Ashley N. Hughes

The scholarly article Association of Neighborhood Design and Recreation Environment Variables With Physical Activity and Body Mass Index in Adolescents by Morton Kligerman, MD, MPH; James F. Sallis, PhD; Sherry Ryan, PhD; Lawrence D. Frank, PhD; Philip R. Nader, MD deals primarily with the underlying assumptions that facilities may impose on the well being of the neighborhood. In the study, two recreation-based environmental variables were developed: one measured the shortest distance to the nearest public or private recreation facility and the other measured the total number of recreation facilities within the buffered areas. The cross sectional study was conducted with 98 white or Mexican-American adolescents (mean age of 16.2 years). Physical activity was measured with 7 days of accelerometer monitoring. Height and weight were measured to compute body mass index (BMI). Environmental measures were created using geographic information systems. A neighborhood walkability index was based on land use mix, retail density, street connectivity, and residential density. And the proximity to public and private recreation facilities was assessed. The results showed that boys were more active than girls, white participants were more active than Mexican-Americans, and those living in more walkable neighborhoods were more physically active. The walkability index also explained a similar amount of variance as sex and ethnicity, indicating a meaningful degree of explanatory power. With this said, perhaps proximity to recreation facilities is too limited an evaluation and it is necessary to assess characteristics such as fees and quality of parks, walking trails, and recreation centers. If this study is confirmed, the implication is that changing policies to favor the building of more-walkable new developments and increasing the walkability of existing neighborhoods could contribute to a long-term solution to the public health challenge of inactive youth. This article would be a primary source since the doctors who initiated the study followed through with the findings. It is also quantitative because it deals with various numbers, dates, and distances rather than opinions from participants.