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Article
Walkable scores for selected three east Texas counties: physical activity and policy implications
Kinesiology Faculty Publications and Presentations
  • Wycliffe W. Njororai Simiyu, University of Texas at Tyler
  • Fletcher J. Njororai, University of Texas at Tyler
  • Billystrom Aronya Jivetti
Abstract

Introduction: Physical activity has become an important intervention against overweight and obesity cases in the USA and worldwide. One key aspect of physical activity is walking, which has been identified as a component that can easily be incorporated into one’s lifestyle. Recent studies on physical activity have focused on promoting walking as a health enhancing endeavor. In 2010, the proportion of Texas adults who reported no participation in leisure time activity (26.7%) was significantly higher than the national average (24.4%). However, many Texans, like most Americans, are sedentary. Purpose: This study examined the walkability of the environments in selected counties in east Texas including Wood, Van Zandt and Smith counties. Methods and material: The data was drawn from the Walkscore.com and was based on all the zip codes in the three counties in east Texas. The community capitals were used a framework for analysis. Results: Only three (8.82%) zip codes had walkable scores between 70 and 89; five (14.71%) had scores between 50 and 69; four (11.76%) between 25 and 49 and 22 (64.71%) had a score below 24. Discussion: The vast majority (26, 76.47%) of zip codes are highly dependent on vehicle transport. Conclusions and recommendations: Stakeholders need therefore to focus on causes for the minimal walkability so that practical interventions are generated to enhance the physical activity friendly infrastructure so as to enhance the well-being of the residents in these three east Texas counties.

Description
This article was originally published in the International Journal of Human Sciences, under a Creative Commons 4.0 license.
Publisher
International Journal of Human Sciences
Date of publication
4-1-2015
Language
English
Persistent identifier
http://hdl.handle.net/10950/481
Document Type
Article
Subject Categories
Publisher Citation
Njororai Simiyu, W. W., Njororai, F. J., & Jivetti, B. A. (2015). Walkable scores for selected three east Texas counties: physical activity and policy implications. International Journal of Human Sciences, 12(2), 674–687.
Citation Information
Wycliffe W. Njororai Simiyu, Fletcher J. Njororai and Billystrom Aronya Jivetti. "Walkable scores for selected three east Texas counties: physical activity and policy implications" (2015)
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/wycliffe-njororaisimiyu/21/