Matching Items (119)
Description
Background
Neighborhood environment studies of physical activity (PA) have been mainly single-country focused. The International Prevalence Study (IPS) presented a rare opportunity to examine neighborhood features across countries. The purpose of this analysis was to: 1) detect international neighborhood typologies based on participants’ response patterns to an environment survey and 2) to estimate associations between neighborhood environment patterns and PA.
Methods
A Latent Class Analysis (LCA) was conducted on pooled IPS adults (N=11,541) aged 18 to 64 years old (mean=37.5 ±12.8 yrs; 55.6% women) from 11 countries including Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Hong Kong, Japan, Lithuania, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, and the U.S. This subset used the Physical Activity Neighborhood Environment Survey (PANES) that briefly assessed 7 attributes within 10–15 minutes walk of participants’ residences, including residential density, access to shops/services, recreational facilities, public transit facilities, presence of sidewalks and bike paths, and personal safety. LCA derived meaningful subgroups from participants’ response patterns to PANES items, and participants were assigned to neighborhood types. The validated short-form International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) measured likelihood of meeting the 150 minutes/week PA guideline. To validate derived classes, meeting the guideline either by walking or total PA was regressed on neighborhood types using a weighted generalized linear regression model, adjusting for gender, age and country.
Results
A 5-subgroup solution fitted the dataset and was interpretable. Neighborhood types were labeled, “Overall Activity Supportive (52% of sample)”, “High Walkable and Unsafe with Few Recreation Facilities (16%)”, “Safe with Active Transport Facilities (12%)”, “Transit and Shops Dense with Few Amenities (15%)”, and “Safe but Activity Unsupportive (5%)”. Country representation differed by type (e.g., U.S. disproportionally represented “Safe but Activity Unsupportive”). Compared to the Safe but Activity Unsupportive, two types showed greater odds of meeting PA guideline for walking outcome (High Walkable and Unsafe with Few Recreation Facilities, OR= 2.26 (95% CI 1.18-4.31); Overall Activity Supportive, OR= 1.90 (95% CI 1.13-3.21). Significant but smaller odds ratios were also found for total PA.
Conclusions
Meaningful neighborhood patterns generalized across countries and explained practical differences in PA. These observational results support WHO/UN recommendations for programs and policies targeted to improve features of the neighborhood environment for PA.
Neighborhood environment studies of physical activity (PA) have been mainly single-country focused. The International Prevalence Study (IPS) presented a rare opportunity to examine neighborhood features across countries. The purpose of this analysis was to: 1) detect international neighborhood typologies based on participants’ response patterns to an environment survey and 2) to estimate associations between neighborhood environment patterns and PA.
Methods
A Latent Class Analysis (LCA) was conducted on pooled IPS adults (N=11,541) aged 18 to 64 years old (mean=37.5 ±12.8 yrs; 55.6% women) from 11 countries including Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Hong Kong, Japan, Lithuania, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, and the U.S. This subset used the Physical Activity Neighborhood Environment Survey (PANES) that briefly assessed 7 attributes within 10–15 minutes walk of participants’ residences, including residential density, access to shops/services, recreational facilities, public transit facilities, presence of sidewalks and bike paths, and personal safety. LCA derived meaningful subgroups from participants’ response patterns to PANES items, and participants were assigned to neighborhood types. The validated short-form International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) measured likelihood of meeting the 150 minutes/week PA guideline. To validate derived classes, meeting the guideline either by walking or total PA was regressed on neighborhood types using a weighted generalized linear regression model, adjusting for gender, age and country.
Results
A 5-subgroup solution fitted the dataset and was interpretable. Neighborhood types were labeled, “Overall Activity Supportive (52% of sample)”, “High Walkable and Unsafe with Few Recreation Facilities (16%)”, “Safe with Active Transport Facilities (12%)”, “Transit and Shops Dense with Few Amenities (15%)”, and “Safe but Activity Unsupportive (5%)”. Country representation differed by type (e.g., U.S. disproportionally represented “Safe but Activity Unsupportive”). Compared to the Safe but Activity Unsupportive, two types showed greater odds of meeting PA guideline for walking outcome (High Walkable and Unsafe with Few Recreation Facilities, OR= 2.26 (95% CI 1.18-4.31); Overall Activity Supportive, OR= 1.90 (95% CI 1.13-3.21). Significant but smaller odds ratios were also found for total PA.
Conclusions
Meaningful neighborhood patterns generalized across countries and explained practical differences in PA. These observational results support WHO/UN recommendations for programs and policies targeted to improve features of the neighborhood environment for PA.
