Perceived neighborhood environments and leisure-time walking among korean adults: an application of the theory of planned behavior.

Objective: To examine personal, social, and perceived environmental factors related to leisure-time walking behavior among Korean adults using the framework of the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB).

Background: Sedentary lifestyle and physical inactivity contribute to rising obesity rates and chronic diseases among Korean adults. Understanding correlates of walking is necessary to develop effective interventions to promote regular walking.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in 2008 among 424 Korean adults. Participants completed a questionnaire on perceived neighborhood environment, the TPB constructs, and leisure-time walking behavior.

Results: Those who participated in leisure-time walking had more positive perceptions of aesthetics and expressed greater perceived behavioral control (PBC) and intention of walking than nonwalkers. Also, walking correlated with intention and PBC, and perceived crime safety. Intentions were moderately to strongly associated with attitude, PBC, and subjective norm. Integrating TPB constructs and the perceived environment variable (crime safety) resulted in a moderate fit of the data [χ(2)= 2.372, df = 5; p = 0.796; NFI = 0.99; RMSEA = 0.00] with approximately 45.6% variance of intention and 19.4% of the response variance of walking explained. The model showed that perceived safety from crime was not directly related to leisure-time walking, but indirectly predicted walking through the TPB model.

Conclusions: Perceived safety was identified as an important environmental variable among Korean adults, and the TPB offered a good prediction of walking behavior. Identifying individual, social, and neighborhood environmental correlates of walking can help develop policies to promote public health for a more active and healthier community.