Violent crime is having direct impact on the amount people are walking
Violent crime in England is having a direct impact on the amount people are walking. These are the findings of a new study , led jointly by researchers at the Universities of Bristol, Imperial College Business School and Monash , that examined the effects of violent crime on the physical activities of nearly a million adults. The Economic and Social Research Council [ESRC] -funded research analysed data on 893, 075 adults in 323 local authority areas in England and mapped this to police recorded violent crime1 offences over a six-year period to determine whether an increase in violent crime affects people's decision to undertake physical activity. The researchers focused on the impact a change in violent crime in the local area where an individual lives. They looked at walking as this is the most common and often only form of exercise adults do, it is important for health and is also most likely to be affected by an individual's security concerns. The team also explored the effects of the 2011 England riots, which led to a sudden increase in crime, on physical activity. After factoring in controls for weather, other socio-demographic factors, and physical features of the local area, the findings revealed an increase in local area violent crime from 25 to 75 per cent led to a reduction of four per cent in the number of days individuals walked for at least 30 minutes over a four-week period.
