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Countrywide natural experiment links built environment to physical activity
By analysing the smartphone data of 2,112,288 participants, in particular observing and comparing the activity of the same individual in two different environments, we find that increases in the walkability of environments result in increases in daily physical activity, providing evidence of the importance of the built environment on physical health.
However, previous studies on the built environment and physical activity have led to mixed findings, possibly due to methodological limitations such as small cohorts, over-reliance on self-reported measures and cross-sectional designs 5, 7, 9, 10, 11. Our findings suggest that designing built environments to be more activity-friendly could have significant effects on the physical activity of large populations, and serve as a powerful complement to interventions that focus on changing behaviour at the individual level. The quality of the prospective device-collected evidence and consistency of findings across numerous cities, demographic groups and relocation-related walkability differentials highlight the fundamental importance of the urban built environment in improving physical activity and health.
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