title: Individual and School-Level Socioeconomic Gradients in Physical Activity in Australian Schoolchildren.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  We attempted to determine whether there was a socioeconomic gradient in 9- to 11-year-old Australian children's moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), and whether school facilities or policies supporting physical activity were associated with school-level socioeconomic status (SES) and MVPA.
  
  
  METHODS
  Children (N = 528) from 26 randomly selected schools participated in the International Study of Childhood Obesity, Lifestyle and the Environment. School-level SES was determined by the Index of Community Socio-Educational Advantage. MVPA was determined from 7-day, 24-hour accelerometry. School facilities (21 items) were evaluated with an objective school ground audit. School policies related to physical activity were collected (18 items) in a school administrator survey. Relationships among SES, MVPA, school facilities, and policies were examined using bivariate regression, correlation analyses, and analysis of variance.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There was a clear SES gradient in daily and in-school MVPA. School facilities or physical activity policies were not associated with SES or in-school MVPA, with the exception of presence of a sports field which was associated with lower SES schools (p = .02) and lower in-school MVPA (p = .001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  School-built, policy, and resource environments are similar across different SES-level schools. Therefore, some other mechanism must be underlying the SES gradients seen in MVPA participation in Australian children.
authors.affiliation: Discipline of Physiotherapy, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia. lucy.lewis@flinders.edu.au.|Alliance for Research in Exercise, Nutrition and Activity (ARENA), Sansom Institute for Health Research, School of Health Sciences, University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia. lucy.lewis@flinders.edu.au.
authors.forename: Lucy
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lewis
authors.affiliation: Alliance for Research in Exercise, Nutrition and Activity (ARENA), University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia. carol.maher@unisa.edu.au.
authors.forename: Carol
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Maher
authors.affiliation: Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70808. peter.katzmarzyk@pbrc.edu.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Katzmarzyk
authors.affiliation: Alliance for Research in Exercise, Nutrition and Activity (ARENA), University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia. timothy.olds@unisa.edu.au.
authors.forename: Timothy
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Olds
mesh_terms: D061725:Accelerometry; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D006291:Health Policy; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009043:Motor Activity; D063766:Pediatric Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012574:Schools / Q000458:organization & administration*; D012923:Social Class; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013021:South Australia / Q000453:epidemiology; D013177:Sports / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013334:Students; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: children; physical activity; school facilities; socioeconomic status; sports