Educational differentials in key domains of physical activity by ethnicity, age and sex: a cross-sectional study of over 40 000 participants in the UK household longitudinal study (2013–2015)

Objectives To assess whether educational differentials in three key physical activity (PA) domains vary by age, sex and ethnicity.Design National cross-sectional survey.Setting UK.Participants Altogether 40 270 participants, aged 20 years and over, from the UK Household Longitudinal Study with infor...

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Main Authors: Lucy J Griffiths, Rachel Cooper, Snehal M Pinto Pereira, David Bann, Barbara Jefferis, Meg E Fluharty, Michaela Benzeval
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMJ Publishing Group 2020-01-01
Series:BMJ Open
Online Access:https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/10/1/e033318.full
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author Lucy J Griffiths
Rachel Cooper
Snehal M Pinto Pereira
David Bann
Barbara Jefferis
Meg E Fluharty
Michaela Benzeval
author_facet Lucy J Griffiths
Rachel Cooper
Snehal M Pinto Pereira
David Bann
Barbara Jefferis
Meg E Fluharty
Michaela Benzeval
author_sort Lucy J Griffiths
collection DOAJ
description Objectives To assess whether educational differentials in three key physical activity (PA) domains vary by age, sex and ethnicity.Design National cross-sectional survey.Setting UK.Participants Altogether 40 270 participants, aged 20 years and over, from the UK Household Longitudinal Study with information on education, PA and demographics collected in 2013–2015.Outcome measures Participation in active travel (AT), occupational activity (OA) and leisure time physical activity (LTPA) at the time of assessment.Results Lower educational attainment was associated with higher AT and OA, but lower weekly LTPA activity; these associations were modified by sex, ethnicity and age. Education-related differences in AT were larger for women—the difference in predicted probability of activity between the highest and the lowest education groups was −10% in women (95% CI: −11.9% to 7.9%) and −3% in men (−4.8% to –0.4%). Education-related differences in OA were larger among men −35% (-36.9% to –32.4%) than women −17% (-19.4% to –15.0%). Finally, education-related differences in moderate-to-vigorous LTPA varied by ethnicity; for example, differences were 17% (16.2% to 18.7%) for white individuals compared with 6% (0.6% to 11.6%) for black individuals.Conclusions Educational differences in PA vary by domain and are modified by age, sex and ethnicity. A better understanding of physically inactive subgroups may aid development of interventions to both increase activity levels and reduce health inequalities.
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spelling doaj-art-0b83223d1f9e4bf9906d6f74a97ad8a02024-12-07T01:30:09ZengBMJ Publishing GroupBMJ Open2044-60552020-01-0110110.1136/bmjopen-2019-033318Educational differentials in key domains of physical activity by ethnicity, age and sex: a cross-sectional study of over 40 000 participants in the UK household longitudinal study (2013–2015)Lucy J Griffiths0Rachel Cooper1Snehal M Pinto Pereira2David Bann3Barbara Jefferis4Meg E Fluharty5Michaela Benzeval61Life Course Epidemiology and Biostatistics, UCL Institute of Child Health, London, UK3 Department of Sport and Exercise Sciences, Musculoskeletal Science and Sports Medicine Research Centre, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, UKUCL Division of Surgery & Interventional Science, University College London, London, UKCenter for Longitudinal Studies, Department of Social Science, University College London, London, UKsenior lecturer1 Centre for Longitudinal Studies, University College London, London, UK1 MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, School of Health and Wellbeing, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UKObjectives To assess whether educational differentials in three key physical activity (PA) domains vary by age, sex and ethnicity.Design National cross-sectional survey.Setting UK.Participants Altogether 40 270 participants, aged 20 years and over, from the UK Household Longitudinal Study with information on education, PA and demographics collected in 2013–2015.Outcome measures Participation in active travel (AT), occupational activity (OA) and leisure time physical activity (LTPA) at the time of assessment.Results Lower educational attainment was associated with higher AT and OA, but lower weekly LTPA activity; these associations were modified by sex, ethnicity and age. Education-related differences in AT were larger for women—the difference in predicted probability of activity between the highest and the lowest education groups was −10% in women (95% CI: −11.9% to 7.9%) and −3% in men (−4.8% to –0.4%). Education-related differences in OA were larger among men −35% (-36.9% to –32.4%) than women −17% (-19.4% to –15.0%). Finally, education-related differences in moderate-to-vigorous LTPA varied by ethnicity; for example, differences were 17% (16.2% to 18.7%) for white individuals compared with 6% (0.6% to 11.6%) for black individuals.Conclusions Educational differences in PA vary by domain and are modified by age, sex and ethnicity. A better understanding of physically inactive subgroups may aid development of interventions to both increase activity levels and reduce health inequalities.https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/10/1/e033318.full
spellingShingle Lucy J Griffiths
Rachel Cooper
Snehal M Pinto Pereira
David Bann
Barbara Jefferis
Meg E Fluharty
Michaela Benzeval
Educational differentials in key domains of physical activity by ethnicity, age and sex: a cross-sectional study of over 40 000 participants in the UK household longitudinal study (2013–2015)
BMJ Open
title Educational differentials in key domains of physical activity by ethnicity, age and sex: a cross-sectional study of over 40 000 participants in the UK household longitudinal study (2013–2015)
title_full Educational differentials in key domains of physical activity by ethnicity, age and sex: a cross-sectional study of over 40 000 participants in the UK household longitudinal study (2013–2015)
title_fullStr Educational differentials in key domains of physical activity by ethnicity, age and sex: a cross-sectional study of over 40 000 participants in the UK household longitudinal study (2013–2015)
title_full_unstemmed Educational differentials in key domains of physical activity by ethnicity, age and sex: a cross-sectional study of over 40 000 participants in the UK household longitudinal study (2013–2015)
title_short Educational differentials in key domains of physical activity by ethnicity, age and sex: a cross-sectional study of over 40 000 participants in the UK household longitudinal study (2013–2015)
title_sort educational differentials in key domains of physical activity by ethnicity age and sex a cross sectional study of over 40 000 participants in the uk household longitudinal study 2013 2015
url https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/10/1/e033318.full
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