title: The Effect of Leisure-Time Physical Activity on Obesity, Diabetes, High BP and Heart Disease Among Canadians: Evidence from 2000/2001 to 2005/2006.
abstract: Although studies have looked at the effect of physical activity on obesity and other health outcomes, the causal nature of this relationship remains unclear. We fill this gap by investigating the impact of leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) and work-related physical activity (WRPA) on obesity and chronic conditions in Canadians aged 18-75 using instrumental variable and recursive bivariate probit approaches. Average local temperatures surrounding the respondents' interview month are used as a novel instrument to help identify the causal relationship between LTPA and health outcomes. We find that an active level of LTPA (i.e., walking ≥1 h/day) reduces the probability of obesity by five percentage points, which increases to 11 percentage points if also combined with some WRPA. WRPA exhibits a negative effect on the probability of obesity and chronic conditions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Western Ontario, London, Canada.
authors.forename: Sisira
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sarma
authors.affiliation: Department of Economics, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada.
authors.forename: Rose Anne
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Devlin
authors.affiliation: Department of Geography, University of Western Ontario, London, Canada.
authors.forename: Jason
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gilliland
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Western Ontario, London, Canada.
authors.forename: M Karen
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Campbell
authors.affiliation: Ivey Business School, University of Western Ontario, London, Canada.
authors.forename: Gregory S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Zaric
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002170:Canada; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys / Q000639:trends; D006331:Heart Diseases; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension; D007899:Leisure Activities; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015233:Models, Statistical; D009765:Obesity; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: C23; Canada; I10; I12; I18; J18; chronic disease; instrumental variable; obesity; physical activity; probit; recursive bivariate probit