Socioeconomic differences in physical activity: The role of neighbourhood factors

Physical activity is an important determinant of health; however, many people do not meet recommendations for sufficient physical activity. Also, studies have shown large socioeconomic inequalities in physical activity, with those with a lower socioeconomic position (SEP) less likely to participate in recreational and vigorous activities than high SEP groups. From this respect, it is important to investigate to what extent physical activity and inequalities in physical activity are associated with environmental factors, such as physical and social neighbourhood characteristics. Certain characteristics of neighbourhoods, like aesthetics and social cohesion, may have a positive association with residents' physical activity levels, but lower exposures among low socioeconomic groups. These characteristics may then serve as entry points for interventions to increase physical activity levels and reduce inequalities in physical activity. In this chapter, we start with explaining socioeconomic health inequalities and how health behaviours, like physical activity, may contribute to these inequalities. Subsequently, we will introduce theoretical models (i.e. the Theory of Planned Behaviour and social ecological models of health behaviour) that formed the theoretical basis for a series of studies on inequalities in physical activity and neighbourhood characteristics. Then, the results of two empirical studies are presented, namely, regarding inequalities in sports participation and recreational walking. Subsequently, we discuss to what extent socioeconomic inequalities in neighbourhood perceptions are due to differences in objective neighbourhood characteristics or subject to other influences. We end this chapter with a discussion of challenges for future research into neighbourhood influences on health behaviours.

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