Residential segregation and exercise among a national sample of Hispanic adults.

We examined the role of residential segregation in exercise among American Hispanics for the first time. Data on the 8785 Hispanic adults in the 2000 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) were linked to 2000 census data on the segregation of metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs). Multi-level modeling revealed that after adjusting for individual-level variables, the odds of exercise among Hispanics residing in high-segregated MSAs were 18% lower than those residing in low-segregated MSAs. This suggests that segregation contributes to lack of exercise among Hispanics; this effect might be mediated by the relative lack of recreational resources in segregated-Hispanic neighborhoods.