Uneven Effects of Adverse Weather Conditions on Participation in Leisure-Time Physical Activities Across Income Levels

Abstract

Purpose: To examine how the effect of adverse weather on participation in leisure-time physical activities (LTPA) varies with income. Design: Cross-sectional study. Subjects: 14,394 individuals from 56 Canadian cities, surveyed in 1992, 1998, and 2005. Measures: The adverseness level of daily weather is measured by the number of hours with precipitation or strong winds (wind speeds in excess of 38 km/hour) between 6 am and 11 pm. Analysis: Probit and multinomial logit models are used to examine the variation in weather-LTPA correlations across income levels. Results: At the mean income level, when the weather quality deteriorated from all-day nice weather to all-day adverse weather, the probability of participating in LTPA decreased by 24.54% (from 0.2424 to 0.1829, P < 0.01). As income increased by $10,000, the same deterioration in weather quality led to a 17.06% decrease in LTPA (from 0.2508 to 0.2080, P < 0.01). The smaller decrease is mainly because the $10,000 increase in income is associated with a 14.49% increase in indoor LTPA, which partly offsets the decrease in outdoor LTPA. Conclusion: Interventions and policies that increase indoor physical activity options, such as providing easier access to indoor facilities and offering subsidies for purchasing or renting home exercise equipment, are promising for effectively promoting LTPA, especially for individuals in lower-income groups or from regions that frequently experience adverse weather.