The article under analysis is called The Relationship Between Neighborhood Socioeconomic Characteristics and Physical Inactivity Among Adolescents Living in Boston, Massachusetts and it is written by Roman Pabayo, Angie Cradock, Ichiro Kawachi, and Beth Molnar. As it becomes obvious from the tile of the work, the main issue for investigation of this work is youth. Being very important for the future of society, this group needs special investigation as it is a rather complicated period of life as the majority of habits are formed in this period.
The main aim of this article is to determine whether the socioeconomic environment can be associated with no participation in physical activity among young people (Pabayo, Molnar, Cardock & Kawachi, 2014). This aim reflects the great importance of physical activity for the correct development of adolescents (Physical Activity Facts, 2014). That is why the work has great practical value. The study is carried out based on data, collected in Boston, Massachusetts.
The authors of the work suggest, that nowadays physical activity can be associated with the socioeconomic environment of a child. Moreover, in this article, the influence of the neighborhood in which an adolescent lives is said to be of great importance as it determines his/her health behavior. The authors state, that the areas with high social fragmentation, high poverty, and low social cohesion can be taken as dangerous places for children to play there. That is why these areas can influence the rate of physical activity of children.
The authors support this statement with the evidence obtained from the previous studies, which shows that children, who live in such areas, are physically inactive and prefer to stay at home. However, the role of socioeconomic factors has not been fully investigated. That is why, the main objective of this study is “to determine the association between neighborhood economic deprivation, social fragmentation, safety, and social disorder on physical inactivity among a sample of public high-school students in Boston, Massachusetts” (Pabayo et al., 2014, p. 2).
From the main purpose of the study, it becomes obvious, that the point of interest for the researchers will be the physical activity of adolescents. That is why the methods are created to determine the level of daily activity among children from different neighborhoods. Moreover, the characteristics of these neighborhoods are also analyzed and taken into account.
The data for this research comes from a survey of high school students in Boston. The students were free to participate or to refuse, moreover their parents were also informed about the experiment in which their children were going to take part. AS a result, 1878 students agreed to participate and answer the questions of the survey.
These questions were designed according to the demands of the research paper and included such topics as health behavior, use of school community services, and some other factors. Students were asked how much time they devote to physical activity. Having obtained results, the authors used multilevel logistic modeling to determine the level of interdependence between the socioeconomic environment and physical activity of adolescents.
Results of this research show that high social fragmentation is connected with increased activity rates.
Having analyzed the article, it is possible to say that the authors prove the interdependence between socioeconomic environment and the level of physical activity of adolescents. The results of the investigation are credible as they are supported with clear evidence obtained from special research.
References
Pabayo, R., Molnar, B., Cardock, A. & Kawachi, I. (2014). The Relationship Between Neighborhood Socioeconomic Characteristics and Physical Inactivity Among Adolescents Living in Boston, Massachusetts. American Journal of Public Health, 104(11), 1-8. Web.
Physical Activity Facts. (2014). Web.