Although the drivers of rising health inequalities in the UK are likely to be multi-factorial, it is plausible that the local physical environment plays an important role in determining geographical differences in mortality, morbidity and health-related behaviours. This research will examine one pathway that may link the physical environment and health and conduct an empirical analysis of the relationship between the physical environment and physical activity. The project will investigate whether individual aspects of the physical environment exert an influence on individual-level physical activity and whether, when taken together in a composite measure, these aspects have a multiplicative effect that is independent of individual-level socio-demographic characteristics. Measures of environmental deprivation included will consist of both aspects of the environment that may hinder physical activity (for example air pollution) or support physical activity (access to greenspace). Contributing to the evidence base on the physical environment, health behaviours and health outcomes the project will ascertain whether use of a composite measure of environmental deprivation has benefits over and above the analysis of individual environmental features. The project will apply quantitative models using ecological measures of the physical environment and individual survey data of physical activity levels from the Health Survey for England.

Air Pollution data from AEA technology, climate data from met office UK, UVB index from met office UK, Industrial facilities from European Pollutant Emissions Register, Green Space data from Generalised Landuse Database and Corine.