Sedentariness of College Students Is Negatively Associated with Perceived Neighborhood Greenness at Home, but Not at University

Abstract

Previous studies reported contradictory evidence for associations between perceived greenness and obesity mediated by physical activity, focusing on people's homes or general greenness. Data are lacking in other environments. We studied the association of perceived greenness at home and at university with BMI and physical activity. An online survey collected data from 601 participants, living and studying in and around the city of Graz, Austria; mean age of 24 years. Greenness was assessed using questions on quality of and access to green space; Body mass index (BMI) was derived from self-reported measures; physical activity and sedentariness were measured using the IPAQ questionnaire (short version). On average, BMI was 22.6 (SD = 3.7), physical activity was 63.3 (SD = 51.7) METh/week, and participants spent 5.8 (SD = 4.0) h/day sitting. Regression analyses revealed no associations between perceived greenness and BMI and physical activity for all environments, but a negative association for sedentariness and perceived greenness at home, but not at university. The results indicate a relation between perceived greenness and sedentariness, which differs for the home-and study environment.

Physical Activity in the Daily Life of Adolescents: Factors Affecting Healthy Choices from a Discrete Choice Experiment

“…In fact, the proximity to green and pedestrian zones in urban areas is associated with a higher preference for healthy means of transport such as cycling and walking [ 129 , 130 , 131 ]. Previous research involving university students provided mixed evidence on the association between the perceived greenness of the environment and PA, with a negative association for sedentariness and perceived greenness at home, but not at university [ 132 ]. This confirms that it is key to know the adolescents’ preferences, in addition to the general information available on actual PA and main mode of transport used for the daily activities in adolescence.…”

“…Furthermore, parents are sometimes not comfortable in allowing adolescents to walk or cycle in these contexts because of the perceived danger especially when looking at more deprived areas [ 126 , 134 ]. In this case, policies and incentives for promoting active travel (e.g., walking, cycling) should also be defined at local and regional levels, considering both temporal and spatial dimensions [ 132 , 133 ].…”

Objective and Perceived Neighborhood Greenness of Students Differ in Their Agreement in Home and Study Environments

“…How data was acquired has been described in two previous papers [13,29]. In short, participants were recruited via social media and university-related mail distribution lists.…”

“…Perceived greenness measures were previously described in detail [13]. Measures were obtained from six questions on the accessibility, presence and quality of greenness in both the home and study environments, on a scale of 0 to 5 (very good; good; neither good nor bad; bad; very bad) [33,34].…”

“…Despite the infrastructure for a technologically advanced world, humans need a certain "dose" of nature in their lives for their wellbeing, according to the biophilia hypothesis [1]. A growing body of research shows that neighborhood greenness in cities is an integral component of residents' health; there are positive associations between green space and mental health [7] and physical activity [8][9][10][11][12] as well as negative associations with sedentariness [13] and body mass index (BMI) [14,15].…”