Abstract
Even though physical activity and sedentary behaviour are two distinct behaviours, their interdependent relationship needs to be studied in the same environment. This study examines the influence of urban design, neighbourhood built and social environment, and household and individual factors on the interdependent relationship between objectively measured physical activity and sedentary behaviour in children in the Canadian city of Saskatoon. Saskatoon’s built environment was assessed by two validated observation tools. Neighbourhood socioeconomic variables were derived from 2006 Statistics Canada Census and 2010 G5 Census projections. A questionnaire was administered to 10–14 year old children to collect individual and household data, followed by accelerometry to collect physical activity and sedentary behaviour data. Multilevel logistic regression models were developed to understand the interrelationship between physical activity and sedentary behaviour in the context of diverse environmental exposures. A complex set of factors including denser built environment, positive peer relationships and consistent parental support influenced the interrelationship between physical activity and sedentary behaviour. In developing interventions to facilitate active living, it is not only imperative to delineate pathways through which diverse environmental exposures influence physical activity and sedentary behaviour, but also to account for the interrelationship between physical activity and sedentary behaviour.
Highlights
The benefits of physical activity (PA) have been well established, and, independent of PA, sedentary behaviour (SB) has emerged as an important factor that influences a wide range of health outcomes [1,2,3]
Active living research is an inter-disciplinary field of study that focuses on the influence of multilevel environmental exposures on PA and SB [6,7]
It was clear that irrespective of the amount of MVPA and LPA accumulation, all children were sedentary for most of the day. This finding was reiterated when children’s MVPA and SB was categorized into weekday and weekend day accumulation, where boys and girls of all age groups were sedentary for most part of the day on both weekdays and weekends
Summary
The benefits of physical activity (PA) have been well established, and, independent of PA, sedentary behaviour (SB) has emerged as an important factor that influences a wide range of health outcomes [1,2,3]. Despite this evidence, physical inactivity has reached pandemic levels [4], with the majority of children not accumulating recommended levels of PA [5]. Lower PA and SB during weekends could be the result of differential environmental exposure between weekdays and weekend days, and could influence overall PA and SB (weekdays plus weekend days)
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