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. 2017 Jul 14;14(1):94.
doi: 10.1186/s12966-017-0551-6.

Objectively measured physical environmental neighbourhood factors are not associated with accelerometer-determined total sedentary time in adults

Sofie Compernolle  1 , Katrien De Cocker  2   3 , Joreintje D Mackenbach  4 , Femke Van Nassau  5 , Jeroen Lakerveld  4 , Greet Cardon  2 , Ilse De Bourdeaudhuij  2
Affiliations

Objectively measured physical environmental neighbourhood factors are not associated with accelerometer-determined total sedentary time in adults

Sofie Compernolle et al. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. .

Abstract

Background: The physical neighbourhood environment may influence adults' sedentary behaviour. Yet, most studies examining the association between the physical neighbourhood environment and sedentary behaviour rely on self-reported data of either the physical neighbourhood environment and/or sedentary behaviour. The aim of this study was to investigate the associations between objectively measured physical environmental neighbourhood factors and accelerometer-determined total sedentary time in adults.

Methods: In total, 219 Dutch and 128 Belgian adults (mean age ± SD: 55.8 ± 15.4 years) were recruited between March and August 2014 as part of the European SPOTLIGHT project. Physical environmental neighbourhood factors, grouped into eight domains, i.e. walking, cycling, public transport, aesthetics, land use mix, grocery stores, food outlets and recreational facilities, were assessed using the SPOTLIGHT Virtual Audit Tool. Sedentary time was collected using ActiGraph GT3X+ accelerometers. General linear mixed models were conducted to examine associations between physical environmental neighbourhood factors and total sedentary time.

Results: Participants were sedentary, on average, for 542.9 min/day (SD: 84.3), or 9.1 h/day. None of the examined physical environmental neighbourhood factors were significantly related to total sedentary time.

Conclusions: Our findings do not support associations of objectively measured physical environmental neighbourhood factors with adults' objectively sedentary time in Dutch and Belgian adults. More research on sedentary behaviours in settings such as the home and work setting is needed to examine the influence of more specific physical environmental factors on these context-specific sedentary behaviours.

Keywords: Adults; Built environment; Neighborhood; Sitting time.

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Conflict of interest statement

Ethics approval and consent to participate

All participants provided informed consent before the start of the study. The study was approved by the corresponding local ethics committees of participating countries. In Belgium, the study was approved by the ethics committee of Ghent University Hospital (EC/2013/518), and in The Netherlands by the Medical Ethics Committee of the VU University Medical Center in Amsterdam (2012/314).

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

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