Abstract
BackgroundPhysical activity is considered as a major component of a healthy lifestyle. However, few studies have examined the relationships between the spatial accessibility to sport facilities and sport practice with a sufficient degree of specificity. The aim of this study was to investigate the associations between the spatial accessibility to specific types of sports facilities and the practice of the corresponding sports after carefully controlling for various individual socio-demographic characteristics and neighborhood socioeconomic variables.MethodsData from the RECORD Study involving 7290 participants recruited in 2007–2008, aged 30–79 years, and residing in the Paris metropolitan area were analyzed. Four categories of sports were studied: team sports, racket sports, swimming and related activities, and fitness. Spatial accessibility to sport facilities was measured with two complementary approaches that both take into account the street network (distance to the nearest facility and count of facilities around the dwelling). Associations between the spatial accessibility to sport facilities and the practice of the corresponding sports were assessed using multilevel logistic regression after adjusting for individual and contextual characteristics.ResultsHigh individual education and high household income were associated with the practice of racket sports, swimming or related activities, and fitness over the previous 7 days. The spatial accessibility to swimming pools was associated with swimming and related sports, even after adjustment for individual/contextual factors. The spatial accessibility to facilities was not related to the practice of other sports. High neighborhood income was associated with the practice of a racket sport and fitness.ConclusionsAccessibility is a multi-dimensional concept that integrates educational, financial, and geographical aspects. Our work supports the evidence that strategies to increase participation in sport activities should improve the spatial and financial access to specific facilities, but also address educational disparities in sport practice.
Highlights
Physical activity is considered as a major component of a healthy lifestyle
The odds of using a swimming pool, the odds of practicing a racket sport, and the odds of fitness exercise in the previous 7 days increased both with the level of education of participants and with household income (Table 2)
We examined associations between the spatial accessibility to sport facilities measured with different indicators and the practice of sport activities, after ensuring the correspondence between specific sport facilities and related sports, and controlling for individual socio-demographic variables and contextual variables
Summary
Physical activity is considered as a major component of a healthy lifestyle. few studies have examined the relationships between the spatial accessibility to sport facilities and sport practice with a sufficient degree of specificity. One study derived separate spatial accessibility variables for various types of sport facilities but correlated these variables with an overall measure of physical activity [11]. The absence or the weakness of associations reported may be due to the lack of specificity of the associations examined and to the mix of heterogeneous sport activities. To address this limitation, our strategy was to increase the specificity of the associations examined (i.e., by focusing on specific sports rather than on the overall practice of sports) and to replicate the analyses for a variety of sports (for a better generalizability of the findings). We examined four categories of sports requiring (possibly or necessarily) facilities and investigated separately their relationship with the spatial accessibility to the corresponding facilities
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