Relationship between health-related fitness and educational and income levels in Spanish women.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to determine whether a relationship exists between health-related fitness, taken as an indicator of regular physical activity, and educational and income levels in adult Spanish women.


METHODS
Descriptive, correlation, cross-sectional study.


METHODS
A stepwise stratification procedure according to population size, age and level of physical activity according to a previous epidemiological survey was used for sampling. Two thousand and thirty-eight women gave their written consent to participate (62.8% of those invited). The final sample consisted of 1709 healthy women (aged 18-88 years). Subjects were categorized into high, medium and low level groups for education and income. All participants were assessed for morphological and physical health-related fitness. Three-way MANCOVA (age as covariate) and Bonferroni's post hoc test were used to determine the differences between groups.


RESULTS
No significant relationships were found between age-adjusted educational and income levels. The lowest values for health-related fitness were found in the lowest educational and income groups (P<0.001). The higher the level of education and income, the better the values for all fitness variables (P<0.001), except anterior trunk flexibility.


CONCLUSIONS
A positive relationship was found between health-related fitness and educational and income levels, which appeared to be most evident in the lowest educational and income groups. This implies that health-related promotion policies in Spain should stress the importance of regular physical activity in social classes with low levels of education and income.
Saavedra
José M
JM
AFIDES Research Group, Facultad de Ciencias del Deporte, Universidad de Extremadura. Spain. jsaavdra@unex.es
Torres
Silvia
S
Caro
Berta
B
Escalante
Yolanda
Y
De la Cruz
Ernesto
E
Durán
María J
MJ
Rodríguez
Ferran A
FA
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001837:Body Weights and Measures; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income; D008875:Middle Aged; D010809:Physical Fitness; D013030:Spain / Q000453:epidemiology