Perceived Neighborhood Environments and physical activity in adolescents

Mota, Jorge; Almeida, Mariana Dias de; Santos, Maria Paula; Ribeiro, José Carlos

doi:10.1016/j.ypmed.2005.07.012

Cited by 207 publications

(170 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…The TAAG Community Agency Survey, a study designed to assess agency capacity to provide physical activity programs for girls in potential TAAG schools, found that basketball programs at community centers were the most commonly offered and the most popular among girls. 22 Unlike previous studies, which also identify a link between perceived measures of facilities and physical activity in adolescents, 1,23,24 this study demonstrates that the higher levels of nonschool MW-MVPA associated with greater perception of recreational resources are independent of the objective presence of these same facilities. Given this finding, the public health advocates should find ways to improve the perception of recreational sites in the community.…”

Section: Commentcontrasting

confidence: 73%

Comparing Perceived and Objectively Measured Access to Recreational Facilities as Predictors of Physical Activity in Adolescent Girls

et al. 2007

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A number of studies in recent years have identified both self-report and objectively measured accessibility of recreational facilities as important predictors of physical activity in youth. Yet, few studies have: (1) examined the relationship between the number and proximity of objectively measured neighborhood physical activity facilities and respondents_ perceptions and (2) compared objective and self-report measures as predictors of physical activity. This study uses data on 1,367 6th-grade girls who participated in the Trial of Activity for Adolescent Girls (TAAG) to explore these issues. Girls reported whether nine different types of recreational facilities were easily accessible. These facilities included basketball courts, golf courses, martial arts studios, playing fields, tracks, skating rinks, swimming pools, tennis courts, and dance/ gymnastic clubs. Next, geographic information systems (GIS) were used to identify all the parks, schools, and commercial sites for physical activity located within a mile of each girl_s home. These sites were then visited to inventory the types of facilities available. Girls wore accelerometers to measure their weekly minutes of non-school metabolic equivalent weighted moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MW-MVPA). The number of facilities within a half-mile of girls_ homes strongly predicted the perception of easy access to seven out of nine facility types. Both individual facility perceptions and the total number of facilities perceived were associated with increased physical activity. For each additional facility perceived, girls clocked 3% more metabolic equivalent weighted moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (pG0.001). Although girls tended to record 3% more of this kind of physical activity (pG0.05) per basketball court within a mile of their homes, objective facility measures were otherwise unrelated to physical activity. The results from this study suggest that raising the profile of existing facilities may help increase physical activity among adolescent girls.

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Section: Commentcontrasting

confidence: 73%

Comparing Perceived and Objectively Measured Access to Recreational Facilities as Predictors of Physical Activity in Adolescent Girls

et al. 2007

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“…This questionnaire has been used previously, and it shows good test-retest reliability (De Bourdeaudhuij et al;, Mota et al, 2005Alexander et al, 2006;Santos et al, 2009) with Intra-class correlation coefficients ranging from 0.36 to 0.79. From the whole questionnaire, we selected 15 questions with a four-point Likert response scale, from strongly disagree to strongly agree, that address access to meaningful destinations, availability of local infrastructure, aesthetic qualities, street connectivity, access to public transportation, neighborhood safety and social environment.…”

Section: Perceived Neighborhood Featuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

Perceptions of neighborhood environments and childhood obesity: Evidence of harmful gender inequities among Portuguese children

et al. 2013

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This study investigates the links between parents' perceptions of their social and built residential environment and obesity among Portuguese school boys and girls. A total of 1885 children, 952 girls and 933 boys, aged 3.0-10.0 years, were observed. The children's weight and height were measured, and their parents filled out the "Environmental Module" questionnaire of the International Physical Activity Prevalence Study. Age and sex-specific BMI cut-off points were used to define being overweight/obese. Environmental characteristics were combined into 2 composite neighborhood indices that were used as predictors in logistic regression models. Girls living in neighborhoods perceived as having poorly built environmental conditions had increased odds of being obese (OR = 1.47; p<0.005), and girls living in neighborhoods perceived as being unsafe and dangerous had also increased odds of being obese (OR = 1.339; p<0.005). These relationships were not evident for boys.Improvements in the neighborhood environment could be a strategy for tackling the growing epidemic of childhood obesity and can simultaneously contribute to reduce health iniquities across population subgroups. HighlightsWe analyzed the links between environmental perceptions and obesity in boys and girls.We found associations between a poorly social (OR=1.339) and built (OR=1.47) environment and obesity in girls.Girls are more obese, more sedentary, and more influenced by the environment than boys.Differences can reflect perverse, harmful gender inequities in environmental adequacy.

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“…Access to facilities where programs occur may influence their PA, but few studies have investigated this relationship. Investigations of how children perceive their environment have included questions about access to facilities (Sallis et al, 2002;Garcia et al, 1995;Mota et al, 2005) and the perception of access to facilities has been associated with PA in middle school students. (Garcia et al, 1995;Evenson et al, 2006) Two recent studies objectively measured the availability of recreation facilities to youths (GordonLarsen et al, 2006;Norman et al, 2006).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Commercial venues as supports for physical activity in adolescent girls

Dowda

McKenzie

Cohen

et al. 2007

Preventive Medicine

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Objective-The purposes of this study were to describe the types and availability of commercial facilities for physical activity (PA) in six diverse geographic areas (Washington DC and Maryland; South Carolina; Minnesota; Louisiana; Arizona; and California) and to assess the relationship between those facilities and the non-school PA of adolescent girls.Methods-A total of 1556 6th grade girls participating in the Trial of Activity for Adolescent Girls (TAAG) wore accelerometers for 7 days providing 6 days of complete data, completed questionnaires in 2003 and had their residential addresses geocoded. Nearby commercial facilities available to provide PA (i.e. dance studios, youth organizations) within a 1-mile radius of participants' residences were identified and geocoded. The association between the presence of any commercial PA facility and girls' PA was determined using a multi-level design and controlling for demographic characteristics and other potential confounders. Analyses were conducted in 2005-2006. Results-Sixty-eight percent of the girls had at least one commercial PA facility near their homes. Availability and types of commercial PA facilities differed by where participants lived. Girls who lived near one or more commercial PA facilities had higher non-school MET-weighted moderateto-vigorous PA than girls who had none near their homes.Conclusions-The findings suggest that commercial PA facilities are important contributors to the accumulation of PA among adolescent girls.

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Perceived Neighborhood Environments and physical activity in adolescents

Cited by 207 publications

References 8 publications

Comparing Perceived and Objectively Measured Access to Recreational Facilities as Predictors of Physical Activity in Adolescent Girls

Comparing Perceived and Objectively Measured Access to Recreational Facilities as Predictors of Physical Activity in Adolescent Girls

Perceptions of neighborhood environments and childhood obesity: Evidence of harmful gender inequities among Portuguese children

Commercial venues as supports for physical activity in adolescent girls

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