Abstract
The physical activity practice is highlighted as a strategy to health promotion and to avoid chronic diseases. In addition to individual factors, environmental characteristics in which people live, may offer opportunities or barriers in adopting healthy habits and this is related to the physical activity (PA) practice among individuals. The aim of this study is to investigate the associations between neighborhood environment and leisure-time physical activity in adults. This is a cross-sectional study, developed using the database of Surveillance System for Risk and Protective Factors for Chronic Diseases by Telephone Survey (VIGITEL 2008/2010) of Belo Horizonte, Brazil. Individuals with the habit of practicing PA for at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity PA or at least 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity PA throughout the week in leisure time were classified as active in leisure time. To characterize the built and social environment we used georeferenced data of public and private places for physical activity, population density, residential density, homicide rate and total income of the coverage area of the basic health units. The covered area of the basic health units was used as context unit. For data analysis, we used multilevel logistic regression. The study included 5779 adults, 58.77% female. There was variability of physical activity in leisure time between area covered by the basic health units (Median Odds ratio = 1.30). After adjusting for individual characteristics, the increase of density of private places for physical activity (Odds ratios—OR = 1.31; 95% confidence interval—95% CI: 1.15 to 1.48) and the smaller homicide rate (OR = 0.82; IC95%: 0.70 to 0.96) in the neighborhood increased physical activity in leisure time. The evidence of this study shows that neighborhood environment may influence the physical activity practice in leisure time and should be considered in future interventions and health promotion strategies.
Highlights
Regular physical activity (PA) is essential for disease prevention, non-communicable chronic diseases (NCDs); health promotion; quality of life; and reduced mortality[1,2].According to 2010 Global Burden of Disease (GBD 2010) study data, physical inactivity and insufficient PA accounted for approximately 3.2 million deaths and 2.8% of disability-Adjusted Life Year (DALY)[3].The beneficial effects of PA are well documented in the scientific literature; the prevalence of activity among individuals remains low, especially during leisure time, in both developed and developing countries[4].For decades, research has focused on assessing individual characteristics as determinants of PA
Increasing attention has been paid to ecological PA models, in which the assumption is that the environments in which people live are important for promoting healthy habits, as they may offer opportunities or barriers to PA, and that this influences can be different for each PA domains [5]
Among 148 Coverage Areas of Basic Health Units (CABHUs), the prevalence of leisure time physical activity (LTPA) varied from 0 to 75%
Summary
Regular physical activity (PA) is essential for disease prevention, non-communicable chronic diseases (NCDs); health promotion; quality of life; and reduced mortality[1,2].According to 2010 Global Burden of Disease (GBD 2010) study data, physical inactivity and insufficient PA accounted for approximately 3.2 million deaths (range, 2.7–3.7 million) and 2.8% (range, 2.4%–3.2%) of disability-Adjusted Life Year (DALY)[3].The beneficial effects of PA are well documented in the scientific literature; the prevalence of activity among individuals remains low, especially during leisure time, in both developed and developing countries[4].For decades, research has focused on assessing individual characteristics as determinants of PA. Regular physical activity (PA) is essential for disease prevention, non-communicable chronic diseases (NCDs); health promotion; quality of life; and reduced mortality[1,2]. According to 2010 Global Burden of Disease (GBD 2010) study data, physical inactivity and insufficient PA accounted for approximately 3.2 million deaths (range, 2.7–3.7 million) and 2.8% (range, 2.4%–3.2%) of disability-Adjusted Life Year (DALY)[3]. Interventions addressing individual factors explain much of PA practice, but are insufficient to increase PA at population levels. Increasing attention has been paid to ecological PA models, in which the assumption is that the environments in which people live are important for promoting healthy habits, as they may offer opportunities or barriers to PA, and that this influences can be different for each PA domains [5]
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