Social Position and Physical Activity Among Adult Women in Tijuana, México

INTRODUCTION: The aim of this study was to explore the association between indicators of social position, and physical activity (PA) among adult (18-65yrs) women. METHODS: We analysed data from a household survey conducted in 2014, representative for the population of adult women in Tijuana, Mexico (n=2345, weighted n=491,084). We assessed PA with the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAC). We evaluated the association between indicators of social position (having children and children´s age, marital status, occupation, socioeconomic status measured as education plus indicators of wealth, internal and international migration), and doing enough PA (defined as at least 150min/week of moderate-intensity physical activity, or an equivalent combination of moderate and intense physical activity). After exploratory and bivariate analysis, we estimated the association between independent variables and the dichotomous PA variable by means of a logistic regression model (n=2121). RESULTS: We found that pregnant women (OR=0.041, p=.008) and women with children under 5 years of age (OR=0.60, p=.006) were less likely to do enough PA as compared with childless participants. Working women (OR=0.85, p=.047) were less likely to do enough PA as compared with homemakers. Women who lived with a spouse (OR=1.56, p=.004) or on their own (OR=1.54, p=.038) were more likely to do enough PA, as compared with women who lived with their parents, their in-laws or in other family arrangements in which they were not head of family or spouses of the head of family. Women of higher socioeconomic status were more likely to do enough PA (OR=1.54, p=.001). Women born in the United States were more likely to do enough PA than women born in Tijuana (OR=1.86, p=.140), although the result did not reach statistical significance, possibly because of the small sample size in this category (n=34). CONCLUSION: The variables associated with doing enough PA in our sample could be interpreted as indicators of: 1) access to resources, 2) decision-making power, and 3) a stage in the life course associated with less responsibility and more time to devote to oneself. The combination of these factors defines groups in need of targeted preventive efforts, in order to improve their health-related lifestyle.