Physical activity as a mediator of the associations between perceived environments and body mass index in Chinese adolescents

Jing jing Wang, Mei Wang*, Patrick W C Lau, Barbara E. Ainsworth, Gang He, Yang Gao

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articlepeer-review

    13 Citations (Scopus)
    26 Downloads (Pure)

    Abstract

    This study examined whether physical activity (PA) mediated the relationships of four PA-related environmental settings (home, school, neighborhood environments and convenient facilities) with body mass index (BMI) among Chinese adolescents aged 13–18 years. Two setting indicators were assessed: (1) perceived availability of environmental resources and (2) perceived importance of environmental resources. Mediation analysis indicated that PA mediated the associations of perceived availability of the home environment, convenient facilities, and perceived importance of the school environment and BMI z-score with ratios of mediating to total effects of 46.2%, 37.1%, and 37.5% respectively. Findings suggest that PA is a mechanism by which several environmental correlates may affect adolescents’ body weight.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)37-42
    Number of pages6
    JournalHealth and Place
    Volume54
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Nov 2018

    Scopus Subject Areas

    • Health(social science)
    • Sociology and Political Science
    • Life-span and Life-course Studies

    User-Defined Keywords

    • Built environments
    • Exercise
    • Obesity
    • Youth

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