Does dog-ownership influence seasonal patterns of neighbourhood-based walking among adults? A longitudinal study

BMC Public Health

Research Article

Gavin R McCormack¹  Melanie Rock¹  Parabhdeep Lail¹ 

[1] Population Health Intervention Research Centre, Calgary Institute of Population and Public Health, University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada;

关键词: Physical Activity;    Irritable Bowel Syndrome;    Physical Activity Behaviour;    Postal Questionnaire;    Neighbourhood Walking;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1471-2458-11-148

 received in 2010-11-12, accepted in 2011-03-04,  发布年份 2011

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundIn general dog-owners are more physically active than non-owners, however; it is not known whether dog-ownership can influence seasonal fluctuations in physical activity. This study examines whether dog-ownership influences summer and winter patterns of neighbourhood-based walking among adults living in Calgary, Canada.MethodsA cohort of adults, randomly sampled from the Calgary metropolitan area, completed postal surveys in winter and summer 2008. Both winter and summer versions of the survey included questions on dog-ownership, walking for recreation, and walking for transportation in residential neighbourhoods. Participation in neighbourhood-based walking was compared, among dog-owners and non-owners, and in summer and winter, using general linear modeling. Stability of participation in neighbourhood-based walking across summer and winter among dog-owners and non-owners was also assessed, using logistic regression.ResultsA total of 428 participants participated in the study, of whom 115 indicated owning dogs at the time of both surveys. Dog-owners reported more walking for recreation in their neighbourhoods than did non-owners, both in summer and in winter. Dog-owners were also more likely than non-owners to report participation in walking for recreation in their neighbourhoods, in summer as well as in winter. Dog-owners and non-owners did not differ in the amount of walking that they reported for transportation, either in summer or in winter.ConclusionsBy acting as cues for physical activity, dogs may help their owners remain active across seasons. Policies and programs related to dog-ownership and dog-walking, such as dog-supportive housing and dog-supportive parks, may assist in enhancing population health by promoting physical activity.

【 授权许可】

Unknown   
© Lail et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2011. This article is published under license to BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.