Residents, especially women, who live in low-income housing in neighborhoods considered unsafe at night are less physically active than those who live in safer areas, a new study from the University of Massachusetts Amherst shows.

The study, which appears in the journal Public Library of Science Medicine, looked at 12 public housing communities metropolitan Boston that participated in a colon cancer prevention and awareness program.

The program promotes physical activity and colorectal cancer screenings in hopes of preventing colon cancer, the second leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States.

According to the study, physical inactivity remains very common among racial and ethnic minorities with low incomes, despite widespread recognition of the benefits of regular exercise.

Perceived neighborhood safety has been suggested as a possible cause of this sedentary behavior since the same groups are also the most likely to rate their neighborhoods as unsafe.

The study suggested that the negative consequences of feeling unsafe in one's neighborhood should be a primary consideration when attempting to improve physical activity in low-income areas.