TY - JOUR
T1 - The socioeconomic gradient in physical inactivity
T2 - Evidence from one million adults in England
AU - Farrell, Lisa
AU - Hollingsworth, Bruce
AU - Propper, Carol
AU - Shields, Michael A.
PY - 2014/12/1
Y1 - 2014/12/1
N2 - Understanding the socioeconomic gradient in physical inactivity is essential for effective health promotion. This paper exploits data on over one million individuals (1,002,216 people aged 16 and over) in England drawn from the Active People Survey (2004-11). We identify the separate associations between a variety of measures of physical inactivity with education and household income. We find high levels of physical inactivity. Further, both education and household income are strongly associated with inactivity even when controlling for local area deprivation, the availability of physical recreation and sporting facilities, the local weather and regional geography. Moreover, the gap in inactivity between those living in high and low income households is already evident in early adult life and increases up until about age 85. Overall, these results suggest that England is building up a large future health problem and one that is heavily socially graded.
AB - Understanding the socioeconomic gradient in physical inactivity is essential for effective health promotion. This paper exploits data on over one million individuals (1,002,216 people aged 16 and over) in England drawn from the Active People Survey (2004-11). We identify the separate associations between a variety of measures of physical inactivity with education and household income. We find high levels of physical inactivity. Further, both education and household income are strongly associated with inactivity even when controlling for local area deprivation, the availability of physical recreation and sporting facilities, the local weather and regional geography. Moreover, the gap in inactivity between those living in high and low income households is already evident in early adult life and increases up until about age 85. Overall, these results suggest that England is building up a large future health problem and one that is heavily socially graded.
KW - Area deprivation
KW - Education
KW - England
KW - Income
KW - Physical inactivity
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84911104020&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.10.039
DO - 10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.10.039
M3 - Article (Academic Journal)
C2 - 25462605
SN - 0277-9536
VL - 123
SP - 55
EP - 63
JO - Social Science and Medicine
JF - Social Science and Medicine
ER -