The socioeconomic gradient in physical inactivity: evidence from one million adults in England

Lisa Farrell; Bruce Hollingsworth; Carol Propper; Michael A Shields

doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.10.039

The socioeconomic gradient in physical inactivity: evidence from one million adults in England

Soc Sci Med. 2014 Dec:123:55-63. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.10.039. Epub 2014 Oct 18.

Authors

Lisa Farrell¹, Bruce Hollingsworth², Carol Propper³, Michael A Shields⁴

Affiliations

¹ RMIT University, Australia.
² Lancaster University, UK.
³ Imperial College London, Bristol University and CEPR, UK.
⁴ Monash University, Australia. Electronic address: michael.shields@monash.edu.

PMID: 25462605
DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.10.039

Abstract

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.

Keywords: Area deprivation; Education; England; Income; Physical inactivity.

MeSH terms

Adult
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
England
Female
Health Surveys
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Sedentary Behavior*
Social Class*
Socioeconomic Factors