title: Relationship between health-related fitness and educational and income levels in Spanish women.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: AFIDES Research Group, Facultad de Ciencias del Deporte, Universidad de Extremadura. Spain. jsaavdra@unex.es
authors.forename: José M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Saavedra
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Torres
authors.forename: Berta
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Caro
authors.forename: Yolanda
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Escalante
authors.forename: Ernesto
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: De la Cruz
authors.forename: María J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Durán
authors.forename: Ferran A
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Rodríguez
mesh_terms: 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