Making the Health Argument to Boost Walkability Alliance for Biking & Walking Mutual Aid Conference Call

Date & time Wednesday, May 8, 2013 2:00 3:00 PM eastern time Facilitator: Mary Lauran Hall Call-in: (712) 432 - 9998, code 573985#

Description Walking is one of the best ways to stay healthy. Regular physical activity, like walking, has been shown to lower the risk of cancer, heart disease, diabetes, stroke, arthritis and osteoporosis. Walking also helps keep weight in check and can be more effective at boosting your mood than antidepressants. Public health researchers have long recognized that walkable neighborhoods have the power to increase regular physical activity, having a hugely positive affect on overall public health. Given the urgent need for more adults to practice regular physical activity, it is more essential than ever that advocates and coalitions work together to implement policy- and infrastructure-based solutions to improve walkability in our neighborhoods. On this call, researchers and advocates will share the latest convincing research on how walkable neighborhoods affect public health and discuss how advocates have used health arguments to win better walking. Panelists Dr. Brian E. Saelins, PhD, Professor of Pediatrics and Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Seattle Children's Hospital Dr. David Sabgir, PhD, Cardiologist and Founder of Walk With a Doc Hillary Borcherding, Communications Manager, WalkBoston Agenda 2:00 PM Call structure / housekeeping and introduction from Mary Lauran 2:05 2:40 PM Insight from panelists Dr. Brian Saelins: research highlights about walkability and health Walking is a critical component of physical activity and should be a strong focus of interventions for physical activity and health o Most American adults failing to meet recommendations for physical activity associated with health; those who do are often walking to do it o Some emerging evidence that walking makes up a larger percentage of overall physical activity than previously thought (see Kang et al., 2013 Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise Walking Objectively

Measured: Classifying Accelerometer Data with GPS and Travel Diaries; in this study, nearly 59% of all physical activity was walking) o Recent call from Surgeon General about input regarding the importance of walking There are many aspects of built environment that encourage or discourage walking among adults o Strongest relationships found between having nearby destinations and walking Density (making things nearby) Land use mix (having non-residential destinations) Transit (an accumulation of walk trips) Active travel to school is an important contributor to childrens physical activity o Evidence that walking to/from school does not decrease types of physical activity; it is an add (Cooper 2005 AJPM) o Evidence that children switching from car transport to walking to/from school increase physical activity, while those going in the opposite direct decrease their overall physical activity (UK study by Cooper 2012 Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise) o Active travel is primary determined by built environment (distance to school from childs home) and route aspects (e.g., safe, no major crossings, etc) Some of our local examples being funded through our CDC-funded Community Transformation Grant o Station area planning for a future light rail station in a suburban area to better design for walking/biking o Health Impact Assessment conducted on a required comprehensive plan update, with a focus on physical activity Summary o Look for opportunities to make physical activity/walking the easiest choice (most people would make this choice based on the important factors of time, money, etc) Resources o Active Living Research part of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Research briefs (http://activelivingresearch.org/search/site/?f[0]=bundle%3Aresear ch_briefs_syntheses) o Alliance for Biking and Walking

Dr. David Sabgir

Who Walk with a Doc is What we do Where Walk with a Docs walks are located Medical perspective How we do it

Hillary Borcherding At WalkBoston's last Annual Celebration we were pleased to welcome the United States Surgeon General Dr. Regina Benjamin as our speaker. This event inspired us to create a presentation and brochure that clearly articulated the correlation between good health and walking. Our Walk Your Way to Health presentation describes the many health benefits of walking and shows that walking is the closest thing to a magic bullet for health. In developing this presentation we distilled vast amounts of research into a digestible and handy brochure. You can see both our Walk Your Way to Health slideshow and brochure at www.walkboston.org. Currently we are offering this presentation to our corporate members, neighborhood groups and employee wellness programs.