Frequency of Seeing People Walk and Aerobic Physical Activity Among Latino Adults

Background: Little research has examined gender differences in the association of seeing others exercise, in the neighborhood context, with physical activity, particularly for diverse racial/ethnic groups. The authors examined the association between frequency of seeing people walk and aerobic activity by gender among Latinos.

Methods: The authors used cross-sectional 2015 National Health Interview Survey data on Latino participants ≥18 years (n = 5147). Multinomial logistic regression models estimated the association between seeing people walk and level of aerobic physical activity.

Results: Men reporting seeing people walk every 2 to 3 days and every day were more likely to meet the aerobic activity recommendation (odds ratio [OR] 2.02; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.05-3.89 and OR 1.96; 95% CI, 1.23-3.14, respectively). Among women, those seeing people walk every day and every 2 to 3 days were likely to engage in some aerobic activity (OR 1.88; 95% CI, 1.26-2.80 and OR 2.16; 95% CI, 1.23-3.18, respectively) and meet the recommendation (OR 1.73; 95% CI, 1.24-2.42 and OR 1.66; 95% CI, 1.03-2.67, respectively). Women seeing people walk about once a week were also likely to engage in some activity (OR 3.06; 95% CI, 1.59-5.89).

Conclusions: Among Latino men and women, seeing people walk is associated with meeting the aerobic activity guideline. Results suggest that adoption of physical activity may in part be driven by neighborhood-level behavioral norms and by inference characteristics of the neighborhood that support walking.