ContributorsAdams, Marc (Author) / Ding, Ding (Author) / Sallis, James F. (Author) / Bowles, Heather R. (Author) / Ainsworth, Barbara (Author) / Bergman, Patrick (Author) / Bull, Fiona C. (Author) / Carr, Harriette (Author) / Craig, Cora L. (Author) / De Bourdeaudhuij, Ilse (Author) / Fernando Gomez, Luis (Author) / Hagstromer, Maria (Author) / Klasson-Heggebo, Lena (Author) / Inoue, Shigeru (Author) / Lefevre, Johan (Author) / Macfarlane, Duncan J. (Author) / Matsudo, Sandra (Author) / Matsudo, Victor (Author) / McLean, Grant (Author) / Murase, Norio (Author) / Sjostrom, Michael (Author) / Tomten, Heidi (Author) / Volbekiene, Vida (Author) / Bauman, Adrian (Author) / College of Health Solutions (Contributor) / School of Nutrition and Health Promotion (Contributor)
Created2013-03-07
Description
This paper covers the wild horse overpopulation case study at the Salt River in Arizona, exploring how Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) might help foster solutions to a lengthy and heated controversy about how to manage wild horses and burros on the rangeland. Fikret Berke's Sacred Ecology defines traditional ecological knowledge as, "a cumulative body of knowledge, practice, and belief evolving by adaptive processes and handed down through generations by cultural transmission, about the relationship of living beings (including humans) with one another and with their environment," (Berkes, 3). In contrast to current management strategies, TEK utilizes knowledge that comes from direct experience and intuitive knowing, rather than science-based, techno-rational streams of knowledge. Drawing on three modern sustainability concepts that support and stem from TEK, including: everything is connected, complex solutions can further complicate problems and diversity as a key to resilience, this paper sets forth a number of specific solutions to be considered moving forward, guided by the wisdom of TEK.
ContributorsLyford, Rebecca (Author) / Schoon, Michael (Thesis director) / Murphey, Julia (Committee member) / School of Sustainability (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
Circles of Sustainability is a self-evaluation tool designed to build educator capacity in K-12 schools seeking sustainability solutions. Based on the Sustainable Schools Challenge Handbook from Memphis, Tennessee, Circles of Sustainability considers environmental impact and efficiency, a healthy and safe school environment, sustainability and environmental education, and engagement and empowerment as four key pillars of whole-school sustainability. Each pillar is composed of elements and rubric items, which are reviewed, totaled, and colored in on the front page of the tool to help educators visualize and evaluate the current state of sustainability at their school. Since its first iteration completed in May 2017, the tool has been used by 300 educators throughout the United States during ASU's Sustainability Teachers' Academy (STA) workshops. Circles of Sustainability is completed as part of an activity called "Evaluating Your Community," where educators complete the tool and then brainstorm sustainability projects and solutions for their school and community. This paper is a review and discussion of the research, informal feedback and formal feedback used to create the second iteration of the tool. A second iteration of the tool was created to make the tool more user-friendly and ensure each pillar, element, and rubric item are based in research. The informal feedback was conducted during STA workshops in Tempe, Arizona; Abingdon, Virginia; Princeton, New Jersey; Chicago, Illinois; Los Angeles, California; Tucson, Arizona; and Charlotte, North Carolina. The formal feedback was conducted using a survey distributed to teachers who participated in the Tucson and Charlotte workshops. Overall, educators have responded positively to the tool, and the second iteration will continue to be used in future STA workshops throughout the United States.
ContributorsColbert, Julia (Author) / Schoon, Michael (Thesis director) / Merritt, Eileen (Committee member) / School of Sustainability (Contributor) / Division of Teacher Preparation (Contributor) / School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
It is well established that physical activity (PA) directly correlates with many health benefits, especially when active habits are formed during childhood and adolescence. PA practiced in adolescence has been seen to carry into adulthood, helping to combat a host of chronic diseases, such as obesity and diabetes. However, in recent years there has been a steady decline in PA among adolescents, followed by a resulting rise in sedentary behavior. Walking Intervention Through Texting for Adolescents, or WalkIT-A, was an 11.5-week intervention that built upon behavioral theory to provide an incentive-based, adaptive, physical activity intervention to inactive adolescents. The goal of this study was to investigate an intervention which combined walking with pointed behavior change strategies to incite a larger increase in PA. Using single-case, reversal (ABA) design, the study was aimed at shaping physical activity behavior in adolescents aged 12-17 through a mobile health intervention that paired adaptive goal setting with financial incentives to increase step count. The intervention was delivered using a semi-automated texting, mobile-Health (mHealth) platform, which incorporated FitBit tracking technology, adaptive goals, motivational messages, performance feedback, and points/incentives. It was hypothesized that during the adaptive intervention phase participants would increase both steps per day and active minutes compared to baseline values. Upon conclusion of the study, the three adolescent participants exhibited increased steps and active minutes during the intervention period compared to baseline and withdrawal phases. However, the specific trends identified suggest the need for future research to incorporate even stronger intervention components to overcome PA "drop-off" midway through the intervention, along with other external, environmental influencers. Despite this need, the use of adaptive goal setting combined with incentives can be an effective means to incite PA behavior change in adolescents.
