Abstract
(1) Background: An increase in or at least the sustainment of walking activities across a wide section of the population is a crucial health-related task for Central and East European countries. The aim of this study was to assess the associations between adolescents’ walking activities and various levels of perceived safety of the built environment in differing socio-demographic backgrounds of Poland and the Czech Republic. Furthermore, we aimed to determine major moderators affecting the walking habits of adolescents in areas with different levels of walkability. (2) Methods: The surveys were conducted during the 2008–2009 and 2013–2014 school years in 24 Polish and 35 Czech secondary schools, with a sample of 2001 adolescents. All participants completed the International Physical Activity Questionnaire–Long Form and the NEWS–Abbreviated. Selected students took part in objective weekly monitoring of physical activity (PA). (3) Results: Boys and girls who perceived their neighborhood environment as the safest were significantly more likely to meet the recommendations for leisure-time walking. Adolescents from the safest environment achieved 11,024 steps/day on average, while those from the least safe environment achieved 9686 steps/day. (4) Conclusions: A safe neighborhood environment significantly predicts walking activities among girls. Environmental safety improvement can support the active transport and better use of leisure time PA.
Highlights
Physical activity (PA) has been shown to be an effective preventive factor for the prevalence of type 2 diabetes that has rapidly increased in recent years among adolescents and is a causative factor for preventable deaths [1]
Boys and girls who perceived their neighborhood environment as the safest met the recommendations for leisure-time walking activities, for at least 60 min per day on at least 5 days per week, at significantly higher rates than those who lacked these perceptions of safety
Boys who perceived their neighborhood environment with the highest safety met the recommendations for leisure-time walking activities significantly more than boys perceiving their neighborhood safety as high (χ2 = 7.17; p = 0.007; w = 0.092)
Summary
Physical activity (PA) has been shown to be an effective preventive factor for the prevalence of type 2 diabetes that has rapidly increased in recent years among adolescents and is a causative factor for preventable deaths [1]. 81% of adolescents aged 11–17 years were estimated to be insufficiently physically active in 2010, globally [2], which might be influenced by neighborhood safety [3]. Less physical activity attributable to a perception of the neighborhood environment as being unsafe because of road traffic, stray dogs, and so on has been well documented, especially in adults. A review on correlates of adult PA reported a significant positive association between perceived neighborhood safety and physical activity [4]. Adolescents’ perception of neighborhood safety concerns was not correlated with physical activity [5], which might be limited due to a lack of evidence in this age group. One of the studies on youth living in diverse neighborhoods indicated that levels of youth recreational
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