Abstract
Previous studies have investigated the potential role of neighborhood walkability in reducing sedentary behavior. However, the majority of this research has been conducted in adults and Western developed countries. The purpose of the present study was to examine associations of neighborhood environmental attributes with sedentary time among older adults in Nigeria. Data from 353 randomly-selected community-dwelling older adults (60 years and above) in Maiduguri, Nigeria were analyzed. Perceived attributes of neighborhood environments and self-reported sedentary time were assessed using Nigerian-validated and reliable measures. Outcomes were weekly minutes of total sedentary time, minutes of sitting on a typical weekday, and minutes of sitting on a typical weekend day. In multivariate regression analyses, higher walkability index, proximity to destinations, access to services, traffic safety, and safety from crime were associated with less total sedentary time and sedentary time on both a weekday and a weekend day. Moderation analysis showed that only in men was higher walking infrastructure and safety found to be associated with less sedentary time, and higher street connectivity was associated with more sedentary time. The findings suggest that improving neighborhood walkability may be a mechanism for reducing sedentary time among older adults in Nigeria.
Highlights
The global population of older adults has increased substantially in recent years and is expected to double by 2050 when it is projected to reach about 2 billion [1]
The city consists of the inner city and Government Reserve Areas (GRA) or new layout areas that have a diversity of housing types, land use mix, and access and street connectivity
Compared to the few previous studies of older adults conducted in high-income countries [21,22,23], we found more consistent associations of neighborhood environmental attributes with sedentary time among older Nigerian adults
Summary
The global population of older adults (aged 60 years and above) has increased substantially in recent years and is expected to double by 2050 when it is projected to reach about 2 billion [1]. The number of older adults is expected to grow fastest in Africa, where it is projected to increase more than threefold, from 69 to 226 million between the years 2017 and 2050 [2]. Reducing population levels of physical inactivity and sedentary behavior is one of the recommended strategies for stemming the growing epidemics of NCDs worldwide [4]. Sedentary time (too much sitting), which is distinct from physical inactivity (too little physical activity) [6], is highly prevalent among older adults [7,8,9] and is a strong risk factor for many NCDs and
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