Influences on physical activity in Latino adolescents over time

Compared to ethnic groups, Latinos are disproportionally at risk for developing chronic diseases that are preventable with adequate physical activity, which has been effective in lowering health risks. Latino youths are the least physically active among adolescents; however, factors influencing their physical activity are understudied. Latent growth structural equation modeling was used for the analyses of cohort-sequential longitudinal secondary data. Tests of invariance indicated that data was equivalent across the cohorts. This study examined moderate physical activity (MPA) and vigorous physical activity (VPA) trajectories in a nonprobability sample of 615 self-reported Latino adolescents aged 14 to 18 using an adapted theoretical framework, Pender’s Health Promotion model. It also examined the effects of age; gender; family annual income; parent’s marital status; and self-perceptions in physical appearance, body weight, athletic competence, social acceptance, global self-worth, ethnic identity, social connectedness, and parent-adolescent communication on physical activity intercept and slope. The analyses included addressing subsets of incomplete data, and maximum likelihood methodology was used to decrease bias in the likelihood estimates. Findings revealed two distinctive physical activity trajectories with different influences through middle adolescence in Latino youths. The average MPA was below recommendations and steady without gender differences, whereas the average VPA met national recommendations with gender differences at initial status and declined linearly and steadily in both girls and boys. Almost 6 out of 10 parents reported an annual family income of US$40,000 or less, and 64.5% were married at enrollment. Salient findings indicated that having a family with a higher annual income than others or married parents did not impact physical activity in Latino youths. However, those who showed more athletic competence also had more VPA when they were in grade 9, and those with more parent-adolescent communication or more changes in body weight perceptions had more MPA. Those with the highest scores in social connectedness had less MPA when participants were in grade 9, and those with the largest gains in social connectedness had a lower VPA change rate. Implications of the findings for nursing practice, education policy, and research are discussed.Nursin