Recreational patterns, body composition and socioeconomic status of Western Australian secondary school students

Gender differences in perceived environmental correlates of physical activity

BACKGROUND

Limited research has been conducted on gender differences in perceived environmental correlates of physical activity (PA). The purpose of this study was to explore the potential role of gender in the link between perceived environment and PA.

METHODS

Using a telephone-administered survey, data was collected on leisure time physical activity (LTPA), perceptions of the neighbourhood environment, and self-efficacy in a representative sample of 1209 adults from the province of Alberta, Canada. LTPA was regressed on ten measures of perceived neighbourhood environment and self-efficacy in a series of logistic regressions.

RESULTS

Women were more likely than men to perceive their neighbourhood as unsafe to go for walks at night (chi2 = 67.46, p < 0.001) and to report seeing people being active in their neighbourhood (chi2 = 6.73, p < 0.01). Conversely, women were less likely to perceive easy access to places for PA (chi2 = 11.50, p < 0.01) and availability of places to buy things within easy walking distance from home (chi2 = 4.30, p < 0.05). Adjusting for age, education, income, and place of residence, access to places for PA (OR = 2.49) and interesting things to look at in the neighbourhood (OR = 1.94), were associated with higher levels of LTPA in men. Access to places for PA (OR = 2.63) and reporting seeing people being active (OR = 1.50) were associated with increased LTPA among women. After controlling for sociodemographic variables and self-efficacy, the presence of shops and places to buy things within easy walking distance from home (OR = 1.73), interesting things to look at in the neighbourhood (OR = 1.65), and access to places for PA (OR = 1.82) were associated with higher levels of LTPA in men. Among women, no significant relationships were observed between perceived environment and LTPA after adjusting for self-efficacy.

CONCLUSION

The results provide additional support for the use of models in which gender is treated as a potential moderator of the link between the perceived environment and PA. Further, the results suggest the possibility of differential interventions to increase PA based on factors associated with gender.

Social capital and leisure time physical activity: a population based multilevel analysis in Malmö, Sweden

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the influence of social capital and individual factors on the level of leisure time physical inactivity in the neighbourhoods.

METHODS

The public health survey in Malmö 1994 is a cross sectional study. A total of 5600 people aged 20-80 years were invited to answer a postal questionnaire. The participation rate was 71%. A multilevel logistic regression model, with individuals at the first level and neighbourhoods at the second, was performed. The effect (intra-area correlation, cross level modification, and odds ratios) was analysed of individual and neighbourhood (the 1993 migration out of an area as a proxy for social capital) factors on leisure time physical inactivity after adjustment for individual factors.

RESULTS

Neighbourhood factors accounted for 5.0% of the crude total variance in physical inactivity. This effect was significantly reduced when the individual factors, especially country of origin, education, and social participation, were included in the model. In contrast, it was not reduced by the introduction of the contextual social capital variable.

CONCLUSION

This study suggests that in the neighbourhoods of Malmö leisure time physical inactivity is mainly affected by individual factors.

Socioeconomic differences in leisure-time physical activity: the role of social participation and social capital in shaping health related behaviour

Several studies have shown socioeconomic differences in leisure-time physical activity. One explanation may be socioeconomic differences in relevant psychosocial conditions. The Malmö Diet and Cancer Study is a prospective cohort study including inhabitants in Malmö, Sweden. The baseline questionnaire used in this cross-sectional study was completed by the 11,837 participants born 1926-1945 in 1992-1994. Leisure-time physical activity was measured by an item presenting a variety of activities. These activities were aggregated into a summary measure of leisure-time physical activity that takes both the intensity and duration of each specific activity into consideration. The effects of the psychosocial variables on the socioeconomic differences in leisure-time physical activity were calculated in a multivariate logistic regression analysis. The quartile with the lowest degree of leisure-time physical activity was not evenly distributed between the socioeconomic groups. Socioeconomic differences were seen as odds ratios 1.5 for skilled and 1.5 for unskilled male manual workers, compared to the high level non-manual employees. An OR 1.6 was observed for female unskilled manual workers. Self-employed men and female pensioners also had a significantly increased risk of low leisure-time physical activity. Adjustment for age, country of origin and previous/current diseases had no effect on these SES differences. Finally, adjusting for social participation almost completely erased the SES differences. Among the psychosocial variables, social participation was the strongest predictor of low physical activity, and a strong predictor for socioeconomic differences in low leisure-time physical activity. Social participation measures the individual's social activities in, for example political parties and organisations. It therefore seems possible that some of the socioeconomic differences in leisure-time physical activity are due to differing social capital between socioeconomic groups.