THE INFLUENCE OF THE PERCEIVED QUALITY OF COMMUNITY ENVIRONMENTS ON LOW-INCOME WOMEN’S EFFORTS TO WALK MORE

There is increasing interest in how the quality of community environments influences health. We present the results of a pilot study designed to encourage overweight and obese low-income women to increase their level of physical activity, and explore the factors that either support or constrain their walking. The findings suggest that even relatively small increases in lifestyle physical activity among overweight or obese low-income women (an increase in 2,000 steps per day) can lead to significant weight loss. The interviews we carried out with study participants suggest there are several ways in which the perceived quality of community environments affects low-income women’s efforts to increase their steps. Having friends and family living within walking distance was supportive of participant’s efforts, in some cases because their homes represented places to walk to, and in others because in addition, friends and family were walking companions. The perceived lack of safety participants reported as a constraint to walking reflected in some cases the fear of being assaulted or harassed, and in others the fear that passers-by would not stop to help if needed. Our findings point to the importance of including community-level interventions that address residents’ safety and security concerns, along with future efforts to increase physical activity and decrease obesity among low-socioeconomic status groups.