Environmental Audits of Friendliness toward Physical Activity in Three Income Levels

An important research area is the relationship among income status, health, and the environment. This study examined the relationships among income levels, features of the environment and friendliness toward physical activity. We investigated whether low-, middle-, and high-income neighborhoods differ in terms of four environmental characteristics that affect the degree to which an area is conducive to physical activity: population density, land use diversity, street design, and physical disorder in the environment. In a large, urban southwestern county, 30 block groups were randomly selected to represent low-, middle-, and high-income neighborhoods. Using the St. Louis Environmental Checklist Audit, walking audits were conducted and analyzed. The low-income neighborhoods had significantly greater density and land use diversity than the high-income neighborhoods. High- and middle-income neighborhoods had significantly fewer manifestations of physical disorder and incivility than low-income neighborhoods. Features of physical activity-promoting environments were found in each income level neighborhood.