Abstract
Community Summary: We wanted to know whether the way teens see their neighborhood is related to how active they are when school is out. In summer 2025, 41 Central Texas students ages 11 to 15 answered questions about their neighborhood and wore an activity tracker on their wrist for a week. Teens who felt their neighborhood was safer from crime were much more likely to reach the recommended 60 minutes of activity on a given day, and their activity was steadier from one day to the next. How attractive the neighborhood looked did not seem to make a difference. The result for traffic safety went in a direction we did not expect, and we are still working to understand it. Feeling safe where you live appears to be an important part of staying active in the summer, so efforts that help families and teens feel safer in their neighborhoods may also help teens move more.
Abstract
Objective: Adolescence is a critical period of health behavior development including physical activity (PA); however, many adolescents fail to meet recommended PA levels, especially during summer months. The built environment, specifically perceived neighborhood safety and aesthetics, can contribute to the level and frequency of PA. This study examined associations between three neighborhood environment subscales (aesthetics, pedestrian traffic safety, and crime safety) and multiple PA outcomes among adolescents.
Methods: Youth aged 11 to 15 were recruited through middle schools in Central Texas (n=41 participants, 285 daily observations). The Neighborhood Environment Walkability Scale-Youth assessed perceived aesthetics, pedestrian traffic safety, and crime safety. PA was measured using wrist-worn ActiGraph devices for seven days, capturing light, moderate, vigorous, and total activity minutes. Multilevel models (days nested within participants) examined associations between neighborhood perceptions and: (1) daily PA intensities, (2) meeting daily guidelines (≥60 minutes moderate-to-vigorous PA), and (3) PA consistency scores, controlling for day in study, age, and sex.
Results: Perceptions of safety from crime were associated with increased vigorous PA (β=1.88,p=.02), greater odds of meeting daily PA guidelines (OR=2.29,p=.001), and more consistent PA (β=0.09,p=.02). Pedestrian traffic safety was negatively associated with meeting guidelines (OR=0.40,p=.04). Neighborhood aesthetics showed no significant associations. Females demonstrated significantly higher PA across intensities and greater likelihood of meeting guidelines (OR=2.25,p=.03). Age was positively associated with moderate and total PA.
Conclusions: Adolescents who perceive their neighborhoods as safer are significantly more likely to meet daily PA guidelines and have more consistent PA. This suggests that perceived crime safety is a key factor in adolescent PA and inventions focused on improving perceived crime safety in neighborhoods may be an effective strategy to promote sustained PA in this age group.
Jeong-Hui Park
Assistant Professor University of Oklahoma
Jeong-Hui Park, PhD, is a tenure-track Assistant Professor in the Department of Health and Exercise Science at the University of Oklahoma, following her doctoral training at Texas A&M University and postdoctoral research at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.
Veronika Croan
PhD Student - Colorado State University
Veronika is currently a PhD student in the Clinical Psychology Program at Colorado State University under the mentorship of Dr. Reagan Miller-Chagnon.