ContributorsVan Bussum, Courtney Jessica (Author) / Adams, Marc (Thesis director) / Forzani, Erica (Committee member) / Harrington Bioengineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Nutrition and Health Promotion (Contributor)
Created2016-12
Description
The fence between the US and Mexico had been and continues to be a controversial topic in both the U.S., Mexico and around the world. This study will look at the negative externalities related to the environment, society, and economy of the current fence on the border. The central question behind the thesis is whether or not the fence has a direct impact on the ecosystem and people around it.
ContributorsHoyt, Stephanie Alexis (Author) / Schoon, Michael (Thesis director) / Breetz, Hanna (Committee member) / School of Sustainability (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-12
Description
Obesity and related health disparities including type 2 diabetes disproportionately impact Latino youth. These health disparities may be the result of gene-environment interactions, but limited research has examined these interactions in the pediatric age group. Lifestyle intervention is the cornerstone for preventing diabetes among high-risk populations and epigenetic and genetic factors may help explain the biological mechanisms underlying diabetes risk reduction following lifestyle changes. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small, non-coding RNA’s that regulate gene expression and have emerged as potential biomarkers for predicting type 2 diabetes risk in adults but have yet to be applied to youth. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to identify changes in miRNA expression among Latino youth with prediabetes (4 female/2 male, ages 14-16, BMI percentile 99 ±.2) who participated in a 12-week lifestyle intervention focused on increasing physical activity and improving nutrition-related behaviors.
ContributorsKarch, Jamie (Co-author) / Day, Samantha (Co-author) / Shaibi, Gabriel (Thesis director) / Coletta, Dawn (Committee member) / Arizona State University. College of Nursing & Healthcare Innovation (Contributor) / College of Integrative Sciences and Arts (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
Description
Objective: Increasing fruit/vegetable (FV) consumption and decreasing waste during the school lunch is a public health priority. Understanding how serving style of FV impacts FV consumption and waste may be an effective means to changing nutrition behaviors in schools. This study examined whether students were more likely to select, consume, and waste FV when FVs were cut vs. whole. Methods: Baseline data from the ASU School Lunch Study was used to explore associations between cut vs. whole FV serving style and objectively measured FV selection, consumption, and waste and grade level interactions among a random selection of students (n=6804; 47.8% female; 78.8% BIPOC) attending Arizona elementary, middle, and high schools (N=37). Negative binomial regression models evaluated serving style on FV weight (grams) selected, consumed, and wasted, adjusted for sociodemographics and school.
Results: Students were more likely to select cut FVs (IRR=1.11; 95% CI: 1.04, 1.18) and waste cut FVs (IRR=1.20; 95% CI: 1.04, 1.39); however, no differences were observed in the overall consumption of cut vs. whole FVs. Grade-level interactions impacted students’ selection of FVs. Middle school students had a significantly higher effect modification for the selection of cut FVs (IRR=1.18; p=0.006) compared to high school and elementary students. Further, high school students had a significantly lower effect modification for the selection of cut FVs (IRR=0.83; p=0.010) compared to middle and elementary students. No other grade-level interactions were observed.
Discussion: Serving style of FV may impact how much FV is selected and wasted, but further research is needed to determine causality between these variables.
ContributorsJames, Amber Chandarana (Author) / Bruening, Meredith (Thesis advisor) / Adams, Marc (Thesis advisor) / Koskan, Alexis (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2021
Description
ABSTRACT Over the past several decades, the dilemma of free-roaming horses in the U.S. has proven to be one of the most divisive issues in management of public lands. According to federal land management agencies, without population regulation, horses can increase at the rate of 15-20% a year on arid rangelands with inadequate numbers of natural, large predators. Horses compete for valuable forage and water resources alongside cattle and native wildlife in delicate riparian areas highly susceptible to the negative ecological effects of soil compaction and overgrazing. Most U.S. management policies, therefore, call for increased removal of free-roaming horses as they are categorized as “un-authorized livestock” or "non-native" species. Wild horse advocates, however, continue to petition for improvement in animal welfare and expansion of the horses’ territory. With heightened social conflict spurred by animal rights and ecological concerns, not to mention the often-stark differences over what really “belongs” on the landscape, the success of appropriate management strategies hinges on managing agencies’ preparedness and ability to respond in a timely and inclusive manner. A critical element of the management context is the public’s views toward the wild horse and the science used to manage them. Synthesizing the vast literature in the history and philosophy of wildlife management in the American West, and utilizing an ethnographic and case study approach, my research examines the range of stakeholder concerns and analyzes the factors that have led to the disconnect between public values of wild horses and public policy for the management of the federally protected free-roaming horses in Arizona’s Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests.
