Abstract
Characteristics of the environment influence health and may promote physical activity. We explored the associations between neighborhood environmental characteristics grouped within five facets (spaces for physical activity, walkability, disturbance, natural environment, and the sociodemographic environment) and objective (‘recorded’) and self-reported (‘reported’) physical activity in adults from UK Biobank. Recorded activity was assessed using wrist-worn accelerometers (2013–2015, n = 65,967) and time spent in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), walking, and walking for pleasure was self-reported (2006–2010, n = 337,822). Associations were assessed using linear and multinomial logistic regression models and data were analyzed in 2017. We found participants living in areas with higher concentrations of air pollution recorded and reported lower levels of physical activity and those in rural areas and more walkable areas had higher levels of both recorded and reported activity. Some associations varied according to the specificity of the outcome, for example, those living in the most deprived areas were less likely to record higher levels of MVPA (upper tertile: RRR: 0.80 95% CI: 0.74, 0.86) but were more likely to report higher levels of walking (upper tertile: RRR: 1.09, 95% CI: 1.06, 1.13). Environmental characteristics have the potential to contribute to different physical activities but interventions which focus on a single environmental attribute or physical activity outcome may not have the greatest benefits.
Highlights
Physical inactivity accounts for 9% of premature mortality worldwide and engaging in regular physical activity reduces the risk of noncommunicable diseases including cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and some cancers (Lee et al, 2012)
It is hypothesized that the environment and social context in which people live is related to physical activity (Sallis et al, 2006)
Environmental data for all exposures of interest was available for 352,755 participants (70.2% of full sample), of whom 65,967 (18.7%) had valid recorded physical activity measures and 337,822 (95.8%) provided information on at least one of the three reported outcomes (Fig. 1)
Summary
Physical inactivity accounts for 9% of premature mortality worldwide and engaging in regular physical activity reduces the risk of noncommunicable diseases including cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and some cancers (Lee et al, 2012). Moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) confers health benefits and allows for comparisons with activity recommendations (World Health Organization, 2010). Activities such as walking could foster social interactions, promote social equity, improve air quality, and lead to more environmentally sustainable communities by displacing car use (GilesCorti et al, 2010; Hunter et al, 2015). The number of studies exploring these associations has increased in the past 20 years with much of the literature focused on micro-level attributes of the physical built environment which may provide spaces for use and improve destination accessibility (Bauman et al, 2012; Giles-Corti et al, 2016; Van Holle et al, 2012)
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