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. 2017 Jul;71(7):673-680.
doi: 10.1136/jech-2016-208052. Epub 2016 Dec 15.

Intergenerational social mobility and leisure-time physical activity in adulthood: a systematic review

Ahmed Elhakeem  1 , Rebecca Hardy  1 , David Bann  2 , Rishi Caleyachetty  1 , Theodore D Cosco  1 , Richard Pg Hayhoe  3 , Stella G Muthuri  1 , Rebecca Wilson  1 , Rachel Cooper  1
Affiliations

Intergenerational social mobility and leisure-time physical activity in adulthood: a systematic review

Ahmed Elhakeem et al. J Epidemiol Community Health. 2017 Jul.

Abstract

Aim: To systematically review the association between intergenerational social mobility and leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) in adulthood, in order to assess all published evidence relating to the hypothesis that adults socially mobile between childhood and adulthood will have different levels of LTPA than those in the same socioeconomic group across life.

Methods: A systematic review was carried out following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Studies were identified by searching databases (MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO) and reference lists. Eligible studies examined associations between any indicator of social mobility, based on at least one measure of parental socioeconomic position (SEP) and one measure of own adult SEP, and LTPA in adulthood.

Results: 13 studies comprising a total of 44 000 participants from the UK, Finland, Sweden, Australia, USA and Brazil were included. Participants were aged 16-70 years and were from population-based surveys, occupational cohorts and primary care registries. Most studies (n=9) used occupational class measures to identify social mobility; education (n=4) and income (n=1) were also used. There was consistent evidence in nine of the 13 studies that stable high socioeconomic groups tended to report the highest levels of participation in LTPA and stable low socioeconomic groups the lowest. Upward and downwardly mobile groups participated in LTPA at levels between these stable groups.

Conclusions: Cumulative exposure to higher SEP in childhood and adulthood was associated with higher LTPA in adulthood. Thus, a potential outcome of policies and interventions which aim to minimise exposure to socioeconomic adversity may be increased LTPA among adults.

Trial registration number: CRD42016036538.

Keywords: PHYSICAL ACTIVITY; SOCIO-ECONOMIC; SPORT; SYSTEMATIC REVIEWS; Social and life-course epidemiology.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Systematic review flow chart.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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