Correlates of Physical Activity Differ by Sex and Country of Birth Among Mexican-Heritage Youth

Abstract

Barriers to physical activity (PA) may be experienced differently by sex and country of birth. We examine psychosocial correlates of PA in four groups based on sex (boy/girl) and country of birth (Mexico/United States (U.S.). 1,154 Mexican heritage adolescents residing in Houston, Texas provided psychosocial data in 2008–09 and PA (number of days per week active for at least 60 minutes) in 2010–11 (N=1,001). Poisson regression models were fitted for each groups. Among boys, English language preference (pUS-born=0.045, pMexico-born=0.008) and higher subjective social status (pUS-born=0.002, pMexico-born=0.031) were associated with increased PA. Body image dissatisfaction was associated with decreased PA in Mexico-born girls (p=0.007). Sensation-seeking tendencies were associated with increased PA among all groups; anxiety was associated with decreased PA among all but U.S.-born boys. Tailoring PA interventions to key sex-specific psychosocial correlates rather than country of birth may enhance efficacy of interventions to increase PA levels among Mexican heritage adolescents.

Associations of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity with psychological problems and suicidality in Chinese high school students: a cross-sectional study

“…Furthermore, although PA seems to reduce depression and anxiety symptoms, little attention has been given to examining whether gender (i.e., male-female) influences psychological health outcomes. In a recent study (Wilkinson et al, 2017), anxiety related to body image was shown to be lower for American-born and Mexican-born females who engaged in more PA than for those who were less engaged in PA. However, this relationship was different for the males in the study.…”

“…Furthermore, given that gender has been proposed to moderate the relationship between PA and some psychological problems (i.e. McMahon et al, 2017;Sun et al, 2014;Wilkinson et al, 2017), we performed all analyses stratified by gender. We hypothesized that higher MVPA would be more protective against psychological health in boys than in girls.…”

Análisis de los niveles de actividad física en el tiempo libre, IMC, satisfacción y apoyo a la autonomía en educación física en una muestra mexicana (Analysis of the levels of physical activity in free time, BMI, satisfaction and support for autonomy in

“…Además, los niveles de incertidumbre aumentan ya que gran parte de los adolescentes mexicanos afirman no tener intención futura de practicar AFD en su tiempo libre (Baños, 2020). En esta línea, aumenta la diferencia en función del género, ya que las chicas se muestran menos activas y la AFD que practican es de menor intensidad (Cocca, Chmelik, Cocca, Espino, & Rodenas, 2017;Wilkinson, Miller, Koehly, Daniel & Forman, 2017). Por lo que el panorama en los jóvenes mexicanos es alarmante.…”

Predictors healthy physical condition from Social Determinants in Colombian schoolchildren: Multicenter study

“…the older the person, the less physical condition, which denotes non-linearity (Bauman et al, 2009;Palomino et al, 2017;Prieto Benavidez et al, 2015;Delgado -Floody et al, 2019), those that show how it is in adulthood where physical activity practice increases again and physical condition improves (Humphreys and Ruseski 2010) those that establish how BMI is closely related to diet, physical activity practice and parents' schooling (Bucco-dos Santos,& Zubiaur-Gonzales 2013;Díaz-Martínez et al, 2013;Cubidos de Carrillo, 2015;Zurita-Ortega et al, 2018;), who propose how sleep restriction is a risk factor associated with the presence of obesity (Duran et al, 2012;Reverter-Masia et al, 2017), those who mention the importance of staying active, i.e., engaging in physical activity, physical exercise and sport, and their relationship with different social and cultural aspects (Alvarez, et al, 2020) those that show that schoolchildren with physically active parents are more inclined to practice sport (Zurita-Ortega, 2018, Solis-Urra et al, 2019. Based on the above associations, it was found that the social determinants of health that predict healthy physical condition are BMI, living with the father, number of meals he consumes per day, being a beneficiary at the school restaurant and hours he sleeps at night, which are modifiable, an aspect that invites to continue insisting on processes of construction and implementation of effective nutrition programs, lifestyles and social coexistence that help improve the physical condition of schoolchildren as well as other studies suggest (Wilkinson, 2016 ;Carulla, et al, 2019;Ochoa-Martínez et al ,. 2018).…”