Hypothetical mechanisms driving physical activity levels in ethnic minority groups living in Europe: a systematically identified evidence-based conceptual systems model.

Background: In Europe, physical activity levels tend to be lower in ethnic minority groups than the general population. Interventions and policies based on research examining isolated determinants of physical activity have had limited success in increasing physical activity levels. This study used systems dynamics theory and the capability approach theoretical framework to develop a conceptual model of how individual characteristics, institutional and physical environments and the migration context may interact to promote or hinder physical activity in ethnic minority groups living in Europe.

Using network analysis to identify leverage points based on causal loop diagrams leads to false inference.

Network analysis is gaining momentum as an accepted practice to identify which factors in causal loop diagrams (CLDs)-mental models that graphically represent causal relationships between a system's factors-are most likely to shift system-level behaviour, known as leverage points. This application of network analysis, employed to quantitatively identify leverage points without having to use computational modelling approaches that translate CLDs into sets of mathematical equations, has however not been duly reflected upon. We evaluate whether using commonly applied network analysis metrics to identify leverage points is justified, focusing on betweenness- and closeness centrality.

How theory can help to understand the potential impact of food environment policies on socioeconomic inequalities in diet: an application of Bourdieu's capital theory and the scarcity theory.

Government policies that promote healthy food environments are considered promising to reduce socioeconomic inequalities in diet. Empirical evidence of effects on these inequalities, however, is relatively scarce and, with a few exceptions, tends to be inconclusive. We use two contemporary theories that help to understand socioeconomic inequalities in health and health-related behaviours (Bourdieu's capital theory and Mullainathan and Shafir's scarcity theory) to reason how policies influencing food environments may differentially impact lower and higher socioeconomic groups.

The potential of food environment policies to reduce socioeconomic inequalities in diets and to improve healthy diets among lower socioeconomic groups: an umbrella review.

Socioeconomic inequalities in diets need to be tackled to improve population diets and prevent obesity and diet-related non-communicable diseases. The potential of food environment policies to reduce such inequalities has to date however not been appraised. The objective of this umbrella review was to assess the impact of food environment policies on socioeconomic inequalities in diets and to identify knowledge gaps in the existing literature, using the Healthy Food Environment Policy Index as a conceptual framework.

Understanding the impact of exposure to adverse socioeconomic conditions on chronic stress from a complexity science perspective.

Background: Chronic stress increases chronic disease risk and may underlie the association between exposure to adverse socioeconomic conditions and adverse health outcomes. The relationship between exposure to such conditions and chronic stress is complex due to feedback loops between stressor exposure and psychological processes, encompassing different temporal (acute stress response to repeated exposure over the life course) and spatial (biological/psychological/social) scales. We examined the mechanisms underlying the relationship between exposure to adverse socioeconomic conditions and chronic stress from a complexity science perspective, focusing on amplifying feedback loops across different scales.

Developing the logic framework underpinning a whole-systems approach to childhood overweight and obesity prevention: Amsterdam Healthy Weight Approach.

Background: Whole-systems approaches (WSAs) are well placed to tackle the complex local environmental influences on overweight and obesity, yet there are few examples of WSAs in practice. is a long-term, municipality-led program to improve children's physical activity, diet, and sleep through action in the home, neighborhood, school, and city. Adopting a WSA, local political, physical, social, educational, and healthcare drivers of childhood obesity are viewed as a complex adaptive system.

Dynamics of the complex food environment underlying dietary intake in low-income groups: a systems map of associations extracted from a systematic umbrella literature review.

Background: Inequalities in obesity pertain in part to differences in dietary intake in different socioeconomic groups. Examining the economic, social, physical and political food environment of low-income groups as a complex adaptive system - i.e.

Occupational Physical Activity Habits of UK Office Workers: Cross-Sectional Data from the Active Buildings Study.

Habitual behaviours are learned responses that are triggered automatically by associated environmental cues. The unvarying nature of most workplace settings makes workplace physical activity a prime candidate for a habitual behaviour, yet the role of habit strength in occupational physical activity has not been investigated. Aims of the present study were to: (i) document occupational physical activity habit strength; and (ii) investigate associations between occupational activity habit strength and occupational physical activity levels.

Associations between the Objectively Measured Office Environment and Workplace Step Count and Sitting Time: Cross-Sectional Analyses from the Active Buildings Study.

