Suchergebnisse

Purpose. Examine associations among observed, self-reported, and Geographical Information Systems (GIS) environmental features and physical activity among adolescent males. Design. Cross-sectional study. Setting. Boy Scout troops and neighborhoods in Houston, Texas. Subjects. Two hundred and ten 10- to 14-year-old Boy Scouts. Measures. Accelerometry to obtain minutes of sedentary, light, and moderate to vigorous activity per day. GIS sources were used to identify the numbers of parks, gymnasiums, trails, bus stops, grocery stores, and restaurants within a 1-mile radius of participant residences as well as residential density, connectivity, and crime. Participants provided a self-report of their environment. Analysis. Principal component analysis was used to reduce the number of GIS and self-reported items. Four factors were previously obtained from direct observations of the neighborhoods. Correlations were conducted among factors and physical activity. Regression models were run in which minutes of sedentary behavior, light, or moderate to vigorous physical activity were the dependent variables and environmental factors were the independent variables. Nonsignificant variables were removed in a backward deletion process. Results. Three GIS factors, Parks, Crime, and Gyms, were obtained as were two self-reported factors: difficulty and access and safety. Factor scores were interrelated and associated with the four observed factors. Only observed sidewalk characteristics were correlated with physical activity and were retained in the regression models. Conclusion. Environmental factors were interrelated. Only sidewalk characteristics were associated with sedentary behavior and light intensity physical activity.

Research has supported the effectiveness of narratives for promoting health behavior, but different narrative presentation formats (serial vs. episodic) have seldom been compared. Suspense theories suggest that serial narratives, which do not provide a full resolution at the end of an episode, may create higher motivation for continued engagement with a story. Forty-four 8 to 12-year-old children were randomly assigned to watch an animation series designed for an existing active video game in which the plot was delivered either continuously across multiple episodes (serial) or in multiple yet relatively independent self-contained episodes (episodic). Controlling for social desirability, children who watched the serial narrative had significantly more moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and step counts while the episodic group's gameplay duration decreased, especially during later visits. There was no difference in self-reported narrative immersion or physical activity intention. Serial narratives can result in more time spent in MVPA behaviors than episodic narratives.