| dc.description.abstract | Background: Insufficient physical activity is associated with adverse health effects. In Norway, only half of adolescents meet the recommended 60 minutes of daily physical activity, and just above 70% are spending more than three hours daily on screens. The neighborhood environment and its qualities have been found to support physical activity and reduce sedentary time. However, limited research considers the influence of facilities on adolescents’ activity behavior, particularly within the Nordic context. Such knowledge is vital in public health work aiming to enhance physical activity engagement and prevent sedentary behavior.
Purpose: This thesis aims to examine the relationships between the availability of different neighborhood facilities and both screen time and physical activity among adolescents.
Method: This thesis applied a cross-sectional design. The sample consisted of adolescents aged 10 to 16 recruited from 20 schools across five municipalities in Eastern Norway (n=734). Information on adolescents ́ physical activity levels, screen time, socio-demographical factors, and residential addresses were obtained from baseline data collected in the research project CO-CREATING PUBLIC HEALTH. Access to various neighborhood activity facilities (i.e., schools, playgrounds, physical activity facilities, and open green spaces) was computed within 500- and 1000-meter circular buffers surrounding the residential address of each adolescent using geographical information systems (GIS). Logistic regression analyses were used to investigate associations between neighborhood facilities and both physical activity and screen time.
Main findings: In general, access to neighborhood facilities was associated with higher odds of being physically active five times or more per week in the unadjusted models. However, the significance vanished after adjustment for sociodemographic variables. The exception was access to schools within 1000 meters, which was related to a 71% greater likelihood of being physically active five times or more per week. Adolescents with access to playgrounds and physical activity facilities within 1000 meters of their home were also more likely to spend more than three hours on screen time daily.
Conclusion: This thesis highlights the significance of having access to schools in promoting physical activity among adolescents. However, the influence of access to facilities in the neighborhood for screen time should be more thoroughly considered, and more research is needed to understand the relationship between the neighborhood surroundings and different forms of screen time among adolescents. More research is necessary to determine the impact of facilities within different neighborhood scales on physical activity and screen time. | |
