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Updated: Feb 26, 2026
Visualization of Intensity Levels to Reduce the Gap Between Self-Reported and Directly Measured Physical Activity
Published on: March 7, 2019
Objectively measured physical environmental neighbourhood factors are not associated with accelerometer-determined
Sofie Compernolle1, Katrien De Cocker2,3, Joreintje D Mackenbach4
1Department of Movement and Sport Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Ghent University, Watersportlaan 2, B-9000, Ghent, Belgium. sofie.compernolle@ugent.be.
Background:
The physical neighbourhood environment may influence adults' sedentary behaviour. Yet, most studies examining the association between the physical neighbourhood environment and sedentary behaviour rely on self-reported data of either the physical neighbourhood environment and/or sedentary behaviour. The aim of this study was to investigate the associations between objectively measured physical environmental neighbourhood factors and accelerometer-determined total sedentary time in adults.
Methods:
In total, 219 Dutch and 128 Belgian adults (mean age ± SD: 55.8 ± 15.4 years) were recruited between March and August 2014 as part of the European SPOTLIGHT project. Physical environmental neighbourhood factors, grouped into eight domains, i.e. walking, cycling, public transport, aesthetics, land use mix, grocery stores, food outlets and recreational facilities, were assessed using the SPOTLIGHT Virtual Audit Tool. Sedentary time was collected using ActiGraph GT3X+ accelerometers. General linear mixed models were conducted to examine associations between physical environmental neighbourhood factors and total sedentary time.
Results:
Participants were sedentary, on average, for 542.9 min/day (SD: 84.3), or 9.1 h/day. None of the examined physical environmental neighbourhood factors were significantly related to total sedentary time.
Conclusions:
Our findings do not support associations of objectively measured physical environmental neighbourhood factors with adults' objectively sedentary time in Dutch and Belgian adults. More research on sedentary behaviours in settings such as the home and work setting is needed to examine the influence of more specific physical environmental factors on these context-specific sedentary behaviours.
