Table 2.
Within and between city differences in physical activity behaviour by dog walking status
| San Diego (n = 276) | Portland (n = 233) | Nashville (n = 296) | Perth (n = 308) | Significant between city comparisons (Dog walkers)2 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Non-dog walker1 (n = 134) Mean (SE) | Dog walker (n = 142) Mean (SE) | Non-dog walker1 (n = 110) Mean (SE) | Dog walker (n = 123) Mean (SE) | Non-dog walker1 (n = 141) Mean (SE) | Dog walker (n = 155) Mean (SE) | Non-dog walker1 (n = 105) Mean (SE) | Dog walker (n = 203) Mean (SE) | p-value | |
| ≥30mins moderate-vigorous physical activity (days/week) | 3.5 (2.5) | 4.3 (2.2)** | 3.2 (2.5) | 4.0 (2.2)* | 2.9 (2.3) | 4.1 (2.2)*** | 2.8 (2.6) | 3.9 (2.6)*** | 0.467 |
| Frequency of neighbourhood walking/week | 2.3 (2.7) | 7.6 (4.0)*** | 2.1 (2.6) | 6.5 (3.8)*** | 1.6 (2.1) | 6.7 (4.4)*** | 1.9 (2.8) | 6.4 (3.8)*** | 0.027 PE < SD |
| Walk in local park (%) | 17.2 | 45.1*** | 12.7 | 42.3*** | 11.3 | 28.4*** | 19.0 | 80.3*** | 0.000 PE > SD, PL, NV |
| Frequency of dog walking/week | - | 6.0 (4.0) | - | 5.1 (3.6) | - | 5.3 (3.9) | - | 5.0 (3.4) | 0.074 |
| Minutes of dog walking/week | - | 108.6 (134.8) | - | 93.5 (106.3) | - | 108.1 (142.9) | - | 92.8 (115.0) | 0.510 |
*p ≤ 0.05; **p ≤ 0.01; ***p ≤ 0.001; 1Reference group; SD San Diego, PL Portland, NV Nashville, PE Perth
1Reference group = Non-dog walker
2Reference group = Perth