Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The Relationship Between the Social Environment and Lifestyle-Related Physical Activity in a Low-Income African American Inner-City Southern Neighborhood

Journal of Community Health volume 40, pages 967–974 (2015)Cite this article

Abstract

The social ecological model was used to examine individual, interpersonal, and neighborhood characteristics related to lifestyle-related physical activity (PA) in a low-income African American (AA) population in New Orleans, Louisiana. Interviewers administered surveys to randomly-sampled household participants from three low-income, AA neighborhoods in New Orleans, Louisiana. Questions included the social and physical environment, physical activity, interpersonal factors, demographics, height and weight. Logistic regression multivariable models were built predicting whether the respondent met PA guidelines, controlling for neighborhood. Females were less as likely to engage in lifestyle-related PA compared to males (OR 0.46, CI 0.30–0.70). Support specific for PA was correlated with engaging in lifestyle-related PA (OR 1.45, CI 1.14–1.83). The individual and social environment should be considered for increasing PA in AA. Interventions targeting the AA population could consider ways of enhancing social support for PA.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Access options

Buy single article

Instant access to the full article PDF.

USD 39.95

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

References

  1. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (1996). Physical activity and health: A report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

    Google Scholar 

  2. Warburton, D. E., Nicol, C. W., & Bredin, S. S. (2006). Health benefits of physical activity: The evidence. Canadian Medical Association Journal, 174, 801–809.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Bauman, A. E. (2004). Updating the evidence that physical activity is good for health: An epidemiological review 2000–2003. Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, 7, 6–19.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Tucker, J. M., Welk, G. J., & Beyler, N. K. (2011). Physical activity in US: Adults compliance with the physical activity guidelines for Americans. American Journal of Preventative Medicine, 40, 454–461.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Kruger, J., Ham, S. A., & Kohl, H. W. (2005). Trends in leisure-time physical inactivity by age, sex, and race/ethnicity—United States, 1994–2004. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 54, 991–994.

    Google Scholar 

  6. Crespo, C. J., Smit, E., Andersen, R. E., Carter-Pokras, O., & Ainsworth, B. E. (2000). Race/ethnicity, social class and their relation to physical inactivity during leisure time: Results from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1988–1994. American Journal of Preventative Medicine, 18, 46–53.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Marshall, S. J., Jones, D. A., Ainsworth, B. E., Reis, J. P., Levy, S. S., & Macera, C. A. (2007). Race/ethnicity, social class, and leisure-time physical inactivity. Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, 39, 44–51.

    Google Scholar 

  8. Transportation Research Board Institute of Medicine. (2005). Does the built environment influence physical activity? Examining the evidence (Transportation Research Board Special Report 282). Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. Retrieved from http://onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/sr/sr282.pdf.

  9. Macera, C. A., Jones, D. A., Yore, M. M., Ham, S. A., Kohl, H. W., Kimsey, C. D., et al. (2003). Prevalence of physical activity, including lifestyle activities among adults—United States, 2000–2001. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 52, 764–769.

    Google Scholar 

  10. Li, K., Seo, D. C., Torabi, M. R., Peng, C. Y., Kay, N. S., & Kolbe, L. J. (2012). Social-ecological factors of leisure-time physical activity in Black adults. American Journal of Health Behavior, 36, 797–810.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Sallis, J. F., & Owen, N. (2008). Ecological models of health behavior. In K. Glanz, B. K. Rimer, & F. M. Lewis (Eds.), Health behavior and health education: Theory, research, and practice (pp. 462–484). San Fransisco: Jossey-Bass.

    Google Scholar 

  12. Sharma, M., Sargent, L., & Stacy, R. (2005). Predictors of leisure-time physical activity among African American women. American Journal of Health Behavior, 29, 352–359.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Harley, A. E., Katz, M. L., Heaney, C. A., Duncan, D. T., Buckworth, J., Odoms-Young, A., et al. (2009). Social support and companionship among active African American women. American Journal of Health Behavior, 33, 673–685.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Fleury, J., & Lee, S. M. (2006). The social ecological model and physical activity in African American women. American Journal of Community Psychology, 37, 129–140.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Berkman, L. F., & Kawachi, I. (2000). A historical framework for social epidemiology. In L. F. Berkman & I. Kawachi (Eds.), social epidemiology (pp. 3–12). New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  16. Ross, C. E., & Jang, S. J. (2000). Neighborhood disorder, fear, and mistrust: The buffering role of social ties with neighbors. American Journal of Community Psychology, 28, 401–420.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Cohen, D. A., Inagami, S., & Finch, B. (2008). The built environment and collective efficacy. Health and Place, 14, 198–208.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. McNeill, L. H., Kreuter, M. W., & Subramanian, S. V. (2006). Social environment and physical activity: A review of concepts and evidence. Social Science and Medicine, 63, 1011–1022.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Gustat, J., Rice, J., Parker, K. M., Becker, A. B., & Farley, T. A. (2012). Effect of changes to the neighborhood built environment on physical activity in a low-income African American neighborhood. Preventing Chronic Disease, 9, 110165.

