1,993 publications from this institution
This study investigated the variance in sitting, walking, and moderate and vigorous physical activity explained by neighborhood design and recreational environmental variables above and beyond the variance accounted for by individual demographic variables.Cross-sectional analyses of self-reported survey data.A random sample of inhabitants of Ghent, Belgium, aged 18-65 years, was drawn.Five hundred twenty-one adults completed questionnaires (52.1% response rate). The average age of the sample was 41 years, and 48.2% were female.A questionnaire developed to assess neighborhood design and recreational environmental variables with a total of 81 items was administered. The environmental questionnaire showed acceptable to good reliability and acceptable validity. The previously validated International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) was used to quantify physical activity in the past 7 days. Additional demographic information was also obtained.Regression analyses showed that environmental variables were related to all types of physical activity in both sexes. However, the range of variance explained by the models including demographic and environmental variables was low, only 5% to 13%. Minutes of walking and of moderate-intensity activity were related to quality of sidewalks and accessibility of shopping and public transportation. Vigorous physical activity was related to presence of activity supplies in the home and number of convenient activity facilities outside the home.Both neighborhood design and recreational environment variables had small but significant associations with multiple types of physical activity in a sample of Belgian adults.
Purpose The purpose of this study was to evaluate age and gender differences in objectively measured physical activity (PA) in a population-based sample of students in grades 1–12. Methods Participants (185 male, 190 female) wore a CSA 7164 accelerometer for 7 consecutive days. To examine age-related trends, students were grouped as follows: grades 1–3 (N = 90), grades 4–6 (N = 91), grades 7–9 (N = 96), and grades 10–12 (N = 92). Bouts of PA and minutes spent in moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) and vigorous PA (VPA) were examined. Results Daily MVPA and VPA exhibited a significant inverse relationship with grade level, with the largest differences occurring between grades 1–3 and 4–6. Boys were more active than girls; however, for overall PA, the magnitudes of the gender differences were modest. Participation in continuous 20-min bouts of PA was low to nonexistent. Conclusion Our results support the notion that PA declines rapidly during childhood and adolescence and that accelerometers are feasible alternatives to self-report methods in moderately sized population-level surveillance studies.
The purpose of this study was to examine gender and ethnic differences in physical activity in a bi-ethnic cohort of 10 and 11 year-old children. The 228 youth were from low-to-middle socioeconomic status families recruited to participate in the longitudinal San Diego SCAN project (Studies of Children's Activity and Nutrition). Trained assessors administered the 7-day physical activity recall (PAR) to 103 Anglo-American (55 boys, 48 girls) and 125 Mexican-American children (59 boys; 66 girls) on two occasions, approximately six months apart. Two-way ANOVAS (gender x ethnicity) revealed Mexican-American children expended less energy than Anglo children on both week days (p<0.0002) and weekends (p<0.02), had fewer hours weekly of moderate (p<0.02) and hard (p<0.0001) physical activities, and engaged continuously in fewer activities for 15 minutes or more (p<0.006). Boys expended relatively more energy than girls on both week days (p<0.0005) and weekends (p<0.0002) and reported more weekly hours of moderate (p<0.03) and very hard physical activity (p<0.0001). Overall, Mexican American boys were 93.6% as active as Anglo boys, while Anglo girls and Mexican American girls were 93.4%, and 89.6% as active as Anglo boys, respectively. Based on these and other findings, female and Mexican-American youth should be given high priority for physical activity interventions.
No abstract is provided for this article.
Although personal determinants of exercise behavior have been studied extensively, few investigators have examined the influence of the physical environment on exercise habits. A random sample of 2,053 residents of San Diego, CA, were surveyed regarding exercise habits and other variables. A total of 385 exercise facilities in San Diego were classified into categories of either free or pay. After the addresses of respondents and facilities were located on a grid-map and coded, the density of exercise facilities around each respondent's home address was computed. Subjects who reported engaging in three or more exercise sessions per week reported a statistically greater density of pay facilities near their homes than did those who reported no exercise sessions, after controlling for age, education, and income. The finding suggests an association between proximity of exercise facilities and frequency of exercise.
