Content area
Abstract
Background
Walking among Latinos in US Micropolitan towns may vary by language spoken.
Methods
In 2011-2012, we collected telephone survey and built environment (BE) data from adults in six towns located within micropolitan counties from two states with sizable Latino populations. We performed mixed-effects logistic regression modeling to examine relationships between ethnicity-language group [Spanish-speaking Latinos (SSLs); English-speaking Latinos (ESLs); and English-speaking non-Latinos (ENLs)] and utilitarian walking and recreational walking, accounting for socio-demographic, lifestyle and BE characteristics.
Results
Low-income SSLs reported higher amounts of utilitarian walking than ENLs (p = 0.007), but utilitarian walking in this group decreased as income increased. SSLs reported lower amounts of recreational walking than ENLs (p = 0.004). ESL-ENL differences were not significant. We identified no statistically significant interactions between ethnicity-language group and BE characteristics.
Discussion
Approaches to increase walking in micropolitan towns with sizable SSL populations may need to account for this group's differences in walking behaviors.
Details
1 Stephenson Cancer Center and Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, USA
2 Department of Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning, College of Architecture, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA
3 Seattle Children's Research Institute, Seattle, WA, USA; Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, University of Washington (UW), Seattle, WA, USA
4 Department of Family and Community Medicine, The Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Lebanon, NH, USA
5 Department of Pediatrics, The Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Lebanon, NH, USA
6 Department of Family Medicine, WWAMI Rural Health Research Center, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
7 Department of Urban Design and Planning, College of Built Environments, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA