The Role of the Neighborhood Social Environment in Physical Activity among Hispanic Children: Moderation by Cultural Factors and Mediation by Neighborhood Norms

Abstract

Little is known about how the neighborhood social environment (e.g., safety, crime, traffic) impacts child physical activity. We examine the mechanism by which the neighborhood social environment is associated with child physical activity, moderated by individual-level cultural factors (e.g., language at home, immigrant generation) and mediated by neighborhood physical activity-related social norms (e.g., seeing walkers in the neighborhood). Data included 2749 non-Hispanic White and Hispanic children from the Healthy Communities Study. Multilevel regression was performed. The neighborhood social environment was not associated with physical activity in the full sample. However, Hispanic children speaking both English and Spanish and first- or second-generation Hispanic children engaged in more physical activity when the quality of the neighborhood social environment was higher (b = 1.60, p < 0.001 for Hispanic children speaking English and Spanish; b = 2.03, p < 0.01 for first-generation Hispanic children; b = 1.29, p < 0.01 for second-generation Hispanic children). Neighborhood physical activity-related social norms mediated the association between the neighborhood social environment and physical activity among Hispanic children speaking English and Spanish (b = 0.33, p < 0.001) and second-generation Hispanic children (b = 0.40, p < 0.001). Findings suggest heterogeneity in how neighborhood social environments impact physical activity by cultural factors. Health promotion programs may need to enhance neighborhood social environments to increase Hispanic children’s physical activity.

Associations of Neighborhood Opportunity and Social Vulnerability With Trajectories of Childhood Body Mass Index and Obesity Among US Children

“…49 It has been speculated that residence in a high-opportunity neighborhood may increase exposure to visual cues of other children actively using resources in the neighborhood, which may subsequently alter children's behavior and health outcomes. 49 This observation was previously found to be more impactful for Hispanic individuals compared with non-Hispanic White individuals. 50,51 Given that Hispanic children are known to be at increased risk of obesity compared with non-Hispanic White children, 52 further studies are warranted to investigate the mechanisms behind these different associations.…”

“…Our findings of an association between exposure to neighborhood-level opportunity or vulnerability measures and larger differences in mean BMI and risk of obesity in Hispanic children is consistent with a previous study that reported Hispanic children who lived in high-opportunity neighborhoods (vs those who did not) were more physically active. 49 It has been speculated that residence in a high-opportunity neighborhood may increase exposure to visual cues of other children actively using resources in the neighborhood, which may subsequently alter children's behavior and health outcomes. 49 This observation was previously found to be more impactful for Hispanic individuals compared with non-Hispanic White individuals.…”

The Role of Physical Education in Preventing Unhealthy Lifestyles in Immigrant Adolescents

“…Considering all the above, this study showed that some lifestyle habits related to the culture such as diet and alcohol, tobacco and drug consumption create an intercultural relationship context that has already been proven to affect immigrant individuals [ 8 , 11 , 32 ]. Furthermore, as we noticed in earlier studies, there are no significant differences, so it is possible to use this field for promoting equality through education.…”

“…In essence, this work is included in the line of research on integrative models; that is to say, it analyses the variables which influence the healthy lifestyles of a sample of young immigrants for guiding future works on the adaptation of methods, programmes, workshops, seminars and/or activities aimed at influencing even healthier lifestyles. These activities should be aimed at adolescents but also at their parents since their environments may also affect these dimensions [ 7 , 11 , 32 , 33 ]. Therefore, the objective of this work is to establish causal relationships between sports practice and healthy lifestyles in adolescent immigrants.…”

Developing and Evaluating Newsletters for Parent Engagement in Sustainability via Active Garden Education (SAGE)

“…Nationally, 13.9% of Hispanic preschool children ages 2-5 are obese [3]-4 times more prevalent than non-Hispanic whites [4]. At the same time, 15% of Hispanic children with parents born in the United States and 17-23% of those with immigrant parents do not participate in any vigorous activity, compared to 9% of non-Hispanic whites [5]. Early care and education (ECE) sites are key locations for interventions that aim to prevent childhood obesity [6], particularly for those participating in nationally sponsored meal and physical activity programming [7].…”