Abstract Background: Residents living in communities experiencing persistent poverty are more prone to obesity than those who do not, and consequently are also at increased risk for developing various chronic conditions, including obesity-related cancers. Physical inactivity is a major risk factor for obesity, and many social, environmental, and structural factors within under-resourced communities create barriers to physical activity, not the least of which is neighborhood crime. The current study aims to investigate how neighborhood dynamics, including perceptions of crime and collective efficacy (social control, social cohesion, and trust), impact physical activity behavior. Methods: This study (Outdoor 44) was completed as a part of the Acres Homes Cancer Prevention Collaboration (Acres Homes CPC), an MD Anderson-led initiative implemented in the context of Be Well CommunitiesTM and funded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) through its first program to address persistent poverty in the context of cancer, that seeks to improve cancer outcomes in the community of Acres Homes. We conducted a neighborhood survey between fall 2024 and spring 2025, which included 109 residents (participants) recruited from various community events. Descriptive statistics were generated to understand avoidance of crime in the context of physical activity. The relationship between neighborhood collective efficacy and sedentary behavior was investigated using Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient. Results: Participants were in their late-50s (M age=58. 9±14. 6 years) and classified as obese on average (M BMI=31. 5±9. 5 kg/m2). Most participants were female (80. 0%), had not completed college (66. 7%), and reported an annual household income 40, 000 (60. 0%). Few participants met physical activity recommendations. Participants reported taking the following measures to be physically active yet avoid crime: participating in indoor physical activities instead of going outdoors (70. 1%), changing the place they walked for recreation or fitness (55. 6%), picking a safer time of day to go outside (60. 7%), and planning to be home before dark when doing outdoor activities (75. 2%). A negative correlation was found between neighborhood collective efficacy and sedentary behavior, r = -0. 22, n = 106, p. 05, indicating that higher levels of neighborhood collective efficacy were associated with lower levels of sedentary behavior. Conversely, a positive correlation was found between crime-related concerns and walking, r =0. 22, n = 96, p. 05, with higher agreement that the neighborhood has a high crime rate associated with more minutes of walking per week. Conclusions: The link between crime perceptions and walking behavior underscores a vital social determinant of health, especially as many residents rely on walking for transportation. Neighborhood-level interventions designed to enhance outdoor safety, safe spaces for physical. Citation Format: Lorna McNeill, Deidra Coleman, Nga Nguyen, Alba Calzada, Crystal Roberson, Birnur Buzcu Guven, Leonetta Taylor, Karen Basen-Engquist, Ruth Rechis. Moving safely: Physical activity in the face of crime abstract. In: Proceedings of the 18th AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities; 2025 Sep 18-21; Baltimore, MD. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2025;34 (9 Suppl): Abstract nr A157.
McNeill et al. (Thu,) studied this question.