Relationship between Socioeconomic Status and Physical Activity Behavior in Middle School Children

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In adults, the inverse relationship between socioeconomic status (SES) and physical activity (PA) behavior is well-established. However, among youth the association between SES and PA behavior is less clear. Eligibility to receive Free or Reduced Price Lunch (FRPL) is a widely used indicator of SES in school-based intervention studies. However, because this indicator is normally reported and modeled at the school level, the individual-level association between FRPL status and PA participation remains indeterminate. PURPOSE: To determine the association between FRPL status and change in PA status in a diverse sample of middle school children. METHODS: A cohort of 716 middle school students (53.5% female, 87.4% white, 5.6% black, 3.2% Hispanic) attending one of the 8 control schools participating in the Healthy Youth Places PA intervention study provided data for these analyses. FRPL status for each participant was obtained from student records provided by schools. Participation in moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA g 4 METs) and vigorous PA (VPA, g 6 METs) during the student's 6th, 7th and 8th grade years was measured using the Previous Day Physical Activity Recall. Participants were classified as meeting PA guidelines (60 minutes MVPA daily) if they reported, on average, 2 or more 30-minute blocks of MVPA. SES related differences in meeting PA guidelines at 2-yrs follow-up were evaluated using multiple logistic regression analyses. All logistic models were adjusted for sex, ethnicity, baseline PA status, and clustering of students within schools.RESULTS: The percentage of participants eligible for FRPL was 27.9%. After adjusting for sex, ethnicity, clustering within school, and PA status in the 6th grade, non-FRPL recipients were 1.9 times more likely than FRPL recipients to meet PA guidelines in the 8th grade (95% C.I. 1.03-3.60, p = .042). CONCLUSIONS:FRPL status is inversely associated with physical activity and appears to be a useful indicator of SES in school-based studies. c2006The American College of Sports Medicinen