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Neighborhood built environment and transport and leisure physical activity: findings using objective exposure and outcome measures in New Zealand.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Evidence of associations between neighborhood built environments and transport-related physical activity (PA) is accumulating, but few studies have investigated associations with leisure-time PA. OBJECTIVE: We investigated associations of five objectively measured characteristics of the neighborhood built environment-destination access, street connectivity, dwelling density, land-use mix and streetscape quality-with residents' self-reported PA (transport, leisure, and walking) and accelerometer-derived measures of PA. METHODS: Using a multicity stratified cluster sampling design, we conducted a cross-sectional survey of 2,033 adults who lived in 48 New Zealand neighborhoods. Multilevel regression modeling, which was adjusted for individual-level (sociodemographic and neighborhood preference) and neighborhood-level (deprivation) confounders, was used to estimate associations of built environment with PA. RESULTS: We found that 1-SD increases in destination access, street connectivity, and dwelling density were associated with any versus no self-reported transport, leisure, or walking PA, with increased odds ranging from 21% [street connectivity with leisure PA, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0%, 47%] to 44% (destination accessibility with walking, 95% CI: 17%, 79%). Among participants who self-reported some PA, a 1-SD increase in street connectivity was associated with a 13% increase in leisure PA (95% CI: 0, 28%). SD increases in destination access, street connectivity, and dwelling density were each associated with 7% increases in accelerometer counts. CONCLUSIONS: Associations of neighborhood destination access, street connectivity, and dwelling density with self-reported and objectively measured PA were moderately strong, indicating the potential to increase PA through changes in neighborhood characteristics.

SUBMITTER: Witten K

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3404665 | biostudies-other | 2012 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Neighborhood built environment and transport and leisure physical activity: findings using objective exposure and outcome measures in New Zealand.

Witten Karen K Blakely Tony T Bagheri Nasser N Badland Hannah H Ivory Vivienne V Pearce Jamie J Mavoa Suzanne S Hinckson Erica E Schofield Grant G

Environmental health perspectives 20120328 7

<h4>Background</h4>Evidence of associations between neighborhood built environments and transport-related physical activity (PA) is accumulating, but few studies have investigated associations with leisure-time PA.<h4>Objective</h4>We investigated associations of five objectively measured characteristics of the neighborhood built environment-destination access, street connectivity, dwelling density, land-use mix and streetscape quality-with residents' self-reported PA (transport, leisure, and wa ...[more]

PMID: 22456536

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Project description:BACKGROUND:Context-free outcome measures, such as overall leisure-time physical activity (LTPA), are habitually applied to study the neighborhood built environment correlates of physical activity. This cross sectional study identifies and empirically tests potential methodological limitations related to the use of context-free measures and discusses how these may help in the interpretation of inconsistent associations between participation in moderate-to-vigorous LTPA and objectively measured neighborhood-level built environment attributes. METHODS:We employ a public participation geographic information system (PPGIS), an advanced participatory mapping method, to study the spatial distribution of moderate-to-vigorous LTPA among adult urban Finnish residents (n 1322). Secondary sources of GIS land-use and sport facility data were used to disaggregate respondent-mapped LTPA by the behavioral context, such as indoor and outdoor sport facilities, green spaces, and other public open spaces. Associations between the use of the identified LTPA settings and a range of objectively measured neighborhood built environment attributes were studied with multilevel logistic regression models. RESULTS:Disaggregated by behavioral context, we observed varied and partly opposite built environment correlates for LTPA. The use of indoor and outdoor sport facilities showed no significant associations with their neighborhood availability, but were significantly associated with personal-level attributes. By contrast, participation in LTPA in green and built public open space shared significant associations with access to and availability of neighborhood green space that persisted after controlling for personal-level covariates. Moreover, neighborhood distances up to 1600 m poorly captured participation in moderate-to-vigorous LTPA, as, on average, 40% of visits were located further from home. However, we found the immediate home environment to be an important LTPA setting for the least active participants. CONCLUSIONS:This study demonstrates that LTPA can be a highly heterogeneous measure regarding both the spatial distribution and the environmental correlates of behavioral contexts. The results show that context-free LTPA outcome measures yield inconsistent associations with built environment exposure variables, challenging the applicability of such measures in designing neighborhood-level built environment interventions.

