Abstract

Abstract Objective: To understand determinants of overweight, several studies addressed the association between neighbourhood characteristics and adult obesity. However, little is known about the association influence of such characteristics with on adolescents' overweight. This study aims at the influence of neighbourhood characteristics on adolescent BMI and lifestyle and to what extent BMI-and lifestyle variation between neighbourhoods can be explained by neighbourhood characteristics. unemployment rate, population density, traffic density, prevalence of energy-dense food supply, number of sports fields and parks, and crime rate. To test our main hypothesis, linear and logistic multilevel regression analyses were performed to predict BMI and lifestyle factors in individuals nested in neighbourhoods. Results: Findings of multilevel analysis show little between-neighbourhood variations in BMI and health-related behaviours. 2% of BMI variation, 4% of media time variation and 3% of variation in snacking behaviour could be attributed to differences in neighbourhoods. Conclusion: Environmental factors are significantly associated with adolescent BMI and health-related behaviour, however their total effect is small. Due to these results recommendations for structural policy measures as part of comprehensive measures of prevention of overweight in adolescents must be made cautiously.