Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Safe Routes To School: Launching The Program At Oak Grove Elementary School, Susan Henderson

Public Health Theses

Safe Routes to School is a national program funded by the Department of Transportation. The goal of the program is to increase children’s active transport to and from school, primarily by walking, in response to the epidemic of childhood obesity. Implementation at the state and local level has had varying success. In my capstone presentation, I discuss the creation, implementation, and ongoing success of the program at Oak Grove Elementary, a local public school in Georgia. The program is comprised of the 5 Es: Education, Encouragement, Enforcement, Engineering, and Evaluation. Each of these five components will be focused on, as …

Validation Of A Commercial Geographical Information Systems Database Of Walking And Bicycling Destinations, Heather A. Whitcomb, Ellen K. Cromley, Kosuke Tamura, Steven J. Melly, Sayali Kale, Francine Laden, Peter James, Robin Puett, Eran Ben-Joseph, Philip J. Troped

GIS Day

Background: Recent interdisciplinary studies in public health, transportation, and urban planning have shown that stores and other destinations such as banks, post offices, and physical activity facilities within close proximity to residences are positively related to recreational and transportation physical activity. The built environment has been measured several different ways, including conducting field audits and by surveying individuals’ perceptions of their neighborhood. Increasingly researchers are also using geographic information systems (GIS) software and commercially available data sources to create objective measures of the built environment. The advantages of commercial data are that they are relatively easy to access and are …

An Evaluation Of Lead Hazards In Pre-1978 Residental Housing Within Clark County, Nevada, Usa, Erika Raquel Torres

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Lead poisoning remains a public health concern due to leads persistence in the environment from anthropogenic uses. Initial efforts to address the impacts of lead on vulnerable communities have included secondary prevention measures which typically occur after a child has been poisoned. However, in recent years there has been a pragmatic shift toward primary prevention efforts.

This study evaluates lead hazards identified through primary prevention activities in residential housing within Clark County, Nevada, USA. It is the first study to systematically address and evaluate pre-1978 housing in Southern Nevada. Risk assessments were conducted in 81 dwellings built prior to 1979 …

Examining Correlations With Frequency Of Walking Trips In Metropolitan Areas, Michelle J. Marcus

Public Health Theses

This research assessed correlations between funding for pedestrian facilities, presence of walkways, and daily and weekly walking trips in a sample of United States residents living in metropolitan areas. The purpose of the research was to identify factors at the policy and environmental level which are associated with a greater frequency of walking trips, and therefore may influence physical activity levels. Data from the U.S. Federal Highway Administration’s 2001 National Household Travel Survey and the Thunderhead Alliance’s 2007 Benchmarking Report: Bicycling and Walking in the U.S. were combined to provide variables for the number of daily and weekly walking trips, …

Exploratory Study Of Environmental Effects On Physical Activity And Overweight In Older Women: Research Update, Heather A. Whitcomb, Kosuke Tamura, Lauren Milius, Francine Laden, Steve Melly, Peter James, Robin Puett, Ellen Cromley, Eran Ben-Joseph, Philip J. Troped

GIS Day

Background: Physical inactivity and obesity are major public health issues. Recent studies have provided evidence that attributes of the built environment influence physical activity among adults and that factors such as greater urban sprawl are related to overweight and obesity. Few studies have developed objective individual-level measures of the built environment, a geographic scale that may be more relevant to certain types of physical activity, such as walking. In addition, further research is needed to assess the associations of both objective and perceived environmental factors with physical activity. In this 2-year exploratory study funded by the National Cancer Institute, we …

Built Environment And Physical Functioning In Hispanic Elders: The Role Of “Eyes On The Street”, Scott C. Brown, Craig A. Mason, Tatiana Perrino, Joanna L. Lombard, Frank Martinez, Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, Arnold R. Spokane, José Szapocznik

School of Architecture Articles and Papers

Background: Research on neighborhood effects increasingly includes the influences of the built environment on health and social well-being.

Objectives: In this population-based study in a low-socioeconomic-status (SES), Hispanic neighborhood, we examined whether architectural features of the built environment theorized to promote direct observations and interactions (e.g., porches, stoops) predicted Hispanic elders’ social support and psychological and physical functioning.

Methods: We coded built-environment features for all 3,857 lots in the 403-block area of an urban Miami, Florida, community. We then conducted three annual assessments of social support, psychological distress, and physical functioning in a population-based sample of 273 low-SES Hispanic elders …

Obesity And The Built Environment In Twenty-Six Rural Georgia Counties: An Analysis Of Physical Activity, Fruit And Vegetable Consumption, And Environmental Factors., Kathleen Elizabeth Sobush

Public Health Theses

This study assesses environmental factors in the exercise and food environment, demographic factors, physical activity behavior, and fruit and vegetable consumption in 26 rural Georgia counties. The purpose of the study is to identify environmental indicators of physical activity and fruit and vegetable consumption; to see what agencies in Georgia, if any, are collecting these types of data systematically throughout the state; and, to analyze potential relationships between environmental factors and health behaviors. Physical activity and fruit and vegetable consumption were derived from the Georgia Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (2001, 2002, 2003, and 2005). Demographic data were from the …

Evaluating If The Built Environment Has A Substantial Effect On Obesity In Fayette County, Kentucky, Will Warren

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

Background:

Obesity is a major health issue in the United States and Fayette County. As Fayette County has become increasingly obese, it too has had an issue of sprawl within its urban service area and beyond. Relationships between obesity and aspects of the built environment are continuing to be studied.

Objective:

To evaluate the impact certain factors may have on the body mass index of Fayette County residents, in particular whether urban sprawl has an overriding impact on the weight of residents.

Methods:

The study area used was Fayette County, which was broken down into its fourteen zip code areas …