Literature Review

Introduction

It is a known fact that participating in physical activity has a positive impact on the health of
an individual. Physical activity helps improve brain health, assist with managing weight,
reduces the risk of diseases, and improves your ability to do everyday activities. So why is it
that in 2016, 81% of adolescents around the world aged between 11-17 were not meeting
the physical activity guidelines (Marques, Henriques-Neto, Peralta, Martins, Demetriou,
Schönbach, Matos, 2020). The biggest impacting factor of lack of physical activity is due to an
individual’s socio-economic status. Socio-economic status plays a vital role in the activity
levels of an individual. Adolescents are inactive due to limited money, limited parent
involvement and lack of education. Each of these factors impact the activity rate of
adolescents especially those who have a lower socio-economic status. The main themes that
are focused within the investigation is money, time, parent involvement and education. The
aim of the literature review is to find why each of these factors are present and how to
improve the statistic stated above.

Methods

To assist with the investigation on the factors that play a vital role in adolescents physical
activity levels due to socio-economic status there were multiply searches of keywords to
find credible, relevant, and reliable information. Keywords were put into library find-it to
find peer reviewed articles that were relevant to this topic. Each of the articles found were
based around adolescents aged between 11-17 years old. A total of 10 articles were found,
each article provided information regarding physical activity levels due to socio-economic
status. There were multiply articles that provided similar information, which strengths the
literature review as it shows that the information gained are relevant, reliable, and credible.
Each article found was published within the last 20 years to make sure the information is
still relevant.

Findings:

Throughout the investigation stage, there were a total of 4 themes that were relevant in
each of the 10 peer-reviewed articles. The main 4 themes that were the focus during the
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articles were, lack of money, lack of time, poor education, and parent involvement. Each of
these themes were mentioned multiply times throughout each of the articles investigated.

Themes 1- Money

There are numerous forms of physical activity that requires money, however, there are also
endless forms of physical activity that do not require any money at all. Most people
associate forms of physical activity with money, for example, gym membership, cross-fit
training, and yoga. Due to those within lower socio-economic status not having as much
money they are not able to afford these forms of physical activity and therefore do not
participate in any physical activity at all. Experts suggest, that 75% of people who are part of
a lower socio-economic status participate in less physical activity than those who are part of
a higher socio-economic status (Golsteyn, Jansen, Kannm, Verhagen, 2020) (Dumuid, Olds,
Lewis, Maher, 2016). This shows that those who have a lower income, do not have the
money to participate in these forms of physical activity.

As the cost of living is constantly increasing, individuals who come from a lower socio-
economic status are required to spend their money on essentials rather than forms of
physical exercise. On the flip side, there are numerous free ways to add more physical
activity into your day-to-day life (Gu, Yang, Li, 2023). These consist of, taking the stairs
rather than an elevator, getting off the buss one stop earlier and walking the rest of the way
and park your car further away and walking to your destination. These forms of physical
activity are free and accessible to everyone especially those who are from a lower socio-
economic status. Physical activity is a choice, there are money barriers stopping individuals
from participating in certain forms of physical activity, however, there are numerous forms
of physical activity that require no money at all. The only thing these forms of physical
activity require are time and effort.

Themes 2 (Time)
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Individuals that sit within a lower socio-economic status participate in far less physical
activity due to not having enough time to be physically active. Physical activity can be time-
consuming and not everyone has the time to participate in it. A study showed, that 63% of
individuals that come from a lower socio-economic status do not participate in physical
activity due to having to work 2 jobs to assist with the rising cost of living (Estabrooks, Lee,
Gyurcsik, 2003). As there is a large number of people needing to work 2 jobs to pay for their
essentials they do not have enough time to participate in physical activity. These individuals
that are working 2 jobs have a lack of energy which impacts their ability to participate in any
form of physical activity. A quote by author Cheung states that “physical activity is the first
thing to go when things get busy” (Cheung, 2017). This quote shows the dramatic impact
lack of time has on the physical activity levels of individuals that are part of a lower socio-
economic status.

Theme 3: Parent involvement:

Due to parents within a lower socio-economic status having to work 2 jobs to keep up with
the rising cost of living, this gives them little time to participate in physical activity with their
children. A survey showed that, 45% of children within a low socio-economic status do not
participate in physical activity due to their parents not being able to assist them (Garcia-
Witulski, 2022). These children reported that they do not feel comfortable participating in
physical activity without their parents being present. Many of these children suffer from
anxiety and depression and need a supporting adult figure with them when participating in
physical activity. As their parents are required to work to support their family, their children
are not being physically active as they feel uncomfortable doing it by themselves. Experts
suggest, to improve the physical activity levels of adolescents who come from a lower
socioeconomic status, parent involvement needs to be more consistent and reliable (Havdal,
Fosse, Gebremariam, Stronks, Andersen, Lien, 2023). For this to happen, parents are
required to find time to participate in physical activity with their children.
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Theme4:Education

