Adolescents' physical activity in relation to family income and parents' education.

OBJECTIVE

Regular physical activity provides young people with important physical, mental, and social health benefits. This study aimed to evaluate the relationship of family income and parents' level of education with physical activity in Finnish adolescents.

METHOD

The study population consisted of the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1986, including 5457 boys and girls aged 15-16 years, and their parents who responded to a postal inquiry in 2001-2002. The associations between social background and adolescents' physical activity were analyzed in 2005 using cross-tabulation and multivariate logistic regression.

RESULTS

High parental education was associated with adolescents being physically active. In boys father's high educational level (OR: 0.56; CI: 0.33, 0.95), and in girls both mother's (OR: 0.55; CI: 0.31, 0.98) and father's (OR: 0.35; CI: 0.20, 0.61) high educational levels were related to the least time spent watching TV. High family income was associated with being an active sports club member in boys (OR: 2.43; CI: 1.74, 3.40) and girls (OR: 2.67; CI: 1.81, 3.94). Adolescents' participation in different types of physical activity varied according to family income.

CONCLUSIONS

Economic support for youth sports and informing parents on ways to encourage adolescents' physical activity are recommended to ensure equal opportunities for youths to participate in different physical activities.