Office-based workers spend a large proportion of the day sitting and tend to have low overall activity levels. Despite some evidence that features of the external physical environment are associated with physical activity, little is known about the influence of the spatial layout of the internal environment on movement, and the majority of data use self-report. This study investigated associations between objectively-measured sitting time and activity levels and the spatial layout of office floors in a sample of UK office-based workers.

Simultaneous evaluation of physical and social environmental correlates of physical activity in adults: A systematic review.

Background: Ecological models of physical activity posit that social and physical environmental features exert independent and interactive influences on physical activity, but previous research has focussed on independent influences. This systematic review aimed to synthesise the literature investigating how features of neighbourhood physical and social environments are associated with physical activity when both levels of influence are simultaneously considered, and to assess progress in the exploration of interactive effects of social and physical environmental correlates on physical activity.

Methods: A systematic literature search was conducted in February 2016.

Cross-sectional interactions between quality of the physical and social environment and self-reported physical activity in adults living in income-deprived communities.

Background: Understanding the environmental determinants of physical activity in populations at high risk of inactivity could contribute to the development of effective interventions. Socioecological models of activity propose that environmental factors have independent and interactive effects of physical activity but there is a lack of research into interactive effects.

Objectives: This study aimed to explore independent and interactive effects of social and physical environmental factors on self-reported physical activity in income-deprived communities.

Supportive environments for physical activity in deprived communities in the United Kingdom: A qualitative study using photo elicitation.

The health benefits of regular physical activity are substantial and well-established. However, population activity levels are insufficient to obtain health benefits in the United Kingdom (UK), and strategies to increase activity, particularly in income-deprived communities, are sought. Socioecological models of physical activity posit that activity levels are influenced by social, physical and wider environmental factors.

Are children's activity levels determined by their genes or environment? A systematic review of twin studies.

Context: The importance of physical activity to paediatric health warrants investigation into its determinants. Objective measurement allows a robust examination of genetic and environmental influences on physical activity.

Objective: To systematically review the evidence on the extent of genetic and environmental influence on children's objectively-measured activity levels from twin studies.

Self-reported sleep quality, weight status and depression in young adult twins and siblings.

Background: Research supporting relationships between sleep quality, weight, depression and anxiety has typically examined the relationships separately rather than simultaneously, potentially hampering insights into the characteristics of reported links. This study aimed to fill this gap in the research to provide further insight into the factors associated with sleep.

Methods: Data from wave 4 of the G1219 cohort were used in cross-sectional analyses.

Indoor Tracking to Understand Physical Activity and Sedentary Behaviour: Exploratory Study in UK Office Buildings.

Little is known of the patterns of physical activity, standing and sitting by office workers. However, insight into these behaviours is of growing interest, notably in regard to public health priorities to reduce non-communicable disease risk factors associated with high levels of sitting time and low levels of physical activity. With the advent and increasing availability of indoor tracking systems it is now becoming possible to build detailed pictures of the usage of indoor spaces.

Weekday and weekend patterns of objectively measured sitting, standing, and stepping in a sample of office-based workers: the active buildings study.

Background: There is a growing body of research into the total amount and patterns of sitting, standing and stepping in office-based workers and few studies using objectively measured sitting and standing. Understanding these patterns may identify daily times opportune for interventions to displace sitting with activity.

Methods: A sample of office-based workers (n = 164) residing in England were fitted with thigh-worn ActivPal accelerometers and devices were worn 24 hours a day for five consecutive days, always including Saturday and Sunday and during bathing and sleeping.

Primary caregiver knowledge of paediatric physical activity recommendations in the United Kingdom and its association with caregiver behaviour: an observational study.

Background: Most children in affluent developed countries do not meet basic physical activity recommendations. This study assessed primary caregiver knowledge of the UK recommendations on physical activity for children and examined the relationship between knowledge and components of parental support and modelling of physical activity.

Methods: Data were from a large, community-based twin birth cohort.

Active buildings: modelling physical activity and movement in office buildings. An observational study protocol.

Introduction: Health benefits of regular participation in physical activity are well documented but population levels are low. Office layout, and in particular the number and location of office building destinations (eg, print and meeting rooms), may influence both walking time and characteristics of sitting time. No research to date has focused on the role that the layout of the indoor office environment plays in facilitating or inhibiting step counts and characteristics of sitting time.