Environmental correlates of total and domain-specific sedentary behaviour in young people. The UP&DOWN study

Abstract

This study investigated the associations between the characteristics of the nearby physical environment with the total and domain-specific leisure-time sedentary behaviour (SB) in young people. The study included 1578 youth (9–18 years) from the UP&DOWN study. Total leisure-time SB was objectively-assessed by accelerometers. Participants self-reported the time spent during leisure-time in different domains of SB (i.e. screen-based, educational-based, social-based, and other-based SB). Information regarding the basic characteristics of the house, the perceived neighbourhood environment, the amount of physical activity facilities, equipment and materials attainable at home, and the media equipment available at home and in the own bedroom was collected. Linear mixed models were performed, including school and city as random effects. The availability of yard was related to lower total SB and time spent surfing the Internet in boys, but not in girls. More favourable perceived neighbourhood environment was associated with lower total SB and time spent playing video games in girls, but not in boys. The amount of physical activity materials at home was negatively associated with screen-based SB, while the availability of a computer in the own bedroom was positively related to the time spent surfing the Internet in boys and girls. The number of televisions at home and having a computer in the own bedroom was associated with lower time in educational-based SB in boys and girls, respectively. Increasing the number of PA materials at home and decreasing the number of TVs at home and the availability of a computer in the bedroom could improve SB profiles of youth.