ContributorsMurphree, Julie Joan (Author) / Minteer, Ben A. (Thesis advisor) / Schoon, Michael (Thesis advisor) / Bradshaw, Karen (Committee member) / Chew, Matthew (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2022
Description
Communications around sustainability have been found to be incongruent with eliciting the transformative change required to address global climate change and its' repercussions. Recent research has been exploring storytelling in sustainability, specifically with an emphasis on reflexive and emancipatory methods. These methods encourage embracing and contextualizing complexity and intend to target entire cognitive hierarchies. This study explores the possibility of using emancipatory and reflexive storytelling as a tool to change attitudes pertaining to the Valley Metro Light Rail, an example of a complex sustainability mitigation effort. I explore this in four steps: 1) Conducted a pre-survey to gauge preexisting attitudes and predispositions; 2) Provided a narrative that uses storytelling methodologies of reflexivity and emancipation through a story about the light rail; 3) Conducted a post-survey to gauge attitude shift resulting from the narrative intervention; 4) Facilitated a focus group discussion to examine impact qualitatively. These steps intended to provide an answer to the question: How does emancipatory and reflexive storytelling impact affective, cognitive and conative attitudes regarding local alternative transportation? By using tripartite attitude model, qualitative and quantitative analysis this paper determines that reflexive and emancipatory storytelling impacts attitudinal structures. The impact is marginal in the survey response, though the shift indicated a narrowing of participant responses towards one another, indicative of participants subscribing to emancipation and reflexivity of their held attitudes. From the group discussion, it was evident from qualitative responses that participants engaged in emancipating themselves from their held attitudes and reflected upon them. In doing so they engaged in collaboration to make suggestions and suggest actions to help those with experiences that differed from their own. Though this research doesn’t provide conclusive evidence, it opens the door for future research to assess these methodologies as a tool to elicit shared values, beliefs and norms, which are necessary for collective action leading to transformative change in response to global climate change.
ContributorsSwanson, Jake Ryan (Author) / Roseland, Mark (Thesis advisor) / Larson, Kelli (Committee member) / Calhoun, Craig (Committee member) / Schoon, Michael (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023
Description
Understanding the dynamic interactions between humans and wildlife is essential to establishing sustainable wildlife-based ecotourism (WBE). Animal behavior exists within a complex feedback loop that affects overall ecosystem function, tourist satisfaction, and socioeconomics of local communities. However, the specific value that animal behavior plays in provisioning ecosystem services has not been thoroughly evaluated. People enjoy activities that facilitate intimate contact with animals, and there are many perceived benefits associated with these experiences, such as encouraging pro-environmental attitudes that can lead to greater motivation for conservation. There is extensive research on the effects that unregulated tourism activity can have on wildlife behavior, which include implications for population health and survival. Prior to COVID-19, WBE was developing rapidly on a global scale, and the pause in activity caused by the pandemic gave natural systems the chance to recover from environmental damage from over-tourism and provided insights into how tourism could be less impactful in the future. Until now it has been undetermined how changes in animal behavior can alter the relationships and socioeconomics of this multidimensional system. This dissertation provides a thorough exploration of the behavioral, ecological, and economic parameters required to model biosocial interactions and feedbacks within the whale watching system in Las Perlas Archipelago, Panama. Through observational data collected in the field, this project assessed how unmanaged whale watching activity is affecting the behavior of Humpback whales in the area as well as the socioeconomic and conservation contributions of the industry. Additionally, it is necessary to consider what a sustainable form of wildlife tourism might be, and whether the incorporation of technology will help enhance visitor experience while reducing negative impacts on wildlife. To better ascertain whether this concept of this integration would be favorably viewed, a sample of individuals was surveyed about their experiences about using technology to enhance their interactions with nature. This research highlights the need for more deliberate identification and incorporation of the perceptions of all stakeholders (wildlife included) to develop a less-impactful WBE industry that provides people with opportunities to establish meaningful relationships with nature that motivate them to help meet the conservation challenges of today.
ContributorsSurrey, Katie (Author) / Gerber, Leah (Thesis advisor) / Guzman, Hector (Committee member) / Minteer, Ben (Committee member) / Schoon, Michael (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023