SHIFT: Study of Health In Families in Transition:
A Multi-Site Pilot Study

Background
Integrating walking and bicycling into the daily travel routines of Americans is a practical way to attain the health benefits of regular physical activity. Walking and cycling in place of driving also help alleviate traffic congestion, save energy, reduce air and noise pollution, conserve land, and produce various other environmental benefits. Enhancing community environments to support safe walking and bicycling serve as a promising approach to increase physical activity and help the environment. However, nearly all research to date uses cross-sectional study designs that limit understanding about the causal relationship between the built environment and health-related outcomes. Therefore a team of researchers from universities across the country will compare changes in physical activity levels, eating behavior, and body mass index among children and adults who move into newly constructed, neo-traditional neighborhoods† and those who move into newly constructed conventional neighborhoods.‡

Research Aims

• Examine the feasibility of collecting pilot data to study the effect of moving to neo-traditional and conventional neighborhoods on families’ eating and physical activity behaviors.
• Demonstrate the feasibility of working with developers and builders to obtain relevant outcome and exposure data related to physical activity, eating behavior, and obesity among families moving into the target neighborhoods.

Methods
Families will be recruited for the study before and after they move to either a newly constructed conventional neighborhood or a newly-constructed neo-traditional neighborhood. These neighborhoods have been selected from diverse areas across the country including St. Louis, MO, San Diego, CA, Sacramento, CA, Denver, CO and Atlanta, GA. Instruments and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) data bases will be developed for assessing outcome and exposure data related to physical activity behavior and eating behavior among adults and children. In addition, observations of the food environment in a sample of stores and restaurants will be collected in pre- and post-move neighborhoods.

Funding
This study is funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

For more information contact: Cheryl Carnoske, RD, Saint Louis University School of Public Health, 3545 Lafayette Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63104; 314.977.8255; carnoske@slu.edu

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

†Neo-traditional neighborhoods are compact communities designed to encourage bicycling and walking for short trips by providing sidewalks and destinations close to home and work . The grid-like street networks promote connectivity and short walking distances.

‡Conventional neighborhoods tend to segregate commercial and residential land uses. Blocks and streets are often wide and long, generating higher speed traffic, particularly on commercial streets. The street networks often involve cul-de-sacs and a hierarchical system in which minor streets feed into collector streets which then funnel into large arterials.