title: Cardiorespiratory fitness and proximity to commercial physical activity facilities among 12th grade girls.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the relationship between proximity to commercial physical activity (PA) facilities and cardiorespiratory fitness of 12th grade girls.
  
  
  METHODS
  Adolescent girls (n = 786, 60% African American, mean age = 17.6 ± .6 years) performed a submaximal fitness test (Physical Work Capacity 170 test). Commercial PA facilities were mapped and counted within a .75-mile street-network buffer around girls' homes using Geographic Information Systems. Sedentary activities and vigorous physical activity (≥6 metabolic equivalents) were determined by the average number of 30-minute blocks reported per day on the 3-Day Physical Activity Recall. Mixed model regressions were calculated using school as a random variable.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Girls had higher weight-relative Physical Work Capacity 170 test scores if there was a commercial PA facility (n = 186, 12.4 ± 4.2 kg m/min/kg) within a .75-mile street-network buffer of home as compared with girls without a nearby facility (n = 600, 11.2 ± 3.6 kg m/min/kg). After adjusting for demographic variables, sports participation, sedentary behaviors, and vigorous physical activity, having one or more commercial PA facilities within a .75-mile street-network buffer of homes was significantly related to cardiorespiratory fitness.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Both with and without adjustment for covariates, the presence of a commercial PA facility within a .75-mile street-network buffer of a girl's home was associated with higher cardiorespiratory fitness.
authors.affiliation: Department of Exercise Science, Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA. mdowda@mailbox.sc.edu
authors.forename: Marsha
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dowda
authors.forename: Karin A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Pfeiffer
authors.forename: Felipe
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Lobelo
authors.forename: Dwayne E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Porter
authors.forename: Russell R
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Pate
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001741:Black or African American; D015992:Body Mass Index; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D020446:Fitness Centers; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006801:Humans; D010809:Physical Fitness; D012044:Regression Analysis; D057185:Sedentary Behavior; D012923:Social Class; D012931:Social Environment; D013022:South Carolina; D013177:Sports / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D044465:White People