RESEARCH REPORT

Leisure time exercise and personal circumstances in the working age population: longitudinal analysis of the British household panel survey

Frank Popham, Richard Mitchell

Research Unit in Health, Behaviour and Change, University of Edinburgh Medical School, Edinburgh, UK

Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Dr F Popham
Research Unit in Health, Behaviour and Change, University of Edinburgh Medical School, Teviot Place, Edinburgh EH8 9AG, UK; f.popham{at}ed.ac.uk

Objectives: Investigate the impact of social, economic, and family circumstances on participation in weekly leisure time exercise.

Design: Longitudinal regression analysis of the British household panel survey.

Participants: 9473 people (4521 men and 4952 women) giving 27 881 person years of responses across eight years and four survey waves.

Main results: There was considerable variation among people in regular exercise participation over time. Having children was associated with a reduced likelihood of exercise for both men and women, although there were sex differences in this association according to the age of the youngest child. For both men and women working long hours was associated with a reduced likelihood of exercise, as was having a lower grade job. Retired men and women were more likely to exercise, as were those who attended a fee paying school. There was no strong independent association between household income and exercise.

Conclusions: For most people, participation in leisure time exercise "comes and goes" rather than being something they always or never do. Those with time pressures from work or domestic life are less likely to participate in leisure time physical activity. There are important sex differences in the impact of having children, with women experiencing longer term detrimental effects. Working long hours reduces leisure time exercise participation. Opportunities for physical activity as part of our daily working routines should be increased.

Keywords: exercise; socioeconomic factors

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?

Relevant Article

In this issue

Carlos Alvarez-Dardet, John R Ashton
J Epidemiol Community Health 2006 60: 185. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Aihara, Y., Minai, J., Kikuchi, Y., Aoyama, A., Shimanouchi, S. (2009). Cognition of Social Capital in Older Japanese Men and Women. J Aging Health 21: 1083-1097 [Abstract]  
• deRuiter, W. K., Faulkner, G., Cairney, J., Veldhuizen, S. (2008). Characteristics of Physically Active Smokers and Implications for Harm Reduction. AJPH 98: 925-931 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Emslie, C., Whyte, F., Campbell, A., Mutrie, N., Lee, L., Ritchie, D., Kearney, N. (2007). 'I wouldn't have been interested in just sitting round a table talking about cancer'; exploring the experiences of women with breast cancer in a group exercise trial. Health Educ Res 22: 827-838 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Tully, M. A, Cupples, M. E, Hart, N. D, McEneny, J., McGlade, K. J, Chan, W.-S., Young, I. S (2007). Randomised controlled trial of home-based walking programmes at and below current recommended levels of exercise in sedentary adults. J. Epidemiol. Community Health 61: 778-783 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Slingerland, A. S., van Lenthe, F. J., Jukema, J. W., Kamphuis, C. B. M., Looman, C., Giskes, K., Huisman, M., Narayan, K. M. V., Mackenbach, J. P., Brug, J. (2007). Aging, Retirement, and Changes in Physical Activity: Prospective Cohort Findings from the GLOBE Study. Am J Epidemiol 165: 1356-1363 [Abstract] [Full Text]