Kinesiology Commons^™

Spatial Clustering Of Physical Activity And Obesity In Relation To Built Environment Factors Among Older Women In Three U.S. States, Kosuke Tamura, Robin C. Puett, Jaime E. Hart, Heather A. Starnes, Francine Laden, Philip J. Troped

Kinesiology and Public Health

Background

Identifying spatial clusters of chronic diseases has been conducted over the past several decades. More recently these approaches have been applied to physical activity and obesity. However, few studies have investigated built environment characteristics in relation to these spatial clusters. This study’s aims were to detect spatial clusters of physical activity and obesity, examine whether the geographic distribution of covariates affects clusters, and compare built environment characteristics inside and outside clusters.

Methods

In 2004, Nurses’ Health Study participants from California, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania completed survey items on physical activity (N = 22,599) and weight-status (N = 19,448). The spatial …

Factorial Validity Of An Abbreviated Neighborhood Environment Walkability Scale For Seniors In The Nurses’ Health Study, Heather A. Starnes, Meghan H. Mcdonough, Kosuke Tamura, Peter James, Francine Laden, Philip J. Troped

Kinesiology and Public Health

Background

Using validated measures of individuals’ perceptions of their neighborhood built environment is important for accurately estimating effects on physical activity. However, no studies to date have examined the factorial validity of a measure of perceived neighborhood environment among older adults in the United States. The purpose of this measurement study was to test the factorial validity of a version of the Abbreviated Neighborhood Environment Walkability Scale (NEWS-A) modified for seniors in the Nurses’ Health Study (NHS).

Findings

A random sample of 2,920 female nurses (mean age = 73 ± 7 years) in the NHS cohort from California, Massachusetts, and …

Adaptive Basketball Shooter - Final Project Report, Jenna N. Becker, Richard A. Galanti, Justin D. Haley, Brett Y. Nayudu

Mechanical Engineering

The Friday Club is a joint venture between the Cal Poly Kinesiology Department and the San Luis Obispo Special Olympics that offers people with varying degrees of disability the opportunity to meet weekly and learn various sports and games. At Friday Club, athletes in wheelchairs with limited arm strength use devices built by Cal Poly mechanical engineering students in order to participate in various sports. Many devices are designed to attach to the Universal Play Frame (UPF), a wheel-chair attachment. The purpose of this project was to design and build a UPF device that will launch a basketball, so that …

Team Joseph: Adaptive Aquatic Device, Paul Sands, Lilly Hoff, Andrea Voigt

Mechanical Engineering

The scope of this project included designing and fabricating an adaptive aquatic device for Joseph, a 20 year old student in the Special Education Program at San Luis Obispo High School with a subset of cerebral palsy known as spastic quadriplegia. The project was presented at the beginning of the Fall 2013 quarter to the mechanical engineering students at Cal Poly with the aspiration that a team of engineers would construct a device that would allow Joseph, his friends and family to compete in their first triathlon on July 27, 2014. The project was humbly accepted by mechanical engineering students …

Learning Design Through The Lens Of Service: A Qualitative Study, David W. Hey, Lynne A. Slivovsky, Brian P. Self, James Widmann, J. Kevin Taylor

Kinesiology and Public Health

Twenty-four senior-level capstone engineering design projects were completed at a large, public, primarily undergraduate university involving 85 students (70 male and 15 female). All projects involved the design of equipment to facilitate physical activity for people with disabilities. The effects on: i) learning design, ii) attitude towards people with disabilities, iii) motivation to complete team design projects and iv) interdisciplinary collaboration were analyzed through 24 one-hour focus groups. We explored the student experience using a constructivist approach and grounded theory. Four major themes (with associated sub-themes) emerged from our data analysis: learning design (project management, iterative design process, and user-centered …

Relationships Between The Built Environment And Walking And Weight Status Among Older Women In Three U.S. States, Philip J. Troped, Heather A. Starnes, Robin C. Puett, Kosuke Tamura, Ellen K. Cromley, Peter James, Eran Ben-Joseph, Steven J. Melly, Francine Laden

Kinesiology and Public Health

There are few studies of built environment associations with physical activity and weight status among older women in large geographic areas that use individual residential buffers to define environmental exposures. Among 23,434 women (70.0±6.9 years; range = 57-85) in 3 states, relationships between objective built environment variables and meeting physical activity recommendations via walking and weight status were examined. Differences in associations by population density and state were explored in stratified models. Population density (odds ratio (OR)=1.04 [1.02,1.07]), intersection density (ORs=1.18-1.28), and facility density (ORs=1.01-1.53) were positively associated with walking. Density of physical activity facilities was inversely associated with overweight/obesity …