Dataset Information

Simulating the Impact of Crime on African American Women's Physical Activity and Obesity.

ABSTRACT: OBJECTIVE:The objective of this study was to quantify the impact of crime on physical activity location accessibility, leisure-time physical activity (LTPA), and obesity among African American women. METHODS:An agent-based model was developed in 2016 to represent resource-limited Washington, DC, communities and their populations to simulate the impact of crime on LTPA and obesity among African American women under different circumstances. RESULTS:Data analysis conducted between 2016 and 2017 found that in the baseline scenario, African American women had a 25% probability of exercising. Reducing crime so more physical activity locations were accessible (increasing from 10% to 50%) decreased the annual rise in obesity prevalence by 2.69%. Increasing the probability of African American women to exercise to 37.5% further increased the impact of reducing crime on obesity (2.91% annual decrease in obesity prevalence). CONCLUSIONS:These simulations showed that crime may serve as a barrier to LTPA. Reducing crime and increasing propensity to exercise through multilevel interventions (i.e., economic development initiatives to increase time available for physical activity and subsidized health care) may promote greater than linear declines in obesity prevalence. Crime prevention strategies alone can help prevent obesity, but combining such efforts with other ways to encourage physical activity can yield even greater benefits.

SUBMITTER: Powell-Wiley TM

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5705259 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Simulating the Impact of Crime on African American Women's Physical Activity and Obesity.

Powell-Wiley Tiffany M TM Wong Michelle S MS Adu-Brimpong Joel J Brown Shawn T ST Hertenstein Daniel L DL Zenkov Eli E Ferguson Marie C MC Thomas Samantha S Sampson Dana D Ahuja Chaarushi C Rivers Joshua J Lee Bruce Y BY

Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.) 20171031 12

<h4>Objective</h4>The objective of this study was to quantify the impact of crime on physical activity location accessibility, leisure-time physical activity (LTPA), and obesity among African American women.<h4>Methods</h4>An agent-based model was developed in 2016 to represent resource-limited Washington, DC, communities and their populations to simulate the impact of crime on LTPA and obesity among African American women under different circumstances.<h4>Results</h4>Data analysis conducted bet ...[more]

PMID: 29086471

Similar Datasets

Project description:BackgroundThe increasing prevalence of smartphone apps to help people find different services raises the question of whether apps to help people find physical activity (PA) locations would help better prevent and control having overweight or obesity.ObjectiveThe aim of this paper is to determine and quantify the potential impact of a digital health intervention for African American women prior to allocating financial resources toward implementation.MethodsWe developed our Virtual Population Obesity Prevention, agent-based model of Washington, DC, to simulate the impact of a place-tailored digital health app that provides information about free recreation center classes on PA, BMI, and overweight and obesity prevalence among African American women.ResultsWhen the app is introduced at the beginning of the simulation, with app engagement at 25% (eg, 25% [41,839/167,356] of women aware of the app; 25% [10,460/41,839] of those aware downloading the app; and 25% [2615/10,460] of those who download it receiving regular push notifications), and a 25% (25/100) baseline probability to exercise (eg, without the app), there are no statistically significant increases in PA levels or decreases in BMI or obesity prevalence over 5 years across the population. When 50% (83,678/167,356) of women are aware of the app; 58.23% (48,725/83,678) of those who are aware download it; and 55% (26,799/48,725) of those who download it receive regular push notifications, in line with existing studies on app usage, introducing the app on average increases PA and decreases weight or obesity prevalence, though the changes are not statistically significant. When app engagement increased to 75% (125,517/167,356) of women who were aware, 75% (94,138/125,517) of those who were aware downloading it, and 75% (70,603/94,138) of those who downloaded it opting into the app's push notifications, there were statistically significant changes in PA participation, minutes of PA and obesity prevalence.ConclusionsOur study shows that a digital health app that helps identify recreation center classes does not result in substantive population-wide health effects at lower levels of app engagement. For the app to result in statistically significant increases in PA and reductions in obesity prevalence over 5 years, there needs to be at least 75% (125,517/167,356) of women aware of the app, 75% (94,138/125,517) of those aware of the app download it, and 75% (70,603/94,138) of those who download it opt into push notifications. Nevertheless, the app cannot fully overcome lack of access to recreation centers; therefore, public health administrators as well as parks and recreation agencies might consider incorporating this type of technology into multilevel interventions that also target the built environment and other social determinants of health.

Project description:PURPOSE:This study aimed to assess the feasibility of a Home-based, Individually-tailored Physical activity Print (HIPP) intervention for African American women in the Deep South. METHODS:A pilot randomized trial of the HIPP intervention (N = 43) versus wellness contact control (N = 41) was conducted. Recruitment, retention, and adherence were examined, along with physical activity (7-d physical activity recalls, accelerometers) and related psychosocial variables at baseline and 6 months. RESULTS:The sample included 84 overweight/obese African American women 50-69 yr old in Birmingham, AL. Retention was high at 6 months (90%). Most participants reported being satisfied with the HIPP program and finding it helpful (91.67%). There were no significant between-group differences in physical activity (P = 0.22); however, HIPP participants reported larger increases (mean of +73.9 min·wk (SD 90.9)) in moderate-intensity or greater physical activity from baseline to 6 months compared with the control group (+41.5 min·wk (64.4)). The HIPP group also reported significantly greater improvements in physical activity goal setting (P = 0.02) and enjoyment (P = 0.04) from baseline to 6 months compared with the control group. There were no other significant between-group differences (6-min walk test, weight, physical activity planning, behavioral processes, stage of change); however, trends in the data for cognitive processes, self-efficacy, outcome expectations, and family support for physical activity indicated small improvements for HIPP participants (P > 0.05) and declines for control participants. Significant decreases in decisional balance (P = 0.01) and friend support (P = 0.03) from baseline to 6 months were observed in the control arm and not the intervention arm. CONCLUSIONS:The HIPP intervention has great potential as a low-cost, high-reach method for reducing physical activity-related health disparities. The lack of improvement in some domains may indicate that additional resources are needed to help this target population reach national guidelines.

Dataset Information

Simulating the Impact of Crime on African American Women's Physical Activity and Obesity.

Publications

Simulating the Impact of Crime on African American Women's Physical Activity and Obesity.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets