Examining Daily Associations of Nature Exposure, Body Appreciation, and Physical Activity Among Adolescents
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Date
2024-08-07
Authors
Castro, Esmeralda
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Oregon
Abstract
Substantial evidence supports engaging in moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity (MVPA) for myriad health benefits, yet most adolescents are not active enough to maximize the
benefits. Especially among girls, adolescence is marked by reductions in MVPA and body
appreciation, both linked to poor physical and mental and health outcomes. There are mixed
findings on how nature exposure (NE) is related to MVPA and body appreciation. Most of these
NE studies were conducted among adults and all have measured NE by self-report or objective
proxies (e.g., quantity of vegetation in an area), which are vulnerable to bias and inaccuracy.
Objectives of the current study among adolescents were to determine 1) the daily associations
among MVPA, body appreciation, and NE using an innovative mobile application that measures
objective individual-level indicators of time spent in nature, 2) whether and how gender
moderates these associations, and 3) if body appreciation indirectly affects the relationship
between NE and MVPA.
In summer 2023, a community sample of Oregon adolescents participated in a prospective
7-day study. Participants wore ActiGraph GT3X+ accelerometers to measure MVPA, enabled
the phone application “NatureDose™” to measure NE, and answered the short form 3-item Body
Appreciation Scale-2 daily. Adjusting for covariates, multilevel linear regressions and
moderation analyses, and indirect pathway analyses were conducted. Participants (N = 209; M =
14.39 y/o ± 1.66; 50.23% cisgender girls; 80.19% White) were highly active (M = 281.9 ± 18.54
MVPA min/day), exposed to nature (M = 95.2 ± 66.6 min/day), and reported moderately high
body appreciation (M = 3.99 ± 0.06 per day). Daily NE, not body appreciation, was significantly
and positively associated with daily MVPA (γ10 = 10.26, p < .001). Gender did not moderate the
daily associations. Body appreciation did not indirectly affect the relationship between NE and
MVPA. This is the first study among adolescents to use an objective, individual-level measure of
NE and confirm the previously identified positive link between NE and MVPA in this age group.
Replication in more diverse adolescent samples is a next step. Findings support interventions that
integrate nature and MVPA to promote adolescent health.
Description
Keywords
adolescents, body appreciation, nature, physical activity