Background:
Regular physical activity reduces the risk of a number of diseases, prevents obesity, and has positive psychological effects. Approximately one-third of the Australian population has been reported as totally sedentary. We investigated socioeconomic predictors of being sedentary in a nationally representative sample of Australian adults.
Methods:
We analyzed data from 8643 females and 7600 males who responded to the 2001 National Health Survey. Multivariate logistic regression was used to examine the association of being sedentary with a range of socioeconomic measures.
Results:
Adjusting for demographics, body-mass index, and smoking, we found that low socioeconomic status, indicated by low education level, blue-collar occupation, low income and area social disadvantage, increased the probability that people were sedentary.
Conclusions:
This research highlights that targeting people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds with strategies to increase participation in physical activity may reduce morbidity and mortality associated with being sedentary.
