The Metaverse, the Built Environment, and Public Health: Opportunities and Uncertainties.

There has been a growing interest in the "metaverse," and discourse about how this platform may contribute to different fields of science is already beginning to emerge. In this paper, we discuss key opportunities and uncertainties about how a metaverse might contribute to advancing knowledge in the interdisciplinary field of the built environment and public health aimed at reducing noncommunicable diseases.

Sedentary behaviour and sleep quality.

High-quality sleep is an important factor in sustaining health and improving well-being. Previous evidence has demonstrated the positive associations between increased physical activity and reduced sedentary behaviour (SB) with sleep quality. The substitutional relationships between SB, light-intensity physical activity (LPA), and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) need to be considered when examining how a particular behaviour may impact sleep quality.

Associations between neighbourhood street connectivity and sedentary behaviours in Canadian adults: Findings from Alberta's Tomorrow Project.

Evidence suggests that neighbourhood street connectivity is positively associated with physical activity, yet few studies have estimated its associations with sedentary behaviour. We estimated the associations between space syntax derived street integration, a novel measure of street connectivity, and sedentary behaviours among Canadian adults. Data were sourced from a population-based study-Alberta's Tomorrow Project (n = 14,758).

The Design Challenges for Dog Ownership and Dog Walking in Dense Urban Areas: The Case of Japan.

There has been growing interest in the role of pet ownership, particularly dog ownership, in managing noncommunicable diseases. The built environment can act as a facilitator or barrier to owning a dog or dog walking. Nevertheless, limited studies conducted in different geographical contexts have examined how the built environment can influence dog ownership and dog walking.

Sedentary Behavior and Happiness: The Mediation Effects of Social Capital.

Background And Objectives: This study aimed to examine the associations between time spent in 6 different domains of sedentary behavior and happiness and whether social capital mediated such associations among adults and older adults living in a rural area of Japan.

Research Design And Methods: Cross-sectional data from 3,357 participants (mean age: 60 ± 16 years) were used. 6 domains of sedentary behavior, happiness, and social capital were assessed using a self-report questionnaire.

Domain-Specific Active and Sedentary Behaviors in Relation to Workers' Presenteeism and Absenteeism.

Objectives: To examine the associations between domain-specific sedentary and active behaviors and workers' presenteeism and absenteeism in a sample of company employees.

Methods: This study recruited participants (n = 2466) from a nationwide online survey database (Japan, 2019). Participants completed a questionnaire that captured data on relative and absolute presenteeism and absenteeism and domain-specific physical activity and sedentary behaviors.

The relationship between walk score® and perceived walkability in ultrahigh density areas.

Walk Score® is a free web-based tool that provides a walkability score for any given location. A limited number of North American studies have found associations between Walk Score® and perceived built environment attributes, yet it remains unknown whether similar associations exist in Asian countries. The study's objective is to examine the covariate-adjusted correlations between the Walk Score® metric and measures of the perceived built environment in ultrahigh density areas of Japan.

Evidence for urban design and public health policy and practice: Space syntax metrics and neighborhood walking.

Most walkability indices do not capture the topological structure of urban forms. Space syntax models these topological relationships. We estimated associations between the space syntax measure of street integration and walkability (SSW) and neighborhood-specific leisure (LW) and transportation (TW) walking among 4422 Canadian adults.

Walking-friendly built environments and objectively measured physical function in older adults.

Background: Few studies have examined the associations between urban design attributes and older adults' physical function. Especially, it is not well known how built-environment attributes may influence physical function in Asian cities. The aim of this study was to examine associations between objectively measured environmental attributes of walkability and objectively assessed physical function in a sample of Japanese older adults.

Dog ownership and adults' objectively-assessed sedentary behaviour and physical activity.

Evidence suggests a positive effect of dog ownership on physical activity. However, most previous studies used self-reported physical activity measures. Additionally, it is unknown whether owning a dog is associated with adults' sedentary behaviour, an emerging health risk factor.

Built environment correlates of objectively-measured sedentary behaviours in densely-populated areas.

Few studies examine associations between objectively-calculated neighbourhood built environment attributes and objectively-assessed sedentary behaviour in different geographical locations, especially in highly-populated environments. Additionally, no study, to our knowledge, has investigated associations between objective measures of neighbourhood built environment attributes and objectively-assessed sedentary behaviours in middle-aged adults, despite the fact that this is a critical stage of life when age-related functional decline begins. We examined the associations between neighbourhood built environment attributes with the total, and patterns of, objectively-assessed sedentary behaviours in a densely-populated area in Asia.

Associations between the traditional and novel neighbourhood built environment metrics and weight status among Canadian men and women.

Objectives: Neighbourhood characteristics can impact the health of residents. This study investigated associations between objectively derived neighbourhood characteristics, including novel space syntax metrics, and self-reported body mass index (BMI) among Canadian men and women.

Methods: Our study included survey data collected from a random cross-section of adults residing in Calgary, Alberta (n = 1718).

Dog-walking in dense compact areas: The role of neighbourhood built environment.

There is a dearth of evidence about how high-density living may influence dog-walking behaviour. We examined associations between neighbourhood built environment attributes and dog-ownership and dog-walking behaviour in Japan. Data from 1058 participants were used.

Cognitive Function of Elderly Persons in Japanese Neighborhoods: The Role of Street Layout.

