Built environment and physical activity: domain- and activity-specific associations among Brazilian adolescents

Abstract

BackgroundPhysical activity is likely to be determined as a complex interplay between personal, interpersonal, and environmental factors. Studying the built environment involves expanding the focus from the individual perspective to a public health one. Therefore, the objetive of this study was to examine the association between the built environment and objectively-measured physical activity among youth.MethodsCross-sectional analysis of data from of a Brazilian birth cohort during adolescence. Physical activity was measured using accelerometers (GENEActiv) and self-report (International Physical Activity Questionnaire, long version). Participants’ home addresses were geocoded and built environment characteristics such as streets’ pattern and quality, and public open spaces attributes for physical activity practice were evaluated in a 500-m circular buffer surrounding their homes.ResultsA total of 3379 participants were included. Street lighting (β = 2.2; 95%CI: 0.5; 3.9) was positively associated with objectively-measured moderate-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and proportion of paved streets and buffer’s average family income were associated with lower MVPA. Living near the beach increased the odds of leisure-time MVPA practice by 3.3 (95%CI: 1.37; 8.02) times. There was a built environment-by-socioeconomic status (SES) interaction for the associations with commuting physical activity; street lighting [Odds ratio (OR) = 1.22; 95%CI: 1.01; 1.47] and presence of cycle lanes (OR = 1.77; 95%CI: 1.05; 2.96) were positively associated with commuting physical activity only among the intermediate SES tertile.ConclusionBeachfront, street lighting, paved streets and cycle lanes were associated with physical activity patterns. This suggests that infrastructure interventions may influence physical activity levels of Brazilian adolescents.

Public open spaces and physical activity: disparities of resources in Florianópolis

“…The sociodemographic data of the census tracts are from the 2010 census and should be analyzed with caution. However, these estimates are widely used for research purposes 21,28 . Natural areas were not included in the public open space, which may be important for the promotion of active behavior 21 , especially in Florianópolis, since it is an island.…”

“…The dependent variables, presence and quality of physical activity facilities were evaluated by systematic observation of the environment using the Physical Activity Resource Assessment (PARA) instrument 20 , used in the Brazilian context 21 . The instrument assesses the presence of physical activity facilities such as courts, sport fields, outdoor gyms and playgrounds, amenities (picnic tables, bathrooms, benches, lighting, drinking fountains, locker rooms, and dumpsters), and incivilities (broken glass, presence of animals, loose dogs, evidence of alcohol use, graffiti, scattered garbage, signs of vandalism, and high grass).…”

Community and environment for physical activity among young people: a systematic review of the Report Card Brazil 2018

“…The remaining 692 had titles and abstracts suitable for inclusion; 66 articles were further considered for full-text screening. Thus 21 full-text papers [5][6][7][8][9][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30] and 2 national reports 31,32 were included in the systematic review, representing 15 different studies. Exclusion reasons are detailed in Figure 1.…”

“…Most studies (n=8) were conducted in Southern Brazil, especially in the states of Paraná (n=4) 5,6,9,15,16,21,23,26,26 and Rio Grande do Sul (n=4) 22,24,25,29 . Three studies were conducted in states in Northeastern Brazil: Pernambuco (n=2) 7,8,17,18,27 and Sergipe (n=1) 31 states, and three others in São Paulo state 19,20,30 (Southeastern Brazil).…”

O Sistema de Informação Geográfica em pesquisas sobre ambiente, atividade física e saúde

“…O receptor GPS pode ser utilizado para georreferenciar atributos específicos por meio de suas coordenadas. Silva et al 26 , no estudo realizado em Pelotas, Rio Grande Sul, obtiveram informações sobre a localização espacial de ciclovias próximas às residências amostradas em um inquérito com adolescentes, por meio de um receptor GPS modelo Garmin MAP64s. Todavia, por este procedimento requerer visitas a cada ponto de interesse, o seu emprego pode aumentar o tempo e o custo da pesquisa, se houver grandes quantidades de itens a serem georreferenciados.…”