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Commercial Facilities, Social Cognitive Variables, and Physical Activity of 12th Grade Girls

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Annals of Behavioral Medicine

Abstract

Background

Recent studies have found a relationship between access to neighborhood physical activity (PA) facilities and physical activity in youth.

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to assess whether proximity of commercial PA facilities was related to vigorous physical activity (VPA) in 12th grade girls, independent of sport participation and social-cognitive influences, including perceived features of the social and physical environment.

Methods

Girls (N = 1,126 girls; 55% black, body mass index = 25.0 ± 6.4) in 22 high schools completed questionnaires and provided home addresses. Using geographic information systems technology, commercial PA facilities were mapped and counted within 0.75- and 2.0-mile street network buffers around each girl’s home. Girls self-reported PA using the 3-day physical activity recall.

Results

Approximately 25% of girls had at least one PA facility within the 0.75-mile buffer, and 65% of girls had at least one PA facility within the 2.0-mile buffer. Models of the direct and indirect relations of commercial PA facilities at 0.75- and 2.0-mile buffers, sport participation, self-efficacy for overcoming barriers and perceived physical and social environment with VPA both had acceptable fit to data (root mean square error of approximation = 0.049 and comparative fit index = 0.91).

Conclusions

The results indicate that proximity to multipurpose commercial PA facilities is a correlate of VPA independent of sport participation and perceived features of the social and physical environment.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank LaVerne Shuler and Janna Borden for managing of the project, Gaye G. Christmus for editing the manuscript, and all the girls in the LEAP schools for participating in this study. This study was funded by grant number R01HL057775 from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, USA.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Exercise Science, Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, 921 Assembly Street, Columbia, SC, 29208, USA

    Marsha Dowda Dr.P.H. & Russell R. Pate Ph.D.

  2. Department of Kinesiology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA

    Rod K. Dishman Ph.D.

  3. Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA

    Dwayne Porter Ph.D.

  4. Department of Health Promotion, Education and Behavior, Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA

    Ruth P. Saunders Ph.D.

Authors
  1. Marsha Dowda Dr.P.H.
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  2. Rod K. Dishman Ph.D.
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  3. Dwayne Porter Ph.D.
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  4. Ruth P. Saunders Ph.D.
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  5. Russell R. Pate Ph.D.
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Marsha Dowda Dr.P.H..

Appendix

Appendix

Table 5 Correlations (SEM) among demographic, social cognitive variables, and PA commercial for 2.0-mile street network buffer
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Dowda, M., Dishman, R.K., Porter, D. et al. Commercial Facilities, Social Cognitive Variables, and Physical Activity of 12th Grade Girls. ann. behav. med. 37, 77–87 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12160-009-9080-0

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