Neighborhood walkability and sedentary behaviors among US adults

Background: It remains unclear whether individuals living in more walkable neighborhoods spend less time engaging in domain-specific sedentary behaviors, which vary by certain groups. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the associations between neighborhood walkability and total and domain-specific sedentary behavior, and to explore how this relationship varied by sociodemographic factors. Methods: Participants from AmeriSpeak who completed up to two activities completed over time in 24-hours in 2019 were included. Sedentary behavior outcomes (hours/day) included: (1) total sedentary behavior and (2) domain-specific sedentary behaviors (leisure, work, household, transport, personal, and other sedentary activities). Neighborhood walkability index was classified into four groups (least walkable referent, below average, above average, and most walkable). Weighted generalized linear regression models were used to examine the associations, adjusting for covariates. Subsequently, such associations were stratified by sociodemographic factors. Results: Compared with the least walkable neighborhoods, below average, above average, and most walkable neighborhoods were positively associated with longer total sedentary behavior time (β = 0.53, 95% confidence interval CI = 0.06, 1.01; β = 0.78, 95% CI = 0.29, 1.27; and β = 1.40, 95% CI = 0.75, 2.05, respectively). For domain-specific sedentary behavior, neighborhoods with below average, above average, and most walkable neighborhoods were positively related to work sedentary behavior. However, neighborhood walkability was not related to other domain-specific sedentary behaviors. Lastly, adults aged 20–39 living in more walkable neighborhoods spent longer total sedentary behavior and work-related sedentary behavior. Conclusion: Residents living in highly walkable neighborhoods engaged in more total sedentary behavior and work-related sedentary time. Future research should explore how neighborhood environments collectively influence sedentary behavior.