Obesity, Physical Activity, Spatial Environmental Characteristics in Three Types of Residential Settings

Obesity relates to physical activity and the level of physical activity a person could be involved is influenced by his/her physical environment. This study aims to investigate the relation between these characteristics via an empirical study, in Izmir, Turkey. Randomly selected 676 people completed household surveys and revealed their address, body mass index (BMI) and mean energy consumption for various activities (PA). The study area involved planned and unplanned developments for low, moderate, and high income neighborhoods. Three spatial setting characteristics (SC) were calculated for the streets within 400 meter network distance to each participants’ residence via geographic information systems: (1) destination density, (2) accessibility to destinations and (3) betweenness index. The participants’ mean BMI and PA and the spatial setting characteristics were compared in low, middle and high income neighborhoods. Results, showed no differences.