Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Leisure-Time Physical Activity in California: Patterns and Mechanisms

Kelin Li, University of Utah
Ming Wen, University of Utah

This study uses data from 2007 California Health Interview Survey to examine racial/ethnic disparities in adults’ participation of leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) by taking into account the heterogeneity across major Asian subgroups, and to investigate how the link between race/ethnicity and LTPA is explained by individual predictors of socioeconomic status (SES), acculturation, and perceived neighborhood environment. Results confirm that racial/ethnic minorities are in general less likely than whites to meet the recommended levels of LTPA, whereas heterogeneity is also evident across ethnic subgroups as no significant disparity is revealed for Japanese and Filipinos. Acculturation explains away group differences for South Asians and Vietnamese. The persisting lower prevalence of LTPA among blacks, Mexicans, Chinese, and Koreans compared to whites suggests that future research may theorize and operationalize additional multilevel pathways linking race-ethnicity and LTPA while assessing measurement errors in existing constructs.