Office workers –

Sedentary by Practice:

How can we integrate physical activity

as part of daily routines at work

K. Meghan Wieters, AICP, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor – University of Oklahoma

Illustrate how the built environment near the work

place can impact sedentary behavior for office

workers.

Highlight opportunities for office workers to increase daily

activity through daily routines or daily transportation needs.

Discuss how planning for the built environment near work sites is

as essential to promoting physical activity as it is for residential

neighborhoods.

• Opportunities to walk near the office or worksite provide

choices for integrated lifestyle physical activity.

Objectives

Why worry about office workers?

Obesity 12% in 1991 over 35% in 2010 (Freid 2003,

CDC NHANES, 2012)

Walk trips 10.3% 1960 2.9% in 2003 (Pucher 2003)

42.6% of U.S. in sedentary occupations (Brownson 2005 )

60% of our waking hours are at the workplace (Batt 2009)

Sitting time at office based jobs (Hallowell 2005, Truant 2005, Brown

2004)

Part of corporate culture

Correlated with overweight and obesity

Walk less than active occupational workers

Assessing current land use patterns and

design

Planning for improved built environments that

are health-supportive or promote physical

activity

How does city planning fit into

the public health equation?

Conceptual Framework

Walking as a

part of daily

routines for

office workers

Organizational

Factors

Personal

Factors

Social

and

Cultural

Factors

Built

Environment

Factors

Within work site

Organization Support

Promote or allow walking meetings

Promote or allow employees breaks to walk, stretch

Design aspects of building

Are the stairs easy to locate? Are the stairs comfortable and safe?

Are there features that promote interaction at appropriate times in

the day?

Are there spaces where employees could exercise or stretch?

On site – are there walking paths around the building for short

walks?

What elements within and surrounding the

work site we should be concerned about?

Organizational

Factors

Surrounding the work site

Land use

Destinations to fulfill various needs or activities

Distance (actual and perceived)

Built Environment

Consistent and adequate sidewalks

Shade/ weather protection

Design aspects

Safety (actual and perceived)

What elements within and surrounding the

work site we should be concerned about?

Built

Environment

Factors

Spatial analysis

Are there at least some destinations

available to walk to?

What is the distance to the nearest

potentially desired destination?

Is there adequate infrastructure to go from

A to B?

Comparing urban & suburban

built environments

Built Environment

What are the destinations

within a 1-5 minute walk?

What are the destinations

within a 1-5 minute walk?

Using spatial analysis

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Walkable and Bikable Communities Analyst

(WBC Analyst)

So does being an office worker

in an urban versus a suburban

built environment matter?

More likely to make 3 + walking trips per day

Higher pedestrian step count daily

Longer duration walking (more minutes) when

they walk

Urban Office workers

May need more social support to overcome built

environment

Perceive more built environment barriers which is

connected to reduced amounts of walking

Walking CAN and DOES occur IN SPITE of the built

environment

We can do better for both types of built environments!

Suburban Office Workers

URBAN Office workers:

Bookstores, Banks, and Food/Restaurants – influenced # of

walking trips or walking duration

Dry Cleaner – increased step count ~1,000 steps

Convenience Store – increased step count ~2,400 steps

SUBURBAN Office workers:

A park, bookstore, café, visually interesting architecture –

influenced # of walking trips or walking duration

Café / Coffee shop – increased step count ~1,500 steps

Land use and

Built Environment Factors

What can you & I do?

What land use destinations are available

now?

What could be planned for and supported for

the future near office sites?

What can wellness programs include related

to connections with the built environment?

Signage

Employers involvement in

encouraging new destinations within

walking distance of work site.

Employer/supervisor emails

identifying good times in the work

week to walk

Maps to locations within a 5 minute

walk

Peers sharing information about

local businesses

What are options office workers to

improve their amount of physical activity?

Signage

Employers involvement in

encouraging new destinations within

walking distance of work site.

Employer/supervisor emails

identifying good times in the work

week to walk

Maps to locations within a 5 minute

walk

Peers sharing information about

local businesses

What are options office workers to

improve their amount of physical activity?

What are the destinations

within a 1-5 minute walk?

What are options office workers to

improve their amount of physical activity?

http://smallbizbee.com/index/2011/07/20/5-most-unusual-office-desks/

What are options office workers to

improve their amount of physical activity?

http://smallbizbee.com/index/2011/07/20/5-most-unusual-office-desks/

Walking meetings

Pedometers, heart rate monitors

10 minute office oriented exercise

videos

What are options office workers to

improve their amount of physical activity?

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Tracy A. Woodward / The Washington Post

Walking meetings

Pedometers, heart rate monitors

10 minute office oriented exercise

videos

What are options office workers to

improve their amount of physical activity?

http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2012-02-14/

Tracy A. Woodward / The Washington Post

For more information or follow-up on today’s talk:

K. Meghan Wieters, AICP, Ph.D.

University of Oklahoma

Regional & City Planning

kmeghanwieters@ou.edu

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