Elsevier

Health & Place

Volume 18, Issue 1, January 2012, Pages 46-54
Health & Place

A study of community design, greenness, and physical activity in children using satellite, GPS and accelerometer data

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2011.09.003Get rights and content
Under a Creative Commons license
open access

Abstract

This study examined relationships between greenness exposure and free-living physical activity behavior of children in smart growth and conventionally designed communities. Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) was used to quantify children's (n=208) greenness exposure at 30-s epoch accelerometer and GPS data points. A generalized linear mixed model with a kernel density smoothing term for addressing spatial autocorrelation was fit to analyze residential neighborhood activity data. Excluding activity at home and during school-hours, an epoch-level analysis found momentary greenness exposure was positively associated with the likelihood of contemporaneous moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). This association was stronger for smart growth residents who experienced a 39% increase in odds of MVPA for a 10th to 90th percentile increase in exposure to greenness (OR=1.39, 95% CI 1.36–1.44). An individual-level analysis found children who experienced >20 min of daily exposure to greener spaces (>90th percentile) engaged in nearly 5 times the daily rate of MVPA of children with nearly zero daily exposure to greener spaces (95% CI 3.09–7.20).

Research Highlights

► We examine relationships between greenness exposure and children's physical activity. ► We analyze GPS, accelerometer, and NDVI data, and address spatial autocorrelation. ► Greenness exposure is positively associated with moderate-vigorous physical activity. ► Greenness effect is stronger for smart growth vs. conventional community residents

Keywords

Physical activity
GPS
Greenspace
Built environment
Smart growth
Obesity

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