Associations between neighborhood social cohesion and physical activity in the united States, national health interview survey, 2017

Abstract

Background Individual social support is positively related to physical activity participation. However, less is known about how neighborhoodlevel social structures relate to physical activity participation. Methods We analyzed 2017 National Health Interview Survey data for adult participants who completed all questions on physical activity and neighborhood cohesion (N = 23,006). Each cohesion question was binary coded (cohesion or not) and used as a predictor individually and for a composite score measuring total social cohesion. We used linear regression to estimate minutes of moderate aerobic activity, and we used logistic regression to estimate the odds of meeting aerobic guidelines (≥150 min/wk), strength guidelines (≥2 d/wk of muscle strengthening exercises), or both guidelines, predicted by the 5 definitions of cohesion (composite cohesion and the 4 questions separately). Models were adjusted for sex, age, race/ethnicity, family-income-to-poverty ratio, education, nativity, language, and neighborhood tenure. Results Respondents who reported having more social cohesion had 45.0 more minutes of aerobic activity and increased odds of meeting aerobic, strength, and combined guidelines (odds ratio [OR] = 1.22, OR = 1.13, and OR = 1.14, respectively; P