Currently, we face significant challenges at the population level due to the rising levels of physical inactivity and sedentary behavior among adolescents. In fact, most of them do not meet the daily physical activity recommendations.
Among all the factors that can influence physical activity and sedentary time, environmental factors, specifically those related to urban built environments, have been identified as some of the most influential in adult population. However, in the few existing studies on adolescent populations, there is a great diversity of results. Additionally, active commuting to school (walking or cycling) is characterized as a key aspect that allows an increased physical activity in adolescents, and the study of the influence of the urban built environment on this behavior remains novel. Furthermore, most existing studies analyze variables at the community level, without considering the analysis of objectively measured individual routes to school for each participant. Therefore, more studies are needed to jointly analyze the effect of built environmental factors at different scales (i.e., macro and micro) and in different areas (i.e., school, home, and home-school route) to examine their relationship with physical activity, commuting to school, and sedentary time. Likewise, given that the environment is a highly contextual and specific domain, studies analyzing the mentioned relationships considering existing sociocultural characteristics are necessary.
Therefore, the main objective of this project is to analyze the influence of built environment on the physical activity behaviors and sedentary time of Andalusian adolescents. To do this, an approximate sample of 250 adolescents (aged 15-16) from three cities in Eastern Andalusia (Granada, Jaén, and Almería) is involved. To address the limitations of previous studies, advanced methods and tools are employed, such as:
1) Accelerometers, to objectively quantify levels of physical activity and sedentary time.
2) Global Positioning Systems (GPS), to geolocate the actual routes taken by adolescents during their routes.
3) Geographic Information Systems (GIS), to include georeferenced information.
4) Microscale Audit Pedestrian Streetscapes (MAPS)-Global audit tool, to measure pedestrian-level built environment characteristics.
The results obtained are useful for decision-making at the public health and urban policy levels. All of this contributes to the design of more friendly and sustainable cities that promote healthier lifestyles among Andalusian youth. Additionally, the findings may have clear positive implications at the social, economic, and environmental levels given the associated benefits of these healthy behaviors. Therefore, this project contributes to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Global Action Plan on Physical Activity 2018-2030, in which the World Health Organization agreed to reduce physical inactivity among adolescents by 15% by 2030.
The project was performed in 2021-2023. Currently, the database has been elaborated and it is starting the process of analysing results to disseminate in scientific publications and conferences, as well as in mass media.
The project was funded in the period july 2021-june 2023 by FEDER/Junta de Andalucía – Consejería de Transformación Económica, Industria, Conocimiento y Universidades (Referencia B-CTS-160-UGR20).
