Build environment, race, and walking behavior: A multiscale analysis

Abstract

Hispanics have a documented higher risk of obesity than other ethnic minorities. Walking can reduce the risk of obesity and promote healthy living. However, walking behavior varies with race/ethnicity, and Hispanics’ walking behavior is less understood. This study compared the walking behaviors of Hispanic and non-Hispanic White residents in Salt Lake County (SLCo), Utah, at the personal and block group levels, based on data from the Utah Household Travel Survey (UHS), which covered 2800 households and 176 Hispanic individuals in SLCo, including their travel trips and socioeconomic status. Trip-level data from the UHS were aggregated into personal and block group levels based on trip ends for multiscale analysis. Our statistical analysis suggested that Hispanics’ walking frequency and density were significantly lower than those of non-Hispanic Whites. According to the personal-level model, education generally contributed to ethnic disparities in walking, but higher education did not increase Hispanics’ walking frequency. The block-group-level model showed that non-Hispanic Whites’ walking behavior was highly sensitive to the built environment. We also found positive impacts of worship accessibility on walking density, which might be unique to non-Hispanic White neighborhoods in SLCo. Built environment factors influenced Hispanics’ walking behavior less than that of non-Hispanic Whites, and the primary determinants included car ownership, driving license, and accessibility of public transit. The research outcomes of this study could provide implications for designing strategies to promote walkability based on ethnic disparities. This also encourages further investigations into the equity of walkable environments for different racial/ethnic populations as an environmental injustice issue.