主要研究 今天

Pregnant women residing in walkable communities not only engage in more physical activity but are also more likely to experience favorable birth outcomes, 根据澳门葡京网赌游戏教授共同撰写的研究 凯伦·康威.

的 研究, 发表在8月份的《澳门葡京网赌游戏》杂志上, found that expectant mothers in more walkable counties tend to engage in more walking and exercise. 另外, 他们不太容易经历早产, 低出生体重, 妊娠期糖尿病和妊娠期高血压. 令人惊讶的是, 然而, the study did not establish a clear connection between walking and its impact on gestational weight gain or macrosomia (high birth weight).

康威是主要研究的经济学教授 保罗经济与商业学院, 和她的合著者Andrea Menclova, 坎特伯雷大学经济学副教授, undertook the study to see if there was a causal relationship between walkability and pregnancy outcomes. 

“卫生经济学有一个巨大的领域, where economic theory and empirical tools are used to analyze factors and policies that affect health outcomes, 包括怀孕期间和怀孕后,康威说:“一项政策干预是改善建筑环境. Our study helps provide information regarding the possible benefits of such an intervention and so can inform whether such interventions may be cost-effective.”

进入研究, the 研究ers anticipated that their main finding would be that walking would help curb gestational weight gain or macrosomia. 虽然没有建立这种联系, Conway says that it makes sense in hindsight that walking by itself is probably not going to prevent weight gain.

然而, the study shows that walking more likely leads to a higher level of overall health, 哪一个可以带来更广泛的好结果, 包括减少常见的妊娠并发症.

“妊娠期糖尿病是一个日益严重的问题. 低出生体重, 早产也是一个问题, 他们只是有更多的并发症,康威说. “Even though our primary avenue didn’t pan out, the outcomes we did find are just as important. 在某种程度上, 谁会在意妊娠期体重增加呢, 在一天结束的时候, 妈妈和孩子的身体都好了?”

在研究中, the 研究ers combined walkability measures created by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with detailed individual-level data on physical activity from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) and pregnancy outcomes from the National Vital Statistics Natality Detail Files (NDF), 分别. 

通过他们的分析, they found that a 10-point increase in the walkability index — equivalent to transitioning from the "least walkable" to the "most walkable" category — is associated with a more than 70-minute increase in weekly exercise among pregnant women. 同样的更改结果是0.足月分娩的可能性会增加8个百分点，也就是0.胎龄延长07周, a 27g increase in birth weight and a reduction in the likelihood of gestational diabetes and hypertension by 1.5和0.7个百分点(相当于27%和16%).

Conway acknowledged that walking isn’t the sole benefit of living in a walkable community, and pregnant women likely also benefit from more time spent outdoors and increased social interaction.

“你可能会认为步行对健康有很多影响, 除了让你多走路. 如果更适合步行, 多出去走走, 你和邻居互动, all of those types of social capital and intrinsic activities could lead to better health,她说。.

康威和门洛瓦, 她在保罗学院获得了硕士和博士学位, have previously collaborated on 研究 regarding maternal outcomes and were both intrigued by the measure of walkability because walking is the main source of exercise for pregnant women, 而可步行性这个指标并没有受到经济学家的太多关注.

Conway believes this study may just be scratching the surface of potential 研究 into walkable communities and health outcomes and is interested in doing additional studies.

“我认为还有很多工作要做，”她说. “I think a lot of our health woes in this country are a function of the built infrastructure. 许多地区没有人行道，道路繁忙，是多么不适合步行. 就我个人而言，这是我强烈的感受.”