Journal of urban health : bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine
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Comparative Study
Improved Street Walkability, Incivilities, and Esthetics Are Associated with Greater Park Use in Two Low-Income Neighborhoods.
Parks may provide opportunities for people to increase their physical activity and improve health. Yet, parks are generally less plentiful and underutilized in low-income urban neighborhoods compared with more advantaged neighborhoods. Renovations within and around parks may improve park utilization but the empirical evidence supporting this relationship is scarce. ⋯ We used difference-in-differences to test whether park use and street characteristics surrounding the parks improved more in the intervention neighborhood than in the comparison neighborhood. We also used zero-inflated negative binomial regression with interactions by time to test whether changes in street characteristics were associated with changes in park use over time. We found that improved walkability, incivilities, and esthetics surrounding parks in socioeconomically disadvantaged neighborhoods were associated with greater park use and may help increase visits to underutilized parks.
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Comparative Study
Sitting or Walking? Analyzing the Neural Emotional Indicators of Urban Green Space Behavior with Mobile EEG.
There is a close relationship between urban green space and the physical and mental health of individuals. Most previous studies have discussed the impact of the structure of green space and its elements. This study focused on the emotional changes caused by common behaviors in urban green space (walking and sitting). ⋯ The results of the comparison of the two behaviors showed that the "valence" and "meditation" values of the walking group were higher than those of the sitting group, which suggests that walking in urban green space is more favorable for stress reduction. The sitting group had a higher "focus" value than did the walking group, which suggests that sitting in urban green space is better for attention restoration. The results of this study can provide guidance for urban green space planning and design as well as health guidance for urban residents.
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Researchers have linked neighborhood food availability to the overall frequency of using food outlets without noting if those outlets were within or outside of participants' neighborhoods. We aimed to examine the association of neighborhood restaurant and food store availability with frequency of use of neighborhood food outlets, and whether such an association was modified by neighborhood street connectivity using a large and diverse population-based cohort of middle-aged U. S. adults. ⋯ Our findings suggest that, for those who perceived at least one sit-down restaurant in their neighborhood, individuals who have more GIS-measured sit-down restaurants in their neighborhoods reported more frequent use of sit-down restaurants than those whose neighborhoods contain fewer such restaurants. Our results also suggest that, for those who perceived at least one fast food restaurant in their neighborhood, individuals who live in neighborhoods with greater GIS-measured street connectivity reported less use of neighborhood fast food restaurants than those who live in neighborhoods with less street connectivity. The count of neighborhood sit-down restaurants and the connectivity of neighborhood street networks appear important in understanding the use of neighborhood food resources.
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African Americans and socioeconomically disadvantaged individuals have higher rates of a variety of sleep disturbances, including short sleep duration, poor sleep quality, and fragmented sleep. Such sleep disturbances may contribute to pervasive and widening racial and socioeconomic (SES) disparities in health. A growing body of literature demonstrates that over and above individual-level SES, indicators of neighborhood disadvantage are associated with poor sleep. ⋯ Poor objectively measured block quality was associated with 14.0 min shorter sleep duration, 1.95% lower sleep efficiency, and 10.7 additional minutes of WASO. Adverse housing and proximal neighborhood conditions are independently associated with poor sleep health. Findings highlight the importance of considering strategies that target upstream determinants of sleep health disparities.