Neighborhood environment and health behavior in Los Angeles area

• Adults living in a neighborhood with higher residential density, rail services, and frequent bus services are less likely to be obese.
• Adults living in a transit-oriented type of neighborhood tend to use active transportation modes to access their daily activities and reach transit services.
• Increased use of active transportation modes gives people an opportunity to engage in a moderate-level of exercise, so as to reduce their weight and enhance their health condition.

The objective of this research is to analyze the relationship between neighborhood characteristics and obesity among adults. Using data from 7200 adult respondents in the 2007 Los Angeles County Health Survey, a binary logistic regression model is tested to examine whether land use patterns and the built environment characteristics of residential neighborhoods are associated with one’s probability of being obese. The result has shown that living in a neighborhood with higher household density, closeness to rail stations, and better bus services are associated with a lesser likelihood to be obese, which implies that people in a well-designed transit-oriented neighborhood tend to use active transportation modes to reach their daily activities and access transit services. Increased use of active transportation gives people an opportunity to engage in a moderate-level of exercise, so as to reduce their weight and enhance their health condition. This paper contributes an approach to analyze and estimate the health impact of an integrated land use-transportation plan. The model estimated in the paper can be used to analyze public health issues as a result of different land use policies, built environment improvements, and future demographic change.