Differences in leisure-time, household, and work-related physical activity by race, ethnicity, and education

Abstract

Background: Racial and ethnic minority groups have lower levels of leisure‐time physical activity (LTPA) than whites, but it is unclear how much of this is explained by differences in socioeconomic status and health. Objective: To examine differences in LTPA, work‐related physical activity (WRPA; heavy household chores and strenuous job activities), and total physical activity (TPA) by race, ethnicity, and education. Design, Setting, and Participants: Cross‐sectional analyses of data from the 1992 Health and Retirement Study for a nationally representative cohort of 9,621 community‐dwelling adults aged 51–61 years. Measurements: Physical activity scores for LTPA, WRPA, and TPA based upon self‐reported frequency of light or vigorous recreational activities, heavy household chores, and strenuous job‐related physical activities. Main Results: LTPA was lower for blacks and Hispanics compared to whites, and LTPA steadily declined with lower levels of education. WRPA showed the reverse pattern, being lowest for whites and persons with greater education. Education was far more important than race/ethnicity as a determinant of LTPA and WRPA in multivariate analyses. After adjusting for differences in overall health and physical functioning, mean TPA scores were similar across racial/ethnic and education categories; blacks (β=1.0; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.5 to 1.5) and Spanish‐speaking Hispanics (β=1.1; 95% CI, 0.3 to 1.9) had slightly higher levels of TPA than whites (P<.01 and P=.01, respectively). Conclusions: Differences in educational attainment and health status accounted for virtually all of the racial and ethnic differences in LTPA. After accounting for WRPA, TPA was similar across race, ethnicity, and education subgroups.

A Systematic Literature Review of Sport and Physical Activity Participation in Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) Migrant Populations

“…The demographic correlates of sport and physical activity participation were mostly consistent across the literature with the general trends suggesting that males participate in more leisure time physical activity than females [48][49][50]. There were a small number of studies, which did not find gender differences [36,39,51,52].…”

Perceptions of Neighborhood Park Quality: Associations with Physical Activity and Body Mass Index

“…Given that demographics and past park use have been shown to influence perceptions of parks [33,64,65] as well as physical activity and health [29,[66][67][68][69][70], gender, age, income, race/ethnicity, and past park use were controlled for in the four models. To categorize past park use, respondents who indicated that they had not visited a park within the last month were treated as nonvisitors.…”

Systematic Exposure to Recreation Centers Increases Use by Latino Families with Young Children

“…8,9 Physical activity rates decline dramatically as children grow from childhood to adolescence, a decline that continues with age and that holds true not just for Latinos but for the entire U.s. population. [10][11][12][13] because most Americans do not meet daily activity recommendations, policymakers have established goals to increase the number of people who lead active, healthy lives. 14,15 However, there are barriers to physical activity, such as unsafe neighborhoods and limited access to built environments.…”