Project description:There is accumulating evidence supporting the association between neighborhood built environments and adults' physical activity (PA) and sedentary time (ST); however, few studies have investigated these associations in adolescents. A better understanding of the features of the built environment that encourage PA or ST is therefore of critical importance to promote health and wellbeing in adolescents. The aim of this study was to estimate the associations of GIS-determined and perceived walkability components in individual residential buffer zones with accelerometer-assessed moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and ST in adolescents.The Built Environment in Adolescent New Zealanders (BEANZ) study was conducted in two cities (Auckland and Wellington) during the 2013-2014 academic school years. The exposure measures were subjective and objective environmental indices of activity-friendliness using four residential buffers. Road network buffers were calculated around participant's residential addresses using the sausage buffer approach at 250 m, 500 m, 1 km, and 2 km scales. A 25 m radius was used for the buffers. Data were analysed using Generalized Additive Mixed Models in R.Data were analysed from 524 participants (15.78 ± 1.62 years; 45% male). Participants accumulated ~114 min/day of moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) and ~354 min/day of ST during accelerometer wear-time (~828 min/day). The estimated difference in MVPA between participants with the 1st and 3rd quartiles observed values on the composite subjective environmental index of activity-friendliness (perceived land use mix - diversity, street connectivity and aesthetics) was equivalent to ~8 min/day (~56 MVPA min/week) and for the objective environmental index of activity-friendliness (gross residential density and number of parks within 2 km distance from home) was ~6 min of MVPA/day (~45 MVPA min/week). When both indices were entered in a main-effect model, both indices remained significantly correlated with MVPA with sex as a moderator. The predicted difference in sedentary time between those with the minimum and maximum observed values on the subjective index of non-sedentariness was ~20 min/day.The combined assessment of the main effects of subjective and objective indices of activity-friendliness on NZ adolescents' PA and ST showed positive relationships with MVPA for the subjective index only. The subjective index was a significant correlate of PA in both girls and boys, while the objective index was significant only in boys when sex was entered as a moderator. Further research is warranted to understand the relationships of ST with the built environment.

Project description:Built-environment interventions have the potential to provide population-wide effects and the means for a sustained effect on behaviour change. Population-wide effects for adult physical activity have been shown with selected built environment attributes; however, the association between the built environment and adolescent health behaviours is less clear. This New Zealand study is part of an international project across 10 countries (International Physical Activity and the Environment Network-adolescents) that aims to characterise the links between built environment and adolescent health outcomes.An observational, cross-sectional study of the associations between measures of the built environment with physical activity, sedentary behaviour, body size and social connectedness in 1600 New Zealand adolescents aged 12-18 years will be conducted in 2013-2014. Walkability and neighbourhood destination accessibility indices will be objectively measured using Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Physical activity and sedentary behaviours will be objectively measured using accelerometers over seven consecutive days. Body mass index will be calculated as weight divided by squared height. Demographics, socioeconomic status, active commuting behaviours and perceived neighbourhood walkability will be assessed using the Neighbourhood Environment Walkability Scale for Youth and psychosocial indicators. A web-based computer-assisted personal interview tool Visualisation and Evaluation of Route Itineraries, Travel Destinations, and Activity Spaces (VERITAS) and Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers will be used in a subsample of 300 participants. A qualitative research component will explore barriers and facilitators for physical activity in adolescents with respect to the built and social environment in a subsample of 80 participants.The study received ethical approval from the Auckland University of Technology Ethics Committee (12/161). Data will be entered and stored into a secure (password protected) database. Only the named researchers will have access to the data. Data will be stored for 10 years and permanently destroyed thereafter. The results papers will be submitted for publication in peer-reviewed journals.

Dataset Information

Neighborhood built environment and transport and leisure physical activity: findings using objective exposure and outcome measures in New Zealand.

Publications

Neighborhood built environment and transport and leisure physical activity: findings using objective exposure and outcome measures in New Zealand.

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