Socio-demographics, neighborhood characteristics, time use, and leisure-time physical activity engagement patterns over the life course

Xiaoyue Chen; Astrid Kemperman; Harry Timmermans

doi:10.1016/j.ssmph.2022.101244

Socio-demographics, neighborhood characteristics, time use, and leisure-time physical activity engagement patterns over the life course

SSM Popul Health. 2022 Sep 28:19:101244. doi: 10.1016/j.ssmph.2022.101244. eCollection 2022 Sep.

Authors

Xiaoyue Chen¹, Astrid Kemperman¹, Harry Timmermans^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of the Built Environment, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, the Netherlands.
² Department of Air Transportation Management, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing, China.

Abstract

Physical inactivity remains a major public health challenge today. Understanding the determinants of changes in habitual leisure-time physical activity patterns by type across the life course is important for developing targeted interventions. This study presents a multiple discrete-continuous extreme value model to examine the determinants of habitual participation in and time allocation to multiple leisure-time physical activities over the life course. A comprehensive set of socio-demographics, life transitions, neighborhood characteristics, and time-related factors are considered as determinants of each activity type, including sports, recreational walking, cycling, outdoor playing, and dog walking. Results estimated on retrospective survey data collected in the Netherlands show significant differences in the determinants of the different types of leisure-time physical activity. Social-demographic factors have a strong influence on sports participation, followed by recreational walking, cycling, outdoor playing, and then dog walking. Life transitions have different effects. A change in marital status appears to be the most important life event for sports participation while changing jobs is the most important event for the other two activities. Neighborhood characteristics primarily affect participation in recreational walking, cycling, outdoor playing, and dog walking. As for time-related factors, they mainly impact sports engagement. The findings of this study could help develop effective interventions to promote leisure-time physical activity participation during life transitions and encourage healthy living.

Keywords: Leisure-time physical activity; Leisure-time physical activity, LTPA; Life course; Multiple discrete-continuous extreme value model; Neighborhood characteristics; Recreational walking, cycling, and outdoor play, Recreational-WCP.