Perception of the built environment, habitual behaviors, cardiometabolic risk factors, and cardiorespiratory fitness in adolescents: a study using latent class analysis

The built environment of a neighborhood may be associated with the practice of physical activity, reduced sedentary behavior (SB), and several health benefits. It was aimed to evaluate the association between perception of the built environment (BE) and measures of habitual behavior, cardiometabolic risk factors, and cardiorespiratory fitness in adolescents. Study was conducted with 309 students. BE characteristics were evaluated by the Neighborhood Walkability Scale for Youth. Habitual behaviors were assessed by accelerometry. Cell phone time and total sedentary time (TST) were assessed using questionnaires. Cardiometabolic risk factors were measured by anthropometry and blood collection. The 20 ‑m shuttle run test assessed cardiorespiratory fitness. Latent class analysis was used to identify BE classes. Association tests were performed between the generated classes and the other outcomes. The latent classes identified were: Class 1, ‘Best BE’; Class 2, ‘Moderate BE’; Class 3, ‘Worst BE’. Adolescents with ‘high SB’ and ‘high TST’ were, respectively, 1.33 and 1.40 times more likely to belong to Class 3 than to Class 1. Adolescents with ‘high triglycerides’ had 3.99 times more chance to belong to Class 3 than to Class 1. The results highlight the influence of neighborhood BE classes on SB, TST, and triglycerides in adolescents.