IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v17y2020i20p7558-d430444.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Effect of an Additional 30 Minutes Spent Outdoors during Summer on Daily Steps and Individually Experienced Heat Index

Author

Listed:
  • Suwei Wang

    (Translational Biology, Medicine, and Health (TBMH), Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA
    Department of Population Health Sciences, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA)

  • Molly B. Richardson

    (Department of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35205, USA)

  • Connor Y.H. Wu

    (Department of Geospatial Informatics, Troy University, Troy, AL 36082, USA)

  • Benjamin F. Zaitchik

    (Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA)

  • Julia M. Gohlke

    (Department of Population Health Sciences, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA)

Abstract

Spending time outdoors is associated with increased physical activity; however, high ambient temperature/humidity, together with built environment features in urban versus rural environments, may influence physical activity. We conducted an intervention trial with 89 urban and 88 rural participants performing normal activities on Days 1–2 (baseline) and spending an additional 30 min outdoors on Days 3–7 (intervention) in the summer. Participants wore a pedometer with real-time visual feedback to track daily steps taken and a thermometer clipped to their shoe to track temperatures experienced individually. Hygrometer–thermometers were deployed in participants’ neighborhoods to collect finer resolution ambient heat indexes in addition to regional weather station measurements. Using linear mixed effects models and adjusting for ambient conditions and individual-level factors, participants on average walked 637 (95%CI (83, 1192)) more steps and had a 0.59 °C (95%CI (0.30, 0.88)) lower daily mean individually experienced heat index during intervention days compared to baseline days. The intervention benefit of increased physical activity was greater in rural residents who were less active at baseline, compared to urban residents. Our results suggest adding a small amount of additional time outdoors may improve physical activity without increasing participants’ heat exposure, even during summer in a humid subtropical climate.

