The role of the built environment in promoting movement and physical activity across the lifespan: Implications for public health

Engaging in regular physical activity (PA) and reducing time spent in sedentary behaviors is critically important to prevent and control non-communicable diseases (NCDs). However, global public health efforts to promote and en -courage maintenance of PA behavior on a population level remains challenging. To address what is now described as a global physical inactivity pandemic, a breadth of research has focused on understanding the relation of built environment characteristics, including aspects of urban design, transportation and land-use planning, to PA behav-ior across multiple domains in life, and subsequently how changes in environmental attributes influence changes in PA patterns in diverse populations and subgroups. This review describes the role the built environment has on improving the promotion and the engagement of PA, particularly in the context of active transportation and leisure time domains of PA. An additional focus will be on the disparities in access to activity-promoting environments and the differential effects of environmental interventions in disadvantaged populations. This paper will further dis-cuss opportunities for public health and policy to advocate for and prioritize the implementation of equitable and effective interventions that aim to expand/improve activity-supportive infrastructures within neighborhoods and communities with the ultimate goal of meaningful population-level increases in PA. (c) 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

The built environment plays a crucial role in improving the promotion and engagement of physical activity, particularly in active transportation and leisure time domains. Disparities exist in access to activity-promoting environments and the differential effects of environmental interventions in disadvantaged populations. Public health and policy should advocate for and prioritize the implementation of equitable and effective interventions to expand/improve activity-supportive infrastructures, aiming for meaningful population-level increases in physical activity.