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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Public Health
Sec. Aging and Public Health
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1424975

Exploring the group heterogeneity in the impact of social cohesion on the walking frequency of older adults in China

Provisionally accepted
Jingwen Ma Jingwen Ma 1Wu Li Wu Li 2*
  • 1 School of Public Administration, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, China
  • 2 Faculty of Transportation Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: Walkable neighborhoods are closely related to an increase in walking frequency and the strengthening of social cohesion. These factors, in turn, contribute to lower BMI and other positive health-related outcomes. However, with a rapid increase in aging populations in China and the fact that women are facing more challenges than men as they age, especially mobility challenges because they tend to live longer leading to probabilities to become widowed. Nevertheless, less attention has been paid to understanding the gender difference between these relationships. Methods: Based on a survey of 533 older adults in Dalian, China, this study tried to investigate the intertwined relationship between perceived walkability, social cohesion, walking frequency, and BMI. A Structural Equation Model (SEM) and multiple-group analysis were applied to test the proposed framework. Results: First, results show that gender differences existed among the above interrelationships, and the most substantial gender gap was found in effects of social cohesion on BMI. Second, perceived walkability only has a direct effect (0.149) on walking frequencies for female seniors. Third, although the relationships between perceived walkability and BMI are not directly related in both male and female models, the indirect connection (-0.053) is substituted for female seniors. Besides, the inhibiting effect of walking on BMI, which is -0.511, is also valid for female seniors. Finally, in terms of the role of social cohesion, both the positive impacts of perceived walkability on it (0.225 for males and 0.325 for females) and its promoting effects on walking have been confirmed in male (0.142) and female models (0.103). The negative direct effect of social cohesion on BMI (-0.083) is only confirmed in male seniors. Conclusion: Insights derived from this analysis can help bring forward genderspecific interventions to build a more inclusive walkable and social environment to improve the mobility and physical health of older adults.

    Keywords: perceived walkability, Aging, Body mass index (BMI), Multiple-group analysis, China

    Received: 29 Apr 2024; Accepted: 05 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Ma and Li. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Wu Li, Faculty of Transportation Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.