Lower youth steps/day values observed at both high and low population density areas: a cross-sectional study in metropolitan Tokyo

Hiroyuki Kikuchi,Catrine Tudor-Locke,Noritoshi Fukushima,Hiroki Sato,Shigeru Inoue,Yuki Hikihara,Shigeho Tanaka,Tomoko Takamiya

doi:10.1186/s12889-018-6028-y

Abstract

BackgroundPhysical activity among children and adolescents (collectively, youth) is important to ensure adult health. Population density is a factor that affects physical activity via various environmental factors. However, the relationship between population density and physical activity among youth is not fully understood, especially in extremely high density area. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between population density and physical activity of youth using pedometer-determined step data.MethodsA total of 13,688 youth between 6 to 15 years of age were identified from the 2011 Tokyo Metropolitan Survey of Physical Fitness, Physical Activity and Lifestyle. Participants were divided into five subgroups according to the population density of their municipality of residence. The population density’s fixed effects on in-school, out-of-school, and daily total step count adjusted for gender and school grade were estimated.ResultsThe lowest (< 2500 people/km2) and highest (> 10,000 people/km2) population density subgroups had significantly lower daily total step count and out-of-school step count than those of the reference population (5000–7500 people/km2). In contrast, in-school step count did not significantly differ according to population density.ConclusionsBoth low population density and also high population density were related to lower step count. Low physical activity in high density areas has not been well documented in previous research. Considering population growth in urbanized area globally, these results suggest the importance of continued research of physical activity determinants in high population density areas.

Highlights

Physical activity among children and adolescents is important to ensure adult health
The daily total step count, which included both in-school and out-of-school step counts, in each population density subgroup is shown by gender (Fig. 2 and Additional file 1: Table S1)
The highest daily total step count was observed among the lower population density subgroup

Summary

Introduction

Physical activity among children and adolescents (collectively, youth) is important to ensure adult health. The health benefits of physical activity and fitness in children and adolescents (collectively, youth) has been well documented [1]. Physical activity in adolescents and adults is known to be influenced by environmental factors [3, 4]. Multiple studies have evaluated the relationship between environmental factors and youth physical activity, and several correlates have been identified [5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13]. Ding et al reported that residential density (the number of dwellings divided by the land area) and land-use mix had the strongest influence on physical activity [10]. Some other studies reported that high residential or population densities (the number of people divided by the land area)

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