Top Things to Know: Built Environment Approaches to Increase Physical Activity
Published: August 13, 2020
- Despite the known health benefits of physical activity, only 26% of adolescents and 54% of adults in the US meet the CPSTF recommendations.
- This Science Advisory reviews a recent recommendation from the CPSTF on built environment approaches to increase physical activity in communities across the United States.
- According to the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, 2017, adults should move more and sit less. Substantial benefits are seen when adults do at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity per week and children and adolescents do at least 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity daily.
- The Guide to Community Preventive Services (visit The Community Guide) is a collection of evidence-based findings that includes select community-level intervention approaches to increase physical activity and improve health .
- The Advisory outlines a 2016 CPSTF recommendation which found sufficient evidence of effectiveness of built environment strategies combining one or more interventions to improve pedestrian or bicycle transportation systems with one or more land use and environmental design interventions to increase physical activity.
- Specific components to consider in land use and environmental design include mixed land use, increased residential density, proximity to community or neighborhood destinations, and parks and recreational facility access.
- Specific components to consider when improving transportation systems include street pattern design and connectivity, pedestrian infrastructure, bicycle infrastructure, and public transit infrastructure and access.
- The Advisory highlights implementation resources to help practitioners act on this recommendation, including those from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and The Community Guide (see The Community Preventive Services Task Force Recommendation for Combined Built Environment Approaches to Increase Physical Activity).
- Partnerships between key sectors, including the health care sector, are important to help increase the planning, implementation, and evaluation of these strategies.
- By implementing built environment strategies, communities across the United States can be designed in ways that help promote healthy and active living, physical activity, and ultimately improve cardiovascular health for everyone.
Citation
Omura JD, Carlson SA, Brown DR, Hopkins DP, Kraus WE, Staffileno BA, Thomas RJ, Lobelo F, Fulton JE; on behalf of the American Heart Association Physical Activity Committee of the Council on Lifestyle and Cardiometabolic Health; Council on Cardiovascular and Stroke Nursing; and Council on Clinical Cardiology. Built environment approaches to increase physical activity: a science advisory from the American Heart Association [published online ahead of print August 13, 2020]. Circulation. doi: 10.1161/CIR.0000000000000884.