Amenities Key to Walking, Fitness

"Looking at data from 11,541 survey participants in 11 countries, which included the United States Lithuania, Brazil, Sweden and Japan, researchers from San Diego State University found a strong correlation between sidewalks and exercise.

"Our study had a great deal of variation in neighborhoods," lead author James Sallis, Ph.D., a professor at the San Diego State University, said in a statement. "We found that amenities were strongly related to exercise levels, even in this group of culturally very diverse countries."

When Sallis compared neighborhoods that had activity-friendly amenities to those that didn't, he found that people who lived in neighborhoods with options for activities had a better higher chance of getting enough exercise."