Observed Environmental Features and the Physical Activity of Adolescent Males

doi:10.1016/j.amepre.2005.04.002

American Journal of Preventive Medicine

Volume 29, Issue 2, August 2005, Pages 98-104

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2005.04.002 Get rights and content

Background

It has recently been reported that adult physical activity was associated with environmental features. The aim of this study was to determine whether environmental features were associated with physical activity among male adolescents.

Methods

Physical activity levels of 210 Boy Scouts were assessed for 3 days by accelerometry during 2003 and 2004. Mean minutes of sedentary, light, and moderate-to-vigorous intensity activity were calculated. Environmental features within a 400-meter radius of each participant’s home address were assessed by direct observation using the Systematic Pedestrian and Cycling Environmental Scan (SPACES) instrument. Principal component factor analysis reduced the 35 SPACES items to four factors. Hierarchical and spatial regressions were conducted with physical activity as the dependent variable and environmental factors, age, body mass index, and ethnicity as independent variables.

Results

Four factors were obtained: walking/cycling ease, tidiness, sidewalk characteristics, and street access and condition. Sidewalk characteristics were negatively associated with minutes of sedentary behavior while age was positively associated. Sidewalk characteristics were positively associated with minutes of light-intensity physical activity and age negatively associated. No environmental factor correlated with moderate-to-vigorous physical activity.

Conclusions

A sidewalk characteristics factor, composed of sidewalk location, sidewalk material, presence of streetlights, and number and height of trees, was positively associated with light-intensity physical activity among male adolescents.

Introduction

Recent attention has focused on whether physical activity is associated with the environments in which people live.1, 2, 3 Adults living in neighborhoods that were safe clean and free from traffic were more active.⁴ Perceived environmental aesthetics were associated with increased walking among urban Australian adults.⁵ There is a lack of information about the association between environmental factors and the habitual activity levels of adolescents. Although a link has been suggested between self-reported environmental features and activity among adolescents,⁶ environmental perceptions may not be associated with objective measures,⁷ and there is a lack of research using objective data. This study used accelerometry and directly observed environmental features to address this issue among 10- to 14-year-old Texan males.

Section snippets

Participants

Participants were 210 Boy Scouts (aged 10 to 14) recruited from 36 Boy Scout Troops within the greater Houston area during 2003 and 2004. The Baylor College of Medicine’s Institutional Review Board approved this study. Informed consent was obtained for all participants. Participants’ ethnicity, the highest education achieved within the household (an indicator of socioeconomic status), and residence were obtained by parental self-report. Stature was measured to the nearest 0.1 cm using a

Results

Descriptive sample characteristics are shown in Table 1. Mean age of participants was 12.8 years, with a mean BMI of 21.1. Participants engaged in an average of 24.8(±17.6) minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity per day and 137.9(±39.3) minutes of light-intensity physical activity.

The mean percent interobserver agreement across all items was 93%, and >80% for all items included in the environmental factors. The kappa coefficients (ranging from 0.25 to 0.92) were all significant at p

Discussion

The principal component analysis of the SPACES instrument resulted in four factors: walking/cycling ease; tidiness; sidewalk characteristics; and street access and condition. These four factors accounted for 48.8% of the variance, which is comparable to principal component analyses of physical activity psychosocial variables.¹⁸ The factors were derived from Houston data, and may therefore be applicable to other sprawling cities such as Atlanta GA, which have been associated with decreased

Conclusion

The characteristics of sidewalks in adolescent males’ neighborhoods were positively associated with light-intensity physical activity and negatively associated with sedentary activity. This study provides a first insight into the relationship between objectively measured environmental features and adolescent physical activity. Further exploration of these relationships in different populations will more clearly specify these relationships.

What This Study Adds…

Elements of the built environment

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Research articleObserved Environmental Features and the Physical Activity of Adolescent Males

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Introduction

Section snippets

Participants

Results

Discussion

Conclusion

What This Study Adds…

Prev Med

Am J Prev Med

Am J Prev Med

J Clin Epidemiol

Prev Med

Prev Med

Prev Med

Transportation Res

Am J Prev Med

Am J Prev Med

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Am J Health Promot

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Assessing the perceived environment among minimally active adolescent girlsValidity and relations to physical activity outcomes

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Research article
Observed Environmental Features and the Physical Activity of Adolescent Males