Lower socioeconomic status is associated with lower intensity of physical activity and lower cardiorespiratory fitness in middle-aged men, identifying a key target group for health promotion.
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May prioritize lower-SES men for fitness promotion; leaves open causal links and intervention effects.
BACKGROUND: Physical inactivity and poor cardiorespiratory fitness have been found to be associated with an increased risk of coronary heart disease, hypertension, stroke, non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus and cancer METHODS: To characterize the least active and the least fit sociodemographic groups of middle-aged males, we investigated conditioning leisure time physical activity and maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max) in a population sample of 2589 men aged 42-60 years in Eastern Finland. RESULTS: In covariate models, younger (P = 0.004), rural (P < 0.001), married or engaged (P = 0.04), lower income (P = 0.009), and employed men (P < 0.001), as well as farmers (P < 0.001) had a shorter duration of physical activity, whereas older (P < 0.001), urban (P = 0.05), single (P < 0.001), less educated (P < 0.0001), lower income (P < 0.001), and unemployed or retired men (P < 0.001), as well as blue-collar workers (P < 0.001) had a lower mean intensity of physical activity than others. Older (P < 0.001), single (P < 0.001), less educated (P < 0.001), lower income (P < 0.001), and unemployed or retired men (P < 0.001), as well as blue-collar workers and farmers (P < 0.001) had lower VO2max than others. CONCLUSION: On the basis of our data, for health promotion regarding physical activity, special attention should be paid to people in a lower socioeconomic position.
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Lakka et al. (1996) studied this question.
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