Does living in an activity-friendly neighborhood help adolescent boys benefit from a program designed to help them be more active? This project builds upon an existing study in the Houston area that is trying to determine if Boy Scouts completing physical activity or nutrition badges increase their levels of physical activity or show a changed Body Mass Index. The researchers from the Baylor College of Medicine want to see if the boys in more activity-friendly neighborhoods had higher base activity levels, and/or more success with the physical activity programs. The researchers are collecting data on the environment around the boys’ homes, including whether there are sidewalks or bicycle paths and the number of destinations within one mile. The boys completing the nutrition badges will be used as a control group for the boys taking part in the physical activity badges. The study will help show whether the built environment affects efforts to change adolescent boys’ physical activity levels.
