Does Our Built Environment Impact Our Health Behaviors? — Episode 028

On today's episode of Open Space Radio, we’re joined by Aaron
Hipp, an Associate Professor of Community Health and
Sustainability at NC State University’s Department of Parks,
Recreation and Tourism Management.


Aaron is currently conducting research on topics such as how,
where, and why our public built environments impact health
behaviors such as physical activity and recreation, and the
effect of the environment where we spend most of our time, such
as work, school and sleep, on leisure time physical activity.


On the show, we discuss how, statistically, children and people
of color have the lowest rates of physical activity as compared
to other demographics, and this lack of physical activity has
large implications on the health outcomes of communities of
color. We examine why these disparities in physical activity
exist between demographics, and how parks and improved
accessibility to them can be used to close this gap.


We also take a look at Aaron's work on a study through the
Physical Activity Research Center (PARC), which is focused on
understanding how parks are used by children in communities of
color. The study focused on evaluating park use through
observation, intercept surveys and community surveys. 


Aaron also gives some advice on how a time and resource limited
agency can perform this type of research through:


Not being afraid to move forward

A systematic/purposeful approach

Partnerships/collaborations



Tune in to the episode to find out more!