Lail et al. BMC Public Health 2011, 11:148 http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/11/148 R E S E A R C H A R T I C L E Open Access Does dog-ownership influence seasonal patterns of neighbourhood-based walking among adults? A longitudinal study Parabhdeep Lail, Gavin R McCormack* and Melanie Rock Abstract Background: In general dog-owners are more physically active than non-owners, however; it is not known whether dog-ownership can influence seasonal fluctuations in physical activity. This study examines whether dog- ownership influences summer and winter patterns of neighbourhood-based walking among adults living in Calgary, Canada. Methods: A cohort of adults, randomly sampled from the Calgary metropolitan area, completed postal surveys in winter and summer 2008. Both winter and summer versions of the survey included questions on dog-ownership, walking for recreation, and walking for transportation in residential neighbourhoods. Participation in neighbourhood-based walking was compared, among dog-owners and non-owners, and in summer and winter, using general linear modeling. Stability of participation in neighbourhood-based walking across summer and winter among dog-owners and non-owners was also assessed, using logistic regression. Results: A total of 428 participants participated in the study, of whom 115 indicated owning dogs at the time of both surveys. Dog-owners reported more walking for recreation in their neighbourhoods than did non-owners, both in summer and in winter. Dog-owners were also more likely than non-owners to report participation in walking for recreation in their neighbourhoods, in summer as well as in winter. Dog-owners and non-owners did not differ in the amount of walking that they reported for transportation, either in summer or in winter. Conclusions: By acting as cues for physical activity, dogs may help their owners remain active across seasons. Policies and programs related to dog-ownership and dog-walking, such as dog-supportive housing and dog- supportive parks, may assist in enhancing population health by promoting physical activity. Background Participation in regular physical activity is important for the prevention of many chronic diseases, including type 2 diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, obesity, osteoporosis, some cancers, irritable bowel syndrome, dementia and depression [1-5]. Despite these health ben- efits, at least 60% of the global population does not achieve the minimum recommendation of 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity daily [6]. In Canada, only 31% of adults walk more than one hour per week [7], and in the Province of Alberta, 25% of adults report not walking for leisure at least once in the previous three * Correspondence: gmccorma@ucalgary.ca Population Health Intervention Research Centre, Calgary Institute of Population and Public Health, University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada months [8]. The correlates of physical activity include demographic, biological, psychological, social, and physi- cal environmental factors [9-12]. Moreover, physical activity behaviour tends to fluctuate across seasons, espe- cially in countries where extreme differences in seasonal weather patterns are experienced [13-15]. For example, levels of physical activity are significantly lower during colder months particularly in countries that experience extreme weather such as the United States, Canada, Scot- land, The Netherlands, and France [15]. During winter, 64% of Canadians are inactive as compared with 49% in the summer [13]. Extended periods of physical inactivity results in physiological deconditioning and, when accu- mulated over time, could increase the risk of adverse health outcomes [16-18]. © 2011 Lail et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.