men (36.0%) and Asian/Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander women (40.5%). The highest prevalence of leisure walking was among Asian/Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander men (42.0%) and white non-Hispanic women (46.6%). Leisure walking was most prevalent among respondents with higher incomes and education levels, whereas transportation walking increased in prevalence with education level but decreased with income level. Based on the findings, 6% of U.S. adults were considered regularly active (> or =5 days/week for > or =30 min/day) by walking for transportation and 9% were regularly active by walking for leisure.ConclusionLeisure and transportation walking have distinctly different demographic correlates. These differences should guide interventions aimed at influencing walking for different purposes.

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