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. 2022 Aug 28:19:101216.
doi: 10.1016/j.ssmph.2022.101216. eCollection 2022 Sep.

The role of family, school and neighbourhood in explaining inequalities in physical activity trajectories between age 9 and 18

Olivia McEvoy  1 , Frances Cronin  2 , Ross Brannigan  2 , Debbi Stanistreet  2 , Richard Layte  1
Affiliations

The role of family, school and neighbourhood in explaining inequalities in physical activity trajectories between age 9 and 18

Olivia McEvoy et al. SSM Popul Health. .

Abstract

Differentials in physical activity (PA) between social and economic groups has been shown to contribute significantly to social gradients in health and life expectancy, yet relatively little is known about why differentials in PA emerge. This paper uses longitudinal data on a nationally representative sample of 6,216 young people aged between 9 and 18, from Ireland, to measure the role of family, school and neighbourhood level factors in accounting for differentials in PA trajectories between groups of young people, defined by level of maternal education, whilst adjusting for the individual characteristics of the young person (sex, age, personality, body mass index and health-status). Levels of PA fall significantly across the sample between 9 and 18, and the decline in PA is larger for the children of lower educated mothers. We find a clear gradient in PA at each age by maternal education for both males and females. Descriptive analyses found social gradients in the majority of our risk factors. Using multi-level, linear spline regression models to decompose differentials between groups, we find that family-level mechanisms account for the biggest proportion of the differential in PA for both males (50.8%) and females (35.1%). Differences in income across maternal education categories accounted for 24.1% of the differential for males and 14.7% among females, making it the second most effective mechanism in explaining the social patterning of PA. Neighbourhood-level processes resulted in a modest reduction in the same differential, while school level processes had the effect of equalising differences in PA across maternal education groups.

Keywords: Family; Health inequalities; Ireland; Longitudinal data; Neighbourhood; Physical activity; School; Social determinants of health.

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Conflict of interest statement

Authors have no conflicts of Interest to declare.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Sample exclusion criteria and final case base for analysis.
Graph 1
Graph 1
Levels of PA on the GS scale by maternal education categories.
Graph 2
Graph 2
Estimated high/low educational differentials in levels of PA on the GS scale (males).
Graph 3
Graph 3
Estimated high/low educational differentials in levels of PA on the GS scale (females).
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