Socioeconomic Status Indicators And Accelerometer-determined Physical Activity In Brazilian Children

Abstract

PURPOSE: To analyze the associations between socioeconomic status (SES) indicators and physical activity in Brazilian children. METHODS: This study focused on 485 Brazilian children enrolled in the International Study of Childhood Obesity, Lifestyle and the Environment (ISCOLE). Time spent in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), and steps/day was determined from 4-7 consecutive days of 24-hour accelerometry. Children were further categorized as meeting or not meeting guidelines of ≥60 min/day MVPA and ≥12,000 steps/day, on average. Parents answered questionnaires that queried total annual household income, parental education level, parental employment status and automobile ownership. Multi-level logistic regression was used to determine the SES indicators that best predicted MVPA and steps/day guidelines. RESULTS: Children wore accelerometers for 6.9±1.1 valid (≥10 hrs/day of waking wear time) days, averaging 896±49 min/day of wear time during waking hours. Mean MVPA (44.1% met MVPA guidelines) time was 59.5±26.3 min/day and children averaged 9,639±2,780 for steps/day (18.4% met steps/day guidelines). A majority of reported total annual household income (38.9%) fell into the low category (level 1), while 26.3%, 21.1% and 13.6% comprised levels two through four, respectively. Higher relative total annual household income level (OR 0.31; 95% confidence Interval = 0.15-0.65), and relatively higher maternal (OR 0.38; 0.20-0.72) and paternal (OR 0.36; 0.17-0.75) education levels were associated with a lower odds of children meeting MVPA guidelines (but not steps/day guidelines). Household automobile ownership was associated with lower odds of children meeting MVPA (OR 0.48; 0.31-0.75) and steps/day guidelines (OR 0.44; 0.26-0.74). There was no association between parental employment status and MVPA and steps/day guidelines. CONCLUSION: In contrast to findings from developed countries, we found that higher total annual household income and parental education level were associated with a lower likelihood of children meeting MVPA guidelines. Household automobile ownership was negatively associated with meeting both the MVPA and steps/day guidelines.