The impact of neighborhood walkability on walking: Does it differ across adult life stage and does neighborhood buffer size matter?

• This study explored variation in the association between walkability and walking across life stages, and by neighborhood buffer.
• There were few differences in strength of associations across 200 m, 400 m, 800 m, and 1600 m for all adult life stages.
• The results suggest that neighborhood walkability supports more walking regardless of adult life stage and is relevant at smaller and larger neighborhood buffers.

We explored the impact of neighborhood walkability on young adults, early-middle adults, middle-aged adults, and older adults' walking across different neighborhood buffers. Participants completed the Western Australian Health and Wellbeing Surveillance System Survey (2003–2009) and were allocated a neighborhood walkability score at 200 m, 400 m, 800 m, and 1600 m around their home. We found little difference in strength of associations across neighborhood size buffers for all life stages. We conclude that neighborhood walkability supports more walking regardless of adult life stage and is relevant for small (e.g., 200 m) and larger (e.g., 1600 m) neighborhood buffers.