It is important to know the positive benefits that comes from participating in physical
activity, however, many individuals within a low socio-economic status do not know these
positive benefits. A study conducted by Salmon, Timperio, Cleland, Venn showed that 45%
of young adolescents could not list 5 positive affects physical activity has on the human
body (Salmon, Timperio, Cleland, Venn, 2005). How are we meant to expect these
individuals to participate in physical activity if they do not know the positive affects it has on
the human body. As individuals within a lower socio-economic status have limited access to
education and resources, this is impacting their ability to understand the positive benefits of
being physically active. Not only do young adolescents not know the impact physical activity
has on the human body, but their parents were unable to name 5 positive benefits as well. It
is difficult for an adolescent to be physically active and understand the benefits from being
active when their own parents do not understand either (Griffiths, Moore, Brunton, 2022).
Those individuals that have limited education and resources due to their socio-economic
status participate in less physical activity as they are unable to understand the positive
affects it has on the human body.

Conclusion:

Through the investigation of 10 different peer-reviewed articles, it is evident that individuals

that come from a lower socio-economic status participate in far less physical activity then
those from a higher socio-economic status. The 4 main factors that limit physical activity
within a low socio-economic area is lack of money, limited time, limited parent involvement
and poor education. Each of these factors impacted the participation of physical activity and
therefore impact the overall health of individuals that are part of a low socio-economic
status. Many investigations and surveys were conducted to show the limited time spent
being physical activity. As the cost of living is rising, those that sit within a lower socio-
economic status cannot afford forms of physical activity as well as not having time to
participate in physical activity due to having to work 2 jobs. It is important that as a society
we work together to try and improve the physical activity rates of those who part of a low
socio-economic status. The only limitation of the investigation was there was a lack of
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information regarding low socio-economic status with Australia. This is due to Australia
being classed as a wealthy country even though there are parts that are classed as low and
high socio-economic areas.

Reference List:
Cheung, P. P. (2017). Children’s after-school physical activity participation in Hong Kong:
Does family socioeconomic status matter? Health Education Journal, 76(2), 221–230.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0017896916660863
Dumuid, D., Olds, T. S., Lewis, L. K., & Maher, C. (2016). Does home equipment contribute to
socioeconomic gradients in Australian children’s physical activity, sedentary time and screen
time? BMC Public Health, 16(1), 736–736. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-016-3419-9
Estabrooks, P. A., Lee, R. E., & Gyurcsik, N. C. (2003). Resources for physical activity
participation: Does availability and accessibility differ by neighborhood socioeconomic
status? Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 25(2), 100–104.
https://doi.org/10.1207/S15324796ABM2502_05
Garcia-Witulski, C. M. (2022). Contemporary and dynamic effects of socio-economic factors
on physical (in)activity: Does intensity matter? Frontiers in Public Health, 10, 1016353–
1016353. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2022.1016353
Golsteyn, B., Jansen, M. W. J., Van Kann, D. H. H., & Verhagen, A. M. C. (2020). Does
Stimulating Physical Activity Affect School Performance? Journal of Policy Analysis and
Management, 39(1), 64–95. https://doi.org/10.1002/pam.22156
Griffiths, K., Moore, R., & Brunton, J. (2022). Sport and physical activity habits, behaviours
and barriers to participation in university students: an exploration by socio-economic
group. Sport, Education and Society, 27(3), 332–346.
https://doi.org/10.1080/13573322.2020.1837766
Gu, L., Yang, L., & Li, H. (2023). Does Neighborhood Social Capital Longitudinally Affect the
Nutritional Status of School-Aged Children? Evidence from China. Nutrients, 15(3), 633–.
https://doi.org/10.3390/nu15030633
Havdal, H. H., Fosse, E., Gebremariam, M. E. K., Stronks, K., Andersen, O. K., & Lien, N.
(2023). Does the socioeconomic positioned neighbourhood matter? Norwegian adolescents’
perceptions of barriers and facilitators for physical activity. Scandinavian Journal of Public
Health, 51(2), 275–287. https://doi.org/10.1177/14034948211066673
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Marques, A., Henriques-Neto, D., Peralta, M., Martins, J., Demetriou, Y., Schönbach, D. M. I.
& Matos, M. G. de. (2020, April 30). Prevalence of physical activity among adolescents
from 105 low, middle, and high-income countries. International journal of
environmental research and public health.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7246732/#:~:text=Despite%20all
%20the%20health%20benefits,years%20%5B6%2C7%5D.

Salmon, J., Timperio, A., Cleland, V., & Venn, A. (2005). Trends in children’s physical activity
and weight status in high and low socio‐economic status areas of Melbourne, Victoria,
1985–2001. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 29(4), 337–342.
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-842X.2005.tb00204.x