Neighborhood Environments and Physical Activity Among Adults in 11 Countries
Background: Understanding environmental correlates of physical activity can inform policy changes. Surveyswere conducted in 11 countries using the same self-report environmental variables and theInternational Physical Activity Questionnaire, allowing analyses with pooled data. Methods: The participating countries were Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, China (Hong Kong),Japan, Lithuania, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, and the U.S., with a combined sample of11,541 adults living in cities. Samples were reasonably representative, and seasons of data collection were comparable. Participants indicated whether seven environmental attributeswere present in their neighborhood. Outcomes were measures of whether health-relatedguidelines for physical activity were met. Data were collected in 2002–2003 and analyzed in2007. Logistic regression analyses evaluated associations of physical activity with environmentalattributes, adjusted for age, gender, and clustering within country.Results: Five of seven environmental variables were significantly related to meeting physical activityguidelines, ranging from access to low-cost recreation facilities (OR1.16) to sidewalks onmost streets (OR1.47). A graded association was observed, with the most activity–supportive neighborhoods having 100% higher rates of sufficient physical activity comparedto those with no supportive attributes.Conclusions: Results suggest neighborhoods built to support physical activity have a strong potential tocontribute to increased physical activity. Designing neighborhoods to support physicalactivity can now be defined as an international public health issue.(Am J Prev Med 2009;36(6):484–490) © 2009 American Journal of Preventive Medicine