Examining Daily Associations of Nature Exposure, Body Appreciation, and Physical Activity Among Adolescents

While physical activity and greater body appreciation are protective for adolescent health, these factors experience reductions during adolescence. Nature exposure, like spending time in natural environments, can provide benefits for health, but its link with body appreciation has not been investigated in adolescents, and results are mixed for physical activity, as prior literature largely lacks objective, individual-level measures. Guided by the Psychophysiological Stress Recovery Theory, the objectives of the present study are to investigate the daily associations among nature exposure, body appreciation, and moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity (MVPA) with objective and individual-level measures and whether gender moderates these associations among adolescents in the Pacific Northwest. Two hundred and seventeen participants were recruited to download a phone app for nature exposure, complete the three-item Body Appreciation Scale-2, and wear accelerometers for 7 days. Covariate-adjusted multilevel linear regressions and moderation results suggest that daily nature exposure was positively associated with daily MVPA but not with daily body appreciation. As the first study to objectively measure continuous and individual-level nature exposure and MVPA among adolescents, findings help clarify previously mixed literature reliant on self-report and proxy measures. Findings provide strong support for the integration of nature with adolescent physical activity interventions, but further research is needed regarding body appreciation.