TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2013//
TI  - A favorable built environment is associated with better physical fitness in European adolescents
JO  - Preventive medicine
A1  - Vanhelst, Jérémy
A1  - Béghin, Laurent
A1  - Salleron, Julia
A1  - Ruiz, Jonatan R.
A1  - Ortega, Francisco B.
A1  - De Bourdeaudhuij, Ilse
A1  - Molnar, Dénes
A1  - Manios, Yannis
A1  - Widhalm, Kurt
A1  - Vicente-Rodriguez, German
A1  - Mauro, Beatrice
A1  - Moreno, Luis A.
A1  - Sjostrom, Michael
A1  - Castillo, Manuel J.
A1  - Gottrand, Frédéric
SP  - 844
EP  - 849
VL  - 57
IS  - 6
N2  - OBJECTIVE: To assess the association between the built environment and physical fitness and physical activity in adolescents. METHODS: The study included 3528 adolescents, aged 12.5-17.5years, who participated in the Healthy Lifestyle in Europe by Nutrition in Adolescence (HELENA) study. The health-related physical fitness components were assessed using the physical fitness tests. Participants wore a uniaxial accelerometer (ActiGraph®) for 7days to measure physical activity. A specific questionnaire addressing the built environment was used. Potential confounding factors including age, gender, body mass index, body composition, pubertal status, smoking, educational level of parents, and socioeconomic status were analyzed using backward stepwise linear regression analysis. RESULTS: Heavy traffic in the neighborhood was the strongest factor negatively associated with both physical fitness and physical activity (both P<0.05). Conversely, a secure bicycling or walking route from home to school was positively associated with various components of physical fitness and physical activity (P<0.01). Outdoor fields and gymnasiums near home were also associated with better physical fitness (P<0.01), but not with physical activity. CONCLUSIONS: A favorable built environment may contribute to health-related physical fitness and physical activity of adolescents and should be considered in future interventions and health promotion strategies.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0091-7435
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2013.09.015
ID  - ref1
ER  -