Despite recognition of the important influence of environmental determinants on physical
activity patterns, minimal empirical research has been done to assess the impact of
environmental/contextual determinants of physical activity. This article aims to investigate
environmental and sociodemographic determinants of physical activity and inactivity
patterns among subpopulations of US adolescents. We define environmental determinants
as modifiable factors in the physical environment that impose a direct influence on
the opportunity to engage in physical activity. The present research examines environmental
and sociodemographic determinants of physical activity and inactivity with the implication
that these findings can point toward societal-level intervention strategies for increasing
physical activity and decreasing inactivity among adolescents.
The study population consists of nationally representative data from the 1996 National
Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health on 17 766 US adolescents enrolled in US middle
and high schools (including 3933 non-Hispanic blacks, 3148 Hispanics, and 1337 Asians).
Hours/week of inactivity (TV/video viewing and video/computer games) and times/week
of moderate to vigorous physical activity were collected by questionnaire. Outcome
variables were moderate to vigorous physical activity and inactivity, which were broken
into categories (physical activity: 0-2 times/week, 3-4 times/week, and >/=5 times/week;
inactivity: 0-10 hours/week, 11-24 hours/week, and >/=25 hours/week). Sociodemographic
and environmental correlates of physical activity and inactivity were used as exposure
and control variables and included sex, age, urban residence, participation in school
physical education program, use of community recreation center, total reported incidents
of serious crime in neighborhood, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, generation of residence
in the United States, presence of mother/father in household, pregnancy status, work
status, in-school status, region, and month of interview. Logistic regression models
of high versus low and medium physical activity and inactivity were used to investigate
sex and ethnic interactions in relation to environmental and sociodemographic factors
to examine evidence for the potential impact of physical education and recreation
programs and sociodemographic factors on physical activity and inactivity patterns.
Moderate to vigorous physical activity was lower and inactivity higher for non-Hispanic
black and Hispanic adolescents. Participation in school physical education programs
was considerably low for these adolescents and decreased with age. Participation in
daily school physical education (PE) program classes (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]: 2.21;
confidence interval [CI]: 1.82-2.68) and use of a community recreation center (AOR:
1.75; CI: 1.56-1.96) were associated with an increased likelihood of engaging in high
level moderate to vigorous physical activity. Maternal education was inversely associated
with high inactivity patterns; for example, having a mother with a graduate or professional
degree was associated with an AOR of.61 (CI:.48-.76) for high inactivity. High family
income was associated with increased moderate to vigorous physical activity (AOR:
1.43; CI: 1.22-1.67) and decreased inactivity (AOR:.70; CI:.59-.82). High neighborhood
serious crime level was associated with a decreased likelihood of falling in the highest
category of moderate to vigorous physical activity (AOR:.77; CI:.66-.91).
These results show important associations between modifiable environmental factors,
such as participation in school PE and community recreation programs, with activity
patterns of adolescents. Despite the marked and significant impact of participation
in school PE programs on physical activity patterns of US adolescents, few adolescents
participated in such school PE programs; only 21.3% of all adolescents