PURPOSE Recent studies have shown the relation of the built environment to physical activity levels. Urban planning and transportation studies demonstrate “walkability” factors, such as residential density, land use mix, and street connectivity, are associated with active transportation. Health researchers have reported connections between active recreation and environmental factors such as access to activity related facilities. This study aimed to investigate the association of environmental factors from both fields with physical activity for multiple purposes METHODS Adults (n=1285) were randomly recruited from neighborhoods in Seattle, WA that varied on walkability and income. Perceived environment was assessed with the validated Neighborhood Environment Walkability Survey. Self-reported minutes during the past week of walking and cycling for transportation and total leisure time activity (walking for recreation and moderate and vigorous leisure time activities) were assessed separately with the validated International Physical Activity Questionnaire. Separate linear regression models investigated the relationship between different built environment characteristics and active recreation or transportation, adjusting for age, gender and education. RESULTS The strongest associations with walking and biking for transportation were with perceived land use mix—access (beta=.26, p <.001), residential density (beta=.23, p <.001), street connectivity (beta=.23, p <.001) and land use mix—diversity (beta=.22, p <.001).The strongest associations with leisure time physical activity were perceived availability of recreation facilities (beta=.15, p <.001), neighborhood aesthetics (beta=.12, p <.001), land use mix–diversity (beta=.10, p <.001) and availability of local conveniences such as stores (beta=.10, p <.001). CONCLUSIONS Different characteristics of the built environment seem to facilitate physical activity for different purposes. Thus, a variety of policy changes may be needed to increase physical activity across several domains. Researchers from multiple fields need to collaborate on studies of the built environment and physical activity.
Ryschon, Timothy W. M.D.; Sallis, James F. Ph.D., FACSM; Freedson, Patty S. Ph.D., FACSM; Baranowski, Tom Ph.D.; Saris, Wim H.M. M.D., Ph.D., FACSM; Wilmore, Jack H. Ph.D., FACSM
Technological advances provide opportunities for automating direct observations of physical activity, which allow for continuous monitoring and feedback. This pilot study evaluated the initial validity of computer vision algorithms for ecological assessment of physical activity. The sample comprised 6630 seconds per camera (three cameras in total) of video capturing up to nine participants engaged in sitting, standing, walking, and jogging in an open outdoor space while wearing accelerometers. Computer vision algorithms were developed to assess the number and proportion of people in sedentary, light, moderate, and vigorous activity, and group-based metabolic equivalents of tasks (MET)-minutes. Means and standard deviations (SD) of bias/difference values, and intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) assessed the criterion validity compared to accelerometry separately for each camera. The number and proportion of participants sedentary and in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) had small biases (within 20% of the criterion mean) and the ICCs were excellent (0.82-0.98). Total MET-minutes were slightly underestimated by 9.3-17.1% and the ICCs were good (0.68-0.79). The standard deviations of the bias estimates were moderate-to-large relative to the means. The computer vision algorithms appeared to have acceptable sample-level validity (i.e., across a sample of time intervals) and are promising for automated ecological assessment of activity in open outdoor settings, but further development and testing is needed before such tools can be used in a diverse range of settings.
Objectives. This study evaluated a neighborhood environment survey and compared the physical activity and weight status of the residents in 2 neighborhoods. Methods. On 2 occasions, 107 adults from neighborhoods with differing “walkability” were selected to complete a survey on their neighborhood environment. Physical activity was assessed by self-report and by accelerometer; height and weight were assessed by self-report. Results. Neighborhood environment characteristics had moderate to high test–retest reliabilities. Residents of high-walkability neighborhoods reported higher residential density, land use mix, street connectivity, aesthetics, and safety. They had more than 70 more minutes of physical activity and had lower obesity prevalence (adjusted for individual demographics) than did residents of low-walkability neighborhoods. Conclusions. The reliability and validity of self-reported neighborhood environment subscales were supported. Neighborhood environment was associated with physical activity and overweight prevalence.
