Family socio-economic status vs physical activity level of Cracow High School Students

Background: Physical activity is an important factor necessary for the proper course of the developmental process in children and adolescents. The aim of the paper is to analyze the relations between selected indicators of family socio-economic status and the engagement in physical activity in the group of high school students from Cracow. Material and methods: The study involved 1,219 high school students (742 girls and 477 boys). The HBSC Family Affluence Scale and original questionnaires prepared by the researchers were used to evaluate the parent’s education level and adolescent’s physical activity. Statistical analysis involved the Pearson’s chi2 test, Kendall’s tau coefficient and Mann-Whitney U test using Statistica 10.0 PL software. Test probability of p0.05 was regarded as significant, and p0.01 and p0.001, as highly significant. Results: Statistically significant correlations were proven between indicators of the family socio-economic status and the level of physical activity among high school students. A significantly higher proportion of girls from families with highly educated parents engaged in physical activity 4-7 times a week than girls from families where parents had lower education (22.64% vs 9.93%; p<0.05). Moreover, youth from families with high financial resources significantly more often (p<0.001, in the case of boys, p<0.01) declared higher physical activity than those from families with low financial resources. Conclusions: The study demonstrated a predictive role of indicators of the family socio-economic situation with regard to the degree of physical activity taken by high school students. It proved that students from families with higher socio-economic statuses displayed a higher level of physical activity.