What matters most?
A cross-sectional study on the contribution of the objective and perceived environment on adults’ physical activity behavior within their home neighborhood
This study examined associations between objective and perceived environmental characteristics and adult’s physical activity (PA) behavior within their home neighborhood.
Data was collected in 2016-2017 from 617 Dutch adults living in the South-Limburg region. PA in the home neighborhood was measured using an accelerometer and GPS-logger. The perceived environment was assessed using the NEWS questionnaire, the objective environment using Geographic Information Systems.
Multiple linear regression analyses showed that four environmental characteristics (the perceived presence of greenspace and many destinations and the objective presence of pedestrian infrastructure and green strip sidewalk buffers) were associated with MVPA, while none were associated with LPA after controlling for sociodemographic characteristics.
The results suggest that both the objective and perceived environment uniquely contribute to adult’s PA behavior within the home neighborhood, but only to a small extent. Future studies should combine objective and perceived measures to further disentangle the environment-PA relationship in this specific context.