Exploring Socioeconomic and Gender Inequalities in Physical Activity and Wellbeing: A Qualitative Study of Female Adolescents in Low-SES Neighborhoods

Objective. To understand the inequalities in physical activity habits among low socioeconomic status (SES) neighbourhoods female adolescents and their determinants.

Methodology. Using a qualitative approach, the following steps were followed, create a Z index using indicators such as single-parent households, unemployment rate, migrant rate...etc. The neighbourhoods were stratified into three socioeconomic tertiles: low, medium and high. Once the neighbourhoods were ranked from the highest to the lowest level, 5 neighbourhoods of each city were selected according to their socio-economic status. In order to obtain adolescents’ insights, educational centres in the selected neighbourhoods were studied; 36 semi-structured interviews were carried out, of which 12 were with key informants. Furthermore, 24 focus groups were conducted, 6 with students, 12 with teachers and 6 with parents. The techniques were applied proportionally.

Results. Gender and SES have been highlighted as key determining physical activity habits. Female students show a lower participation in formal sports and physical activity in compared to the male counterparts. Furthermore, in lower SES areas insecurity is a deterrent to public space appropriation, as they tend to avoid places such as parks, poorly-light streets or sport yards and hence, the spend less time outdoors which implies less physical activity. Furthermore, lower SES adolescents are clearly less involved in physical activity as they are not able to afford safe spaces to practice formal or informal physical activity. In addition to previous realities, the lack of peer and societal support suffered by the adolescents discourage them from obtaining equal access to wellbeing and to cities themselves

Conclusions. Gender inequality and insecurity are key deterring adolescents’ use of the public realm, decreasing physical activity involvement, negatively affecting their health and wellbeing. A holistic approach is needed to enable all adolescents to freely enjoy the public realm in order to obtain a healthier society.