• Deborah Salvo, Rodrigo S Reis, Olga L Sarmiento, and Michael Pratt.
• Nutrition and Health Sciences, Graduate Division of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA; Nutrition and Health Research Center, National Institute of Public Health of Mexico, Mexico; Stanford Prevention Research Center, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA. Electronic address: dsalvo@stanford.edu.
• Prev Med. 2014 Dec 1; 69 Suppl 1: S86-92.

ObjectiveThere is evidence linking the built environment (BE) with physical activity (PA), but few studies have been conducted in Latin America (LA). State-of-the-art methods and protocols have been designed in and applied in high-income countries (HIC). In this paper, we identify key challenges and potential solutions to conducting high-quality PA and BE research in LA.MethodsThe experience of implementing the IPEN data collection protocol (IPEN: International Physical Activity Environment Network) in Curitiba, Brazil; Bogotá, Colombia; and Cuernavaca, Mexico (2010-2011); is described to identify challenges for conducting PA and BE research in LA.ResultsFive challenges were identified: lack of academic capacity (implemented solutions (IS): building a strong international collaborative network); limited data availability, access and quality (IS: partnering with influential local institutions, and crafting creative solutions to use the best-available data); socio-political, socio-cultural and socio-economic context (IS: in-person recruitment and data collection, alternative incentives); safety (IS: strict rules for data collection procedures, and specific measures to increase trust); and appropriateness of instruments and measures (IS: survey adaptation, use of standardized additional survey components, and employing a context-based approach to understanding the relationship between PA and the BE). Advantages of conducting PA and BE research in LA were also identified.ConclusionsConducting high-quality PA and BE research in LA is challenging but feasible. Networks of institutions and researchers from both HIC and LMIC play a key role. The lessons learned from the IPEN LA study may be applicable to other LMIC.Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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