The association between neighborhood quality, youth physical fitness, and modifiable cardiovascular disease risk factors

Purpose: Striking disparities persist in cardiovascular disease risk factors among minority youth. We examined the association between multiple indicators of neighborhood quality and minority youth fitness.

Methods: The primary exposure was the Child Opportunity Index (COI), a measure comprised of indicators that facilitate healthy child development. Outcome data were drawn from the 2018-2019 Fit2Play Study (Miami-Dade County, FL). Hotspot analysis evaluated COI spatial clustering. Generalized linear mixed models examined cross-sectional COI-fitness associations.

Results: The sample included 725 youth (53% Black, 43% Hispanic; 5-17 years). Significant neighborhood quality spatial clusters were identified (Gi*_z-score = -4.85 to 5.36). Adjusting for sociodemographics, walkability was associated with lower percentiles in body mass index (BMI) and diastolic blood pressure percentiles (DBP) (β = -5.25, 95% CI: -8.88, -1.62 and β = -3.95, 95% CI: -7.02, -0.89, respectively) for all, lower skinfold thickness (β = -4.83, 95% CI: -9.97, 0.31 and higher sit-ups (β = 1.67, 95% CI: -0.17, 3.50) among girls, and lower systolic blood pressure percentiles (SBP) (β = -4.75, 95% CI: -8.99, -0.52) among boys. Greenspace was associated with higher BMI (β = 6.17, 95% CI: 2.47, 9.87), SBP (β = 3.47, 95% CI: -0.05, 6.99), and DBP (β = 4.11, 95% CI: 1.08, 7.13).

Conclusions: COI indicators were positively associated with youth fitness. Disparities in youth cardiovascular disease risk may be modifiable through community interventions and built environment initiatives targeting select neighborhood factors.