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Methodology for Establishing a Community-Wide Life Laboratory for Capturing Unobtrusive and Continuous Remote Activity and Health Data
Published on: July 27, 2018
Walking behaviours from the 1965-2003 American Heritage Time Use Study (AHTUS)
Catrine Tudor-Locke1, Hidde P van der Ploeg, Heather R Bowles
1Walking Research Laboratory, Department of Exercise and Wellness, Arizona State University, Mesa, Arizona 85212, USA. Tudor-Locke@asu.edu
The International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity
|September 28, 2007
Summary
This study analyzed time-use data to track walking behaviors in the USA. While walking for exercise increased, dog walking decreased, but methodological inconsistencies limit trend interpretation.
Area of Science:
- Epidemiology
- Public Health
- Behavioral Science
Background:
- The American Heritage Time Use Study (AHTUS) harmonizes historical time-use data from 1965-2003 in the USA.
- Time-use studies monitor societal shifts, including physical activity and lifestyle changes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To describe the compilation of AHTUS data for analyzing walking behaviors over nearly 40 years.
- To assess the utility of time-use survey methods for tracking physical activity trends.
Main Methods:
- Secondary data analysis of the amalgamated AHTUS dataset.
- Age-standardized participation and duration for various walking activities were determined.
- Focus on comparable survey years (1985, 2003) due to methodological inconsistencies.
Main Results:
- Inconsistencies in survey administration and coding across AHTUS surveys limit robust trend analysis.
- Between 1985 and 2003, daily walking for exercise participation rose (2.9% to 5.4%) with increased duration (30 to 45 mins).
- Daily dog walking participation significantly decreased (9.4% to 2.6%) with stable duration (30 mins).
Conclusions:
- Methodological differences across surveys hinder stringent interpretation of walking behavior trends.
- Observed changes in physical activity may be real, due to survey artifacts, or a combination.
- Enhancing public health use of AHTUS requires addressing methodological issues and fostering cross-disciplinary collaboration.
