The associations of perceived neighborhood disorder and physical activity with obesity among African American adolescents

Akilah Dulin-Keita,Olivia Affuso,Monica L Baskin,Herpreet Kaur Thind

doi:10.1186/1471-2458-13-440

Abstract

BackgroundAccording to recent research studies, the built and socioeconomic contexts of neighborhoods are associated with African American adolescents’ participation in physical activity and obesity status. However, few research efforts have been devoted to understand how African American adolescents’ perceptions of their neighborhood environments may affect physical activity behaviors and obesity status. The objective of the current study was to use a perceived neighborhood disorder conceptual framework to examine whether physical activity mediated the relationship between perceived neighborhood disorder and obesity status among African American adolescents.MethodsThe data were obtained from a cross-sectional study that examined social and cultural barriers and facilitators of physical activity among African American adolescents. The study included a sample of 101 African American adolescents age 12 to 16 years and their parents who were recruited from the Birmingham, Alabama metropolitan area. The primary outcome measure was obesity status which was classified using the International Obesity Task Force cut off points. Moderate-to-vigorous physical activity was assessed via accelerometry. Perceived neighborhood disorder was assessed using the Perceived Neighborhood Disorder Scale. Mediation models were used to examine whether the relationship between neighborhood disorder and obesity status was mediated by physical activity.ResultsPerceived neighborhood disorder was significantly and positively related to obesity status and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity was inversely associated with obesity status. However, there was no evidence to support a significant mediating effect of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity on the relationship between neighborhood disorder and obesity status.ConclusionFuture studies should longitudinally assess perceived neighborhood disorder characteristics and childhood adiposity to examine the timing, extent, and the mechanisms by which perceived neighborhood disorder characteristics increase the risk of obesity.

Highlights

According to recent research studies, the built and socioeconomic contexts of neighborhoods are associated with African American adolescents’ participation in physical activity and obesity status
There were no significant differences between adolescents with missing data and participants included in data analyses in age, sex, socioeconomic status, perceived neighborhood disorder, moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, or Body mass index (BMI), so no imputation was applied
There were no significant differences in total minutes spent in physical activity at any activity level by quartile of perceived neighborhood disorder

Summary

Introduction

According to recent research studies, the built and socioeconomic contexts of neighborhoods are associated with African American adolescents’ participation in physical activity and obesity status. There are age-related declines in physical activity levels among adolescents with peak declines evidenced between 15 to 18 years of age [3,4,5,6] While both national and international guidelines suggest that adolescents engage in a minimum of 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity daily, less than 10 percent of all US adolescents age 12 to 15 years meet this recommendation [2,5,7]. When the physical activity estimates are examined across racial/ethnic groups, the research findings suggest that African American adolescents are unlikely to meet the recommendations for moderate-to-vigorous physical activity [7] and African American adolescents in this age group are more likely to be overweight or obese relative to other racial/ethnic groups [5]. These research findings indicate that African American adolescents’ declines in physical activity levels are consistent with national declines among US adolescents, and indicate that African American adolescents encounter higher levels of obesity

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