Walking, hiking trails may encourage exercise

New York - Making regular use of neighborhood trails designed for walking, hiking, or biking may help in meeting recommended physical activity levels, new study findings suggest.

In the study, adults who frequently used trails in their community were much more likely to also report regular physical activity than those who did not use trails.

"The development of community walking trails may facilitate physical activity by reducing barriers related to convenience and accessibility," writes Dr. John Librett, of the University of Utah, and his co-authors in the

American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

Increasing research suggests that the physical activity level of a population can be influenced by the environmental design of their community. Other research shows that people's activity levels increase when walking trails, cycling trails or other places to engage in physical activity are created or made easier to access.

To further investigate, Librett and his colleagues analyzed survey responses from 3,717 adults across the country. They were asked about their physical activity level, how often they used walking, biking or hiking trails and the extent to which they supported municipal policies that favored the development of trails.

Most men and women said they rarely or never used a trail. However, 23 percent of women and 25 percent of men said they used a trail at least once a week, the researchers report.

More than a third (34 percent) of survey participants who were regularly active also said they used a trail at least once a week, study findings indicate. In fact, these regular exercisers were more than twice as likely to use trails as those who were classified as inactive.

Almost half (44 percent) of adults who did not use trails said they would support the creation of expanded public spaces for people to exercise. What's more, 36 percent of those who reported no use of trails reported that they were willing to pay taxes to build more parks and trails in their community.

The investigators say their findings support the idea of looking into "whether newly built trails promote physical activity in previously inactive people." -- Reuters Limited

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