    Google Scholar 

  20. Strogatz, D. S., & James, S. A. (1986). Social support and hypertension among blacks and whites in a rural, southern community. American Journal of Epidemiology, 124, 949–956.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Sampson, R. (1997). Collective regulation of adolescent misbehavior: Validation results from eighty Chicago neighborhoods. Journal of Adolescent Research, 12, 227–244.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Sampson, R. J., Raudenbush, S. W., & Earls, F. (1997). Neighborhoods and violent crime: A multilevel study of collective efficacy. Science, 277, 918–924.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Long, D. A., & Perkins, D. D. (2003). Confirmatory factor analysis of the sense of community index and development of a brief SCI. Journal of Community Psychology, 31, 279–296.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Coleman, J. S. (1988). Social capital in the creation of human capital. American Journal of Sociology, 94, S95–S120.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Troiano, R. P., Berrigan, D., Dodd, K. W., Masse, L. C., Tilert, T., & McDowell, M. (2008). Physical activity in the United States measured by accelerometer. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 40, 181–188.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. Nader, P. R., Bradley, R. H., Houts, R. M., McRitchie, S. L., & O’Brien, M. (2008). Moderate-to-vigorous physical activity from ages 9 to 15 years. Journal of the American Medical Association, 300, 295–305.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Abel, T., Graf, N., & Niemann, S. (2001). Gender bias in the assessment of physical activity in population studies. International Journal of Public Health, 46, 268–272.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. James, A. S., Hudson, M. A., & Campbell, M. K. (2003). Demographic and psychosocial correlates of physical activity among African Americans. American Journal of Health Behavior, 27, 421–431.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  29. Chase, J. A. (2014). Interventions to increase physical activity among older adults: A meta-analysis. The Gerontologist, 45, 1–13.

    Google Scholar 

  30. Cohen, S., & Syme, S. L. (1985). Social support and health. San Diego, CA: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  31. Kouvonen, A., De Vogli, R., Stafford, M., Shipley, M. J., Marmot, M. G., Cox, T., et al. (2012). Social support and the likelihood of maintaining and improving levels of physical activity: The Whitehall II Study. European Journal of Public Health, 22, 514–518.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  32. Hooker, S. P., Harmon, B., Burroughs, E. L., Rheaume, C. E., & Wilcox, S. (2011). Exploring the feasibility of a physical activity intervention for midlife African American men. Health Education Research, 26, 732–738.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  33. Eyler, A. A., Brownson, R. C., Donatelle, R. J., King, A. C., Brown, D., & Sallis, J. F. (1999). Physical activity social support and middle- and older-aged minority women: Results from a US survey. Social Science and Medicine, 49, 781–789.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  34. Orrow, G., Kinmonth, A. L., Sanderson, S., & Sutton, S. (2012). Effectiveness of physical activity promotion based in primary care: Systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. British Medical Journal, 344, e1389.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  35. Elley, C. R., Kerse, N., Arroll, B., & Robinson, E. (2002). Effectiveness of counselling patients on physical activity in general practice: Cluster randomised controlled trial. British Medical Journal, 326, 793.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  36. Halbert, C. H., Bellamy, S., Briggs, V., Bowman, M., Delmoor, E., Kumanyika, S., et al. (2014). Collective efficacy and obesity-related health behaviors in a community sample of African Americans. Journal of Community Health, 39, 124–131.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  37. Oakes, J. M., & Kaufman, J. S. (2006). Methods in social epidemiology. San Fransisco: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  38. Foster, S., & Giles-Corti, B. (2008). The built environment, neighborhood crime and constrained physical activity: An exploration of inconsistent findings. Journal of Preventative Medicine, 47, 241–251.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  39. Cohen, S. S., Matthews, C. E., Signorello, L. B., Schlundt, D. G., Blot, W. J., & Buchowski, M. S. (2013). Sedentary and physically active behavior patterns among low-income African-American and white adults living in the southeastern United States. PLoS ONE, 8, e59975.

    Article  PubMed Central  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  40. Brunner Huber, L. R. (2007). Validity of self-reported height and weight in women of reproductive age. Maternal and Child Health Journal, 11, 137–144.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This journal article is a product of a Prevention Research Center and was supported by Cooperative Agreement Number #1-U48-DP-000047 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The findings and conclusions in this journal article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official position of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The authors thank the PACE steering committee for their dedicated time to the project.

Conflict of interest

The authors have no conflicts of interest to report.

Ethical standard

All study protocol and survey instrument were approved by the Institutional Review Board at Tulane University.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Global Community Health and Behavioral Sciences, Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, 1440 Canal St., Suite 2301, New Orleans, LA, 70112, USA

    Lori Andersen

  2. Department of Epidemiology, Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, 1440 Canal St., Suite 2000, New Orleans, LA, 70112, USA

    Jeanette Gustat

  3. Mary Ann and J. Milburn Smith Child Health Research Program, Stanley Manne Children’s Research Institute, Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, 225 E. Chicago Avenue, Box 157, Chicago, IL, 60611, USA

    Adam B. Becker

Authors
  1. Lori Andersen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jeanette Gustat
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Adam B. Becker
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lori Andersen.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Andersen, L., Gustat, J. & Becker, A.B. The Relationship Between the Social Environment and Lifestyle-Related Physical Activity in a Low-Income African American Inner-City Southern Neighborhood. J Community Health 40, 967–974 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10900-015-0019-z

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10900-015-0019-z

Keywords

search

Navigation