The physical environment and physical activity: moving from ecological associations to intervention evidence

Abstract

Recent interest in the physical environment is reminiscent of the pre-individualist era of 19th century public health, when sweeping environmental changes, particularly around sanitation, hygiene, and food supply produced large scale population health effects.¹ Current interest in the environment and its role in chronic disease prevention has positively influenced the tobacco control agenda, and more recently, been shown to be associated with population obesity, inappropriate nutrition, and physical inactivity rates.