Frequency of Seeing People Walk and Aerobic Physical Activity Among Latino Adults

Little research has examined gender differences in the association of seeing others exercise, in the neighborhood context, with physical activity, particularly for diverse racial/ethnic groups. The authors examined the association between frequency of seeing people walk and aerobic activity by gender among Latinos.

The authors used cross-sectional 2015 National Health Interview Survey data on Latino participants ≥18 years (n = 5147). Multinomial logistic regression models estimated the association between seeing people walk and level of aerobic physical activity.

Men reporting seeing people walk every 2 to 3 days and every day were more likely to meet the aerobic activity recommendation (odds ratio [OR] 2.02; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.05-3.89 and OR 1.96; 95% CI, 1.23-3.14, respectively). Among women, those seeing people walk every day and every 2 to 3 days were likely to engage in some aerobic activity (OR 1.88; 95% CI, 1.26-2.80 and OR 2.16; 95% CI, 1.23-3.18, respectively) and meet the recommendation (OR 1.73; 95% CI, 1.24-2.42 and OR 1.66; 95% CI, 1.03-2.67, respectively). Women seeing people walk about once a week were also likely to engage in some activity (OR 3.06; 95% CI, 1.59-5.89).

Among Latino men and women, seeing people walk is associated with meeting the aerobic activity guideline. Results suggest that adoption of physical activity may in part be driven by neighborhood-level behavioral norms and by inference characteristics of the neighborhood that support walking.