Objectives: The aims of this study were to examine (a) associations of two metric and space syntax measures of street layout with the cognitive function of Japanese older adults and (b) the extent to which objectively assessed physical activity mediated such associations.

Methods: Cross-sectional data from 277 older adults who lived in Japan were used. Street layout attributes were objectively calculated for each participant's geocoded home location.

Replacing sedentary time with physical activity: effects on health-related quality of life in older Japanese adults.

Background: The isotemporal substitution (IS) approach can be used to assess the effect of replacing one activity with the equal duration of another activity on relevant outcomes. This study examined the associations of objectively assessed sedentary behavior (SB) and physical activity (PA) with health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in older Japanese adults, using the IS approach.

Methods: Participants were 287 older Japanese adults (aged 65-84 years) who wore accelerometers for at least 7 days.

Walkable Urban Design Attributes and Japanese Older Adults' Body Mass Index: Mediation Effects of Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior.

Purpose: The purposes of this study were to examine associations between objectively measured walkable urban design attributes with Japanese older adults' body mass index (BMI) and to test whether objectively assessed physical activity and sedentary behavior mediated such associations.

Design: Cross-sectional.

Setting: Matsudo City, Chiba Prefecture, Japan.

Cross-sectional associations of sedentary behaviour and physical activity on depression in Japanese older adults: an isotemporal substitution approach.

Objectives: Reducing sedentary behaviour (SB) and increasing physical activity (PA) have been shown to be associated with decreased depression. However, there are yet few studies examining the potential benefits on older adults' depression, when SB is replaced with PA. This study aimed to examine the associations of objectively assessed SB, light-intensity PA (LPA) and moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) with depression among a sample of Japanese older adults, and to explore impacts of substituting SB with PA on older adults' depression.

Physical Activity Environment and Japanese Adults' Body Mass Index.

Evidence about the impacts of the physical activity environment on adults' weight in the context of Asian countries is scarce. Likewise, no study exists in Asia examining whether Walk Score-a free online walkability tool-is related to obesity. This study aimed to examine associations between multiple physical activity environment measures and Walk Score ratings with Japanese adults' body mass index (BMI).

Associations of sedentary behavior and physical activity with older adults' physical function: an isotemporal substitution approach.

Backgrounds: The purpose of this study was to examine, in a sample of Japanese older adults, the associations of objectively-assessed sedentary behavior (SB) and physical activity (PA) with performance-based physical function. The isotemporal substitution (IS) approach was used to model simultaneously the effects of the specific activity being performed and the activity being displaced, in an equal time-exchange manner.

Methods: Among 287 older adults (65-84 years), we used accelerometers to identify the daily average time spent on SB (≤1.

[Cross-sectional association of the number of neighborhood facilities assessed using postal code with objectively measured physical activity: the Saku cohort study].

Objectives The aim of this study was to examine the association between the number of neighborhood facilities that were assessed according to postal code and objectively measured physical activity by using an accelerometer in community-dwelling Japanese people.Methods The participants included 1,274 Japanese people aged 30-84 years from the Saku cohort study. As neighborhood facilities related to physical activity, we extracted information regarding train stations, supermarkets/convenience stores, postal offices/banks, hospitals/clinics, public offices/community centers, cultural facilities/public children's houses, parks, and sports facilities by using each participant's postal code from the online version of the iTownPages directory published by Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT) and the official homepage of the Saku City Government Office.

Individual and environmental factors related to stage of change in exercise behavior: a cross-sectional study of female Japanese undergraduate students.

Background: The purpose of the current study was to examine the association between the level of exercise behavior and individual and environmental factors related to exercise behavior among female Japanese undergraduate students.

Methods: The participants were 2482 female Japanese undergraduate students. Participants' level of exercise behavior was measured by the stage of change to exercise in the transtheoretical model.

Correlation between moderate daily physical activity and neurocognitive variability in healthy elderly people.

Recent studies have reported that moderate physical activity in daily life contributes to maintenance of a proper state of cognitive function in elderly individuals. The present study investigated the validity of correlations between moderate physical activity and cognitive function using more objective and detailed assessments of both physical activity and neurocognitive function. Participants comprised 72 healthy elderly individuals who wore an electronic accelerometer during waking hours for 3 months.

Year-long physical activity and metabolic syndrome in older Japanese adults: cross-sectional data from the Nakanojo Study.

Background: We determined associations between habitual physical activity and metabolic syndrome in elderly persons.

Methods: Pedometer/accelerometers measured step count and activity intensity on a 24-hour basis in 220 free-living Japanese persons 65-84 years old throughout an entire year. At year end, participants were screened for metabolic syndrome (modified criteria of National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III [NCEP-ATP III]).

Genetic factors for ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke in Japanese individuals.

Background And Purpose: Although genetic epidemiologic studies have implicated several genetic variants as risk factors for ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke, the genetic determinants of these conditions remain largely unknown. We performed an association study to identify gene polymorphisms that confer susceptibility to atherothrombotic cerebral infarction, intracerebral hemorrhage, or subarachnoid hemorrhage.

Methods: The study population comprised 3432 unrelated Japanese individuals: 1362 stroke patients (822 with atherothrombotic cerebral infarction, 333 with intracerebral hemorrhage, and 207 with subarachnoid hemorrhage) and 2070 controls.