Regional differences of physical activity and sede

Authors: Bettina BringolfIsler Urs Mäder Alain Dössegger Heidi Hofmann Jardena J Puder Charlotte BraunFahrländer Susi Kriemler

Publish Date: 2015/01/08

Volume: 60, Issue: 3, Pages: 291-300

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Abstract

We evaluated whether regional differences in physical activity PA and sedentary behaviour SB existed along language boundaries within Switzerland and whether potential differences would be explained by sociodemographics or environmental characteristicsWe combined data of 611 children aged 4 to 7 years from four regional studies PA and SB were assessed by accelerometers Information about the sociodemographic background was obtained by questionnaires Objective neighbourhood attributes could be linked to home addresses Multivariate regression models were used to test associations between PA and SB and sociodemographic characteristics and neighbourhood attributesChildren from the German compared to the Frenchspeaking region were more physically active and less sedentary by 10–15  p  001 Although Germanspeaking children lived in a more favourable environment and a higher socioeconomic neighbourhood differences p  0001 these characteristics did not explain the differences in PA behaviour between French and German speakingPhysical inactivity is associated with several health outcomes like higher body weight Must and Tybor 2005 features of the metabolic risk syndrome Brage et al 2004 and cardiovascular risk factors even independently of body weight Andersen et al 2008 Sedentary behaviour SB is distinct from physical activity PA and affects health independently Salmon et al 2008 PA and low SB in children are therefore both acknowledged as important goals of prevention A broad range of correlates of PA and SB in children that may guide public health strategies has been investigated De Craemer et al 2012 These included biological demographic psychological sociocultural and environmental factors Gender age as well as influences by parents and peers have consistently been found to be associated with PA but associations with environmental factors are less consistent Whereas neighbourhood greenness was positively associated with PA in some studies GrigsbyToussaint et al 2011 Roemmich et al 2006 no such association was found in others Lovasi et al 2011 Positive associations with PA were also found for housing density Roemmich et al 2006 and land use mix Lovasi et al 2011 For the Swiss context a recently published study found that more green was significantly associated with PA and SB in 4–10yearold children BringolfIsler et al 2014 The same study suggested that the physical environment may interact with the socioeconomic neighbourhoodPronounced differences in selfreported PA and SB in children and young adults have been found in studies which examined regional influences across countries Guthold et al 2010 Yet results from studies using objective measures such as accelerometers which more reliably measure PA and SB in children Chinapaw et al 2010 were mixed Riddoch et al 2004 Verloigne et al 2012 and differences existed even within countries Burgi et al 2010 To our knowledge for preschool children no crosscountry comparisons in objectively PA exist but in a pooled analysis of preschool children country differences in weight status were found van Stralen et al 2012 Regional differences in PA may be due to varying social environments culturally related health beliefs social capital diverging built environments within which individual behaviour occurs or differing sports and PA policies As crosscountry comparisons are hardly able to disentangle these factors the present study focussed on regional differences between language boundaries in PA and SB levels within a single country Switzerland is unique in encompassing different language and cultural regions within the same national political and administrative frameworkThe present study aimed to evaluate a whether regional differences in PA and SB among children existed along the French/German language boundaries in Switzerland and whether b potential differences could be explained by differing patterns of personal social or environmental characteristicsFour regional studies BringolfIsler et al 2009 Gehring et al 2008 Niederer et al 2009 Zahner et al 2006 conducted between 2005 and 2009 among 4 to 7yearold Swiss children using Actigraph accelerometers to assess PA have been combined into a single database All data derived from observational studies BringolfIsler et al 2009 Gehring et al 2008 or from baseline measures of intervention studies Niederer et al 2009 Zahner et al 2006 and the selection of the respondents was comparable Two studies included both children from the German and the Frenchspeaking part of Switzerland BringolfIsler et al 2009 Niederer et al 2009 and two included only children from the Germanspeaking part Gehring et al 2008 Zahner et al 2006 To be included into this data pool raw accelerometer data demographic information and an exact home address had to be available A total of 800 children provided such data Personal and social characteristics were obtained from parental questionnaires The individual studies had been approved by the respective regional ethic committees ethical committees of Aargau Basel Bern and St Gallen All participants or their parents gave written consent or assent for their participation

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