Scoping Conceptions of Equity: Reviewing a Decade of Physical Activity Research

Deborah H John; Lauri Andress; Semra Aytur; Tina Dodge; Jeanette Gustat; Clare E Schuchardt-Vogt; Rebecca E Lee

Scoping Conceptions of Equity: Reviewing a Decade of Physical Activity Research

J Healthy Eat Act Living. 2023 Aug 1;3(1):7-18. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Deborah H John¹, Lauri Andress², Semra Aytur³, Tina Dodge¹, Jeanette Gustat⁴, Clare E Schuchardt-Vogt⁵, Rebecca E Lee⁵

Affiliations

¹ Oregon State University, College of Health, U.S.A.
² University of New Mexico, College of Population Health, U.S.A.
³ University of New Hampshire, Department of Health Management & Policy, U.S.A.
⁴ Tulane University, School of Public Health & Tropical Medicine, U.S.A.
⁵ Arizona State University, Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, Edson College of Nursing and Health Innovation, U.S.A.

PMID: 37794922
PMCID: PMC10546938

Abstract

Lee and Cubbin's (2009) call for a "socially just" Ecological Model of Physical Activity (EMPA) prompted an inquiry into physical activity (PA), active living (AL) research that advances social justice framed as a set of equity-centered principles for research. In response to the call, we conducted a scoping review to explore how PAAL research has operationalized equity to advance a socially-just EMPA. We searched for original research, published between 2010 and 2020, using key terms for 'physical activity' and 'equity' that produced 5,152 non-duplicated records. Title-abstract screening for exclusion/inclusion criteria disqualified 4,392 records. A review protocol and coding guide was developed, piloted, and revised by team members. The remaining 760 abstracts were reviewed and consensus coded for PA Variable (dependent or independent) and Factor (individual outcome or contextual exposure), Equity (population demographic or social-environmental determinant), and Social Ecological Milieu (SEM) (PAAL-specific or SEM-general policy, system, or environment (PSE) operations. Of the 463 studies selected, PA codified as an individual outcome (67%) more often than as a contextual-exposure (33%) factor. Equity codified more frequently as a population demographic (69%) rather than as a social-environmental determinant (31%). The SEM codified as PAAL-specific (44%) or as SEM-general (56%) PSE factors. Based on multistep study abstract reviews, the selected studies more often missed the opportunity to center equity in PAAL research by examining social, environmental, political, and systemic factors as institutionalized inequities at the root of PAAL disparities. We will not achieve a socially-just EMPA without shared conceptualizations of equity followed by intentional action.

Keywords: equity-centered; physical activity disparity; scoping review; social determinants of health; social ecological model; social justice.