Category Archives: Physical Activity

Higher Neighborhood Walkability is Associated with a Lower Risk of Excessive Weight Gain During Pregnancy

Posted on June 15, 2022 by Built Environment and Health

In partnership with the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene we have been studying how neighborhood environments influence health during pregnancy and birth outcomes, with recent work focusing on weight gain during pregnancy. In 2009, the Institute of Medicine … Continue reading →

Posted in Active Transport, Adults, Childhood, Healthy Pregnancies, Physical Activity, Urban Design, Walkability | 1 Comment

Measuring Neighborhood Walkability across Communities in the U.S. Over the Past Three Decades

Posted on September 18, 2019 by Built Environment and Health

The evidence on links between neighborhood walkability and physical activity and body mass index remains limited because there have been few longitudinal studies with repeated measures of neighborhood walkability and health behavior and outcomes. While large cohort studies with long-term … Continue reading →

Posted in Accelerometers, Active Transport, Adults, Methods, Physical Activity, Urban Design, Walkability | Leave a comment

National Geographic Cities Issue

Posted on May 17, 2019 by Built Environment and Health

Just a quick note: The April 2019 issue of National Geographic focuses on Cities and how to redesign them to support health, sustainability and community. The issue covers transit oriented design, China’s new urban design regulations, walking through Tokyo, the … Continue reading →

Posted in Active Transport, Economic Development, Injury, Parks, Pedestrian Injury, Physical Activity, Safety, Transportation, Urban Design, Urban Forestry, Walkability | Leave a comment

How Do Gym Location and Membership Interact to Impact Physical Activity?

Posted on May 9, 2019 by Built Environment and Health

We recently published a paper in the Journal of Urban Health, led by BEH alum Tanya Kaufman and frequent BEH collaborator Jana A. Hirsch, which found that individuals living near more commercial physical activity facilities (e.g. health club, tennis club, … Continue reading →

Posted in Accelerometers, Physical Activity, Urban Forestry | Leave a comment

How and where patterns of activity among older adults change over time

Posted on May 28, 2018 by Built Environment and Health

At BEH, we’re interested in how your residential neighborhood affects how physically active you are. But we’ve come to understand that being active as not just one thing and not merely a matter of expending calories. That is, walking is … Continue reading →

Posted in Adults, Methods, Physical Activity, Physical Disorder | Leave a comment

Webinar Online – Urban Informatics: Studying How Urban Design Influences Health in New York City

Posted on March 6, 2017 by Built Environment and Health

Dr. Rundle’s March 2nd webinar for the ISBNPA webinar has been posted online at ISBNPA’s web site (Here and embedded below). His talk covered different approaches to assessing neighborhood walkability and the link between urban design and resident’s physical activity using New York City … Continue reading →

Posted in Physical Activity, Urban Design, Walkability | Leave a comment

Webinar – Urban Informatics: Studying How Urban Design Influences Health in New York City

Posted on February 28, 2017 by Built Environment and Health

On Thursday March 2nd at 3pm EST, Dr. Rundle will give a webinar entitled “Urban Informatics: Studying How Urban Design Influences Health in New York City” for the International Society of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity. You can register for … Continue reading →

Posted in Accelerometers, Active Transport, GPS, Physical Activity, Walkability | Leave a comment

Neighborhood Physical Disorder and Physical Activity Among Older Adults in NYC

Posted on January 29, 2017 by Built Environment and Health

Through the years, we have done a fair amount of work to collect and validate measures of neighborhood physical disorder – urban deterioration – using our CANVAS/Google Street View system. Neighborhood disorder is controversial construct and measure, not only because … Continue reading →

Posted in Active Transport, Adults, Aesthetics, CANVAS, Physical Activity, Physical Disorder, Street View | Leave a comment

JAMA on Walking and Walkability

Posted on June 29, 2016 by Built Environment and Health

Following up on its two recent articles about neighborhood walkability, including an editorial co-authored by Andrew Rundle, JAMA today published a Medical News and Perspectives article entitled “As Walking Movement Grows, Neighborhood Walkability Gains Attention”. The article notes the various … Continue reading →

Posted in Physical Activity, Walkability | Leave a comment