WALKING FOR HEALTH & WELLBEING: THE EFFECT OF STEP FREQUENCY
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21837/pm.v22i34.1599Keywords:
Walking, good health, step frequency, neighbourhoodAbstract
Walking as a mode of transport and recreation to get more active and stay fit. People of all ages can benefit from walking, evaluation of earlier research in this field shows that a study of walking specifically among those with different health challenges in Malaysia is lacking. This paper sets out to identified whether individual, environmental and social factors influence walking in neighbourhood, which is the objectives: to examine whether people in a neighbourhood walk during the week, to identify whether people who have health problems walk more or not at all, and to examine the relationship between people’s frequency of walk and their physical wellbeing. Data from 410 adults of between 18 and 60 years of age are analysed using a multiple linear regression analysis technique. Overall, the findings reveal that the respondents regularly walk despite their health status as none of them (0.00%) have assessed their health as being poor to begin with. Nevertheless, there is a significant correlation between self-reported health states and walking (X=22.519, p0.05), and their frequency of walk (X= 22.673, p0.05). The results indicate that 19.40% of the respondents walk regularly on a weekday compared to 21.20% on the weekend only, and 18.20% during both weekday and weekend. This study suggests that the neighbourhood must be safe, and the built environment is conducive and appropriate for proper walking. These factors are pertinent considerations for both housing developers and state policies to implement to initiate and promote more walking for physical wellbeing, recreation as well as for transportation purposes.
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