This project builds on the Washington State Twin Registry, which includes some 8,000 twin pairs participating in a range of medical studies. The use of twins allows researchers to control for genetic and childhood social and environmental factors in ways that are not possible in studies based on singletons. This project is using a twin design and cutting edge measurement tools and spatial data to examine how the built environment is associated with physical activity and eating habits, and how aspects of the built environment affect physical activity and nutrition in its association with body mass index. Researchers at the UW Urban Form Lab are providing and analyzing data on development densities, land uses, transportation systems, and socio-demographics characteristics of areas of interest in Washington state, as well as processing data from accelerometers, GPS, and travel diaries to produce detailed, time-stamped Life Logs. From the Life Logs, physical activity and walking bouts will be identified, as will eating and food shopping episodes. Further processing of these data will include the identification of mobility patterns and activity spaces over the course of 7-day assessment periods. As twins living in the same locations are compared to those living separately, it will be possible to isolate the effects of the built environment on physical activity
Principal Investigators:
Glen E. Duncan, College of Medicine, WSU
Anne Vernez Moudon, Urban Design and Planning, UW
Sponsor: National Institutes of Health
Scheduled completion: March 2024