Suggested Citation

  • Suwei Wang & Molly B. Richardson & Connor Y.H. Wu & Benjamin F. Zaitchik & Julia M. Gohlke, 2020. "Effect of an Additional 30 Minutes Spent Outdoors during Summer on Daily Steps and Individually Experienced Heat Index," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(20), pages 1-15, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:20:p:7558-:d:430444
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/20/7558/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/20/7558/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Dana Wolff & Eugene C. Fitzhugh, 2011. "The Relationships between Weather-Related Factors and Daily Outdoor Physical Activity Counts on an Urban Greenway," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 8(2), pages 1-11, February.
    2. Brownson, R.C. & Baker, E.A. & Housemann, R.A. & Brennan, L.K. & Bacak, S.J., 2001. "Environmental and policy determinants of physical activity in the United States," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 91(12), pages 1995-2003.
    3. Harlan, Sharon L. & Brazel, Anthony J. & Prashad, Lela & Stefanov, William L. & Larsen, Larissa, 2006. "Neighborhood microclimates and vulnerability to heat stress," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 63(11), pages 2847-2863, December.
    4. Casey Gray & Rebecca Gibbons & Richard Larouche & Ellen Beate Hansen Sandseter & Adam Bienenstock & Mariana Brussoni & Guylaine Chabot & Susan Herrington & Ian Janssen & William Pickett & Marlene Powe, 2015. "What Is the Relationship between Outdoor Time and Physical Activity, Sedentary Behaviour, and Physical Fitness in Children? A Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-20, June.
    5. Diez Roux, A.V. & Evenson, K.R. & McGinn, A.P. & Brown, D.G. & Moore, L. & Brines, S. & Jacobs Jr., D.R., 2007. "Availability of recreational resources and physical activity in adults," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 97(3), pages 493-499.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Mörtberg, Ulla & Goldenberg, Romain & Kalantari, Zahra & Kordas, Olga & Deal, Brian & Balfors, Berit & Cvetkovic, Vladimir, 2017. "Integrating ecosystem services in the assessment of urban energy trajectories – A study of the Stockholm Region," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 338-349.
    2. Nicoleta Cutumisu & John C. Spence, 2012. "Sport Fields as Potential Catalysts for Physical Activity in the Neighbourhood," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 9(1), pages 1-21, January.
    3. Kyoung-bok Min & Hyun-Jin Kim & Hye-Jin Kim & Jin-young Min, 2017. "Parks and green areas and the risk for depression and suicidal indicators," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 62(6), pages 647-656, July.
    4. Antoni Colom & Miguel Fiol & Maurici Ruiz & Montserrat Compa & Marga Morey & Manuel Moñino & Dora Romaguera, 2018. "Association between Access to Public Open Spaces and Physical Activity in a Mediterranean Population at High Cardiovascular Risk," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-11, June.
    5. Joanna Baj-Korpak & Marian Jan Stelmach & Kamil Zaworski & Piotr Lichograj & Marek Wochna, 2022. "Assessment of Motor Abilities and Physical Fitness in Youth in the Context of Talent Identification—OSF Test," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(21), pages 1-19, November.
    6. H. Allen Klaiber & Joshua K. Abbott & V. Kerry Smith, 2017. "Some Like It (Less) Hot: Extracting Trade-Off Measures for Physically Coupled Amenities," Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, University of Chicago Press, vol. 4(4), pages 1053-1079.
    7. Stafford, Mai & Cummins, Steven & Ellaway, Anne & Sacker, Amanda & Wiggins, Richard D. & Macintyre, Sally, 2007. "Pathways to obesity: Identifying local, modifiable determinants of physical activity and diet," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 65(9), pages 1882-1897, November.
    8. Yiyong Chen & Weiying Gu & Tao Liu & Lei Yuan & Mali Zeng, 2017. "Increasing the Use of Urban Greenways in Developing Countries: A Case Study on Wutong Greenway in Shenzhen, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-18, May.
    9. Susan Williams & Peng Bi & Jonathan Newbury & Guy Robinson & Dino Pisaniello & Arthur Saniotis & Alana Hansen, 2013. "Extreme Heat and Health: Perspectives from Health Service Providers in Rural and Remote Communities in South Australia," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-19, October.
    10. Janet Loebach & Marcos Sanches & Julia Jaffe & Tara Elton-Marshall, 2021. "Paving the Way for Outdoor Play: Examining Socio-Environmental Barriers to Community-Based Outdoor Play," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(7), pages 1-25, March.
    11. Weihua Dong & Zhao Liu & Lijie Zhang & Qiuhong Tang & Hua Liao & Xian'en Li, 2014. "Assessing Heat Health Risk for Sustainability in Beijing’s Urban Heat Island," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 6(10), pages 1-24, October.
    12. Clarke, Philippa J. & Ailshire, Jennifer A. & Nieuwenhuijsen, Els R. & de Kleijn - de Vrankrijker, Marijke W., 2011. "Participation among adults with disability: The role of the urban environment," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 72(10), pages 1674-1684, May.
    13. Brewer, Mackenzie & Kimbro, Rachel Tolbert, 2014. "Neighborhood context and immigrant children's physical activity," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 1-9.
    14. Fei Li & Tan Yigitcanlar & Madhav Nepal & Kien Nguyen Thanh & Fatih Dur, 2022. "Understanding Urban Heat Vulnerability Assessment Methods: A PRISMA Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(19), pages 1-34, September.
    15. Sara Wilkinson & Renato Castiglia Feitosa, 2015. "Retrofitting Housing with Lightweight Green Roof Technology in Sydney, Australia, and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(1), pages 1-18, January.
    16. Smith, Lindsey P. & Ng, Shu Wen & Popkin, Barry M., 2014. "No time for the gym? Housework and other non-labor market time use patterns are associated with meeting physical activity recommendations among adults in full-time, sedentary jobs," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 126-134.
    17. Daniel Hess, 2012. "Walking to the bus: perceived versus actual walking distance to bus stops for older adults," Transportation, Springer, vol. 39(2), pages 247-266, March.
    18. De Valck, Jeremy & Beames, Alistair & Liekens, Inge & Bettens, Maarten & Seuntjens, Piet & Broekx, Steven, 2019. "Valuing urban ecosystem services in sustainable brownfield redevelopment," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 139-149.
    19. Janet Lok Chun Lee & Temmy Lee Ting Lo & Rainbow Tin Hung Ho, 2018. "Understanding Outdoor Gyms in Public Open Spaces: A Systematic Review and Integrative Synthesis of Qualitative and Quantitative Evidence," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-15, March.
    20. Tao Chen & Anchang Sun & Ruiqing Niu, 2019. "Effect of Land Cover Fractions on Changes in Surface Urban Heat Islands Using Landsat Time-Series Images," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(6), pages 1-18, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:20:p:7558-:d:430444. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.