Association between neighborhood health behaviors and body-mass index in Northern Norway: Evidence from the Tromsø Study
Permanent lenke
https://hdl.handle.net/10037/23979Dato
2021-12-13Type
Journal articleTidsskriftartikkel
Peer reviewed
Sammendrag
Aim: The prevalence of overweight and obesity has risen rapidly worldwide, and the ongoing obesity pandemic is one of the
most severe public health concerns in modern society. The average body mass index (BMI) of people living in Northern
Norway has also steadily increased since the late 1970s. This study aimed to understand how individuals’ health behavior is
associated with the general health behavior of the people in their neighborhood. Methods: Using the population-based Tromsø
Study, we examined the life course association between average leisure time physical activity at the neighborhood level and
the BMI of individuals living in the same neighborhood. We used a longitudinal dataset following 25,604 individuals living
in 33 neighborhoods and performed a linear mixed-effects analysis. Results: The results showed that participants living in
neighborhoods whose residents were more physically active during their leisure time, were likely to have a significantly lower
BMI (−0.9 kg/m², 95% CI −1.5 to −0.4). Also, individuals living in neighborhoods whose residents were doing mainly
manual work, had significantly higher BMIs (0.7 kg/m², 95% CI 0.4–1.0). Conclusions: Our results showed a strong
association between the average leisure time physical activity level of neighborhood residents and the higher
BMI levels of residents of the same neighborhood.
Forlag
SAGESitering
SARI, Moilanen, Bambra, Grimsgaard, Njølstad. Association between neighborhood health behaviors and body-mass index in Northern Norway: Evidence from the Tromsø Study. Scandinavian Journal of Public Health. 2021Metadata
Vis full innførselSamlinger
Copyright 2021 The Author(s)