Walking on Water—A Natural Experiment of a Population Health Intervention to Promote Physical Activity after the Winter Holidays

Jonathan McGavock, Nicole Brunton, Nika Klaprat, Anders Swanson, Dave Pancoe, Ed Manley, Ashini Weerasinghe, Gillian L. Booth, Kelly Russell, Laura Rosella and Erin Hobin
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Jonathan McGavock: Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, Max Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB R3E 3P4, Canada
Nicole Brunton: Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, Max Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB R3E 3P4, Canada
Nika Klaprat: Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, Max Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB R3E 3P4, Canada
Anders Swanson: Winnipeg Trails Association, Winnipeg, MB R3B 0Y6, Canada
Dave Pancoe: The Forks, Winnipeg, MB R3C 4L9, Canada
Ed Manley: The Bartlett Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis, Faculty of the Built Environment, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK
Ashini Weerasinghe: Public Health Ontario, 480 University Avenue, Toronto, ON M5G 1V2, Canada
Gillian L. Booth: MAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions, St. Michael’s Hospital, Toronto, ON M5B 1W8, Canada
Kelly Russell: Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, Max Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB R3E 3P4, Canada
Laura Rosella: Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5T 3M7, Canada
Erin Hobin: Public Health Ontario, 480 University Avenue, Toronto, ON M5G 1V2, Canada

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 19, 1-13

Abstract: Background : Very few experimental studies exist describing the effect of changes to the built environment and opportunities for physical activity (PA). We examined the impact of an urban trail created on a frozen waterway on visitor counts and PA levels. Methods : We studied a natural experiment in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada that included 374,204 and 237,362 trail users during the 2017/2018 and 2018/2019 winter seasons. The intervention was a 10 km frozen waterway trail lasting 8–10 weeks. The comparator conditions were the time periods immediately before and after the intervention when ~10 kms of land-based trails were accessible to the public. A convenience sample of 466 participants provided directly measured PA while on the frozen waterway. Results : Most trail users were 35 years or older (73%), Caucasian (77%), and had an annual household income >$50,000 (61%). Mean daily trail network visits increased ~four-fold when the frozen waterway was open (median and interquartile range (IQR) = 710 (239–1839) vs. 2897 (1360–5583) visits/day, p < 0.001), compared with when it was closed. Users achieved medians of 3852 steps (IQR: 2574–5496 steps) and 23 min (IQR: 13–37 min) of moderate to vigorous intensity PA (MVPA) per visit, while 37% of users achieved ≥30 min of MVPA. Conclusion : A winter-specific urban trail network on a frozen waterway substantially increased visits to an existing urban trail network and was associated with a meaningful dose of MVPA. Walking on water could nudge populations living in cold climates towards more activity during winter months.

Keywords: sports and exercise medicine; obesity; epidemiology; public health (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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