Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2011, 8(2), 579-589; doi:10.3390/ijerph8020579
Article

The Relationships between Weather-Related Factors and Daily Outdoor Physical Activity Counts on an Urban Greenway

Dana Wolff* email and Eugene C. Fitzhughemail
Department of Kinesiology, Recreation, and Sport Studies, The University of Tennessee, 1914 Andy Holt Ave., HPER 303, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 1 January 2011; in revised form: 11 February 2011 / Accepted: 16 February 2011 / Published: 23 February 2011
PDF Full-text Download PDF Full-Text [573 KB, uploaded 23 February 2011 16:40 CET]
Abstract: The purpose of this study was to examine relationships between weather and outdoor physical activity (PA). An online weather source was used to obtain daily max temperature [DMT], precipitation, and wind speed. An infra-red trail counter provided data on daily trail use along a greenway, over a 2-year period. Multiple regression analysis was used to examine associations between PA and weather, while controlling for day of the week and month of the year. The overall regression model explained 77.0% of the variance in daily PA (p < 0.001). DMT (b = 10.5), max temp-squared (b = −4.0), precipitation (b = −70.0), and max wind speed (b = 1.9) contributed significantly. Conclusion: Aggregated daily data can detect relationships between weather and outdoor PA.
Keywords: physical activity; weather; greenway; trail counts; environmental barriers

Article Statistics

Click here to load and display the download statistics.

Cite This Article

MDPI and ACS Style

Wolff, D.; Fitzhugh, E.C. The Relationships between Weather-Related Factors and Daily Outdoor Physical Activity Counts on an Urban Greenway. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2011, 8, 579-589.

AMA Style

Wolff D, Fitzhugh EC. The Relationships between Weather-Related Factors and Daily Outdoor Physical Activity Counts on an Urban Greenway. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2011; 8(2):579-589.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Wolff, Dana; Fitzhugh, Eugene C. 2011. "The Relationships between Weather-Related Factors and Daily Outdoor Physical Activity Counts on an Urban Greenway." Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 8, no. 2: 579-589.

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health EISSN 1660-4601 Published by MDPI AG, Basel, Switzerland RSS E-Mail Table of Contents Alert