Abstract
The prevalence of overweight and obesity has risen rapidly worldwide, and the ongoing obesity pandemic is one of the most severe public health concerns in modern society. The average body mass index (BMI) of people living in Northern Norway has also steadily increased since the late 1970s. This study aimed to understand how individuals' health behavior is associated with the general health behavior of the people in their neighborhood. Using the population-based Tromsø Study, we examined the life course association between average leisure time physical activity at the neighborhood level and the BMI of individuals living in the same neighborhood. We used a longitudinal dataset following 25,604 individuals living in 33 neighborhoods and performed a linear mixed-effects analysis. The results showed that participants living in neighborhoods whose residents were more physically active during their leisure time, were likely to have a significantly lower BMI (-0.9 kg/m², 95% CI -1.5 to -0.4). Also, individuals living in neighborhoods whose residents were doing mainly manual work, had significantly higher BMIs (0.7 kg/m², 95% CI 0.4-1.0). Our results showed a strong association between the average leisure time physical activity level of neighborhood residents and the higher BMI levels of residents of the same neighborhood.
Highlights
Overweight and obesity are on the rise across the world, and their combined effect has emerged as one of the most severe public health issues facing modern society
The average body mass index (BMI) of people living in the same neighborhood throughout the Tromsø Study surveys differed significantly from that of those living in different neighborhoods (Figure 2)
We examined the association between the average leisure time physical activity level of the neighborhood and BMI in a comprehensive longitudinal sample of adult individuals from Northern Norway
Summary
Overweight and obesity are on the rise across the world, and their combined effect has emerged as one of the most severe public health issues facing modern society. One of many factors that influences the pathway to obesity is the relationship between a neighborhood’s socioeconomic conditions and its residents’ risky health behaviors [1]. The imbalance between calorie intake and burning formed by behavioral risk factors such as a poor diet, a sedentary lifestyle, or unhealthy habits is one of the primary causes of a high body mass index (BMI) for both overweight (25 kg/m2 ⩾ BMI < 30 kg/m2) and obesity (BMI ⩾ 30 kg/m2) [2]. The effect of a neighborhood’s physical and social structure on the lives of the residing individuals is considered to be one of these mechanisms. Neighborhood effects refer to various neighborhood circumstances, such as the characteristics of individuals
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