Level of active aging: Influence of environmental, social and health-related factors.

OBJECTIVE: To analyze social, environmental and health-related inequalities in the level of active aging among older adults who participated in the Health Survey conducted in the city of Campinas, Brazil. METHODS: The level of active aging was estimated based on a ranking of engagement in activities using factor analysis. More active older adults (situated in the highest tertile of the ranking) were compared with the others through the prevalence ratios (PR) and respective 95 % confidence intervals (CI) estimated by Poisson regression. RESULTS: The study population thus consisted of 986 older adults. The majority of the respondents were female (57.6 %), in the 60-69 years age group (56.7 %), had less than 8 years of schooling (65.3 %) and had a per capita family income of 1-3 minimum salaries (55.3 %). Access to public spaces for the practice of physical activity near the home (PR = 1.44; 95 % CI, 1.07-1.94) and higher level of education (PR = 2.14; 95 % CI, 1.60-2.86), income (PR = 1.73; 95 % CI, 1.25-2.40), physical health (PR = 1.44; 95 % CI, 1.13-1.82) and mental health (PR = 1.62; 95 % CI, 1.05-2.49) were more prevalent among older adults with a high level of active aging. DISCUSSION: The findings demonstrate that the level of involvement in activities does not solely depend on personal choices. Social, economic, environmental, physical and mental contexts all exert a strong influence.

Correction: Leisure-time physical activity and sports in the Brazilian population: A social disparity analysis.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0225940.].

Leisure-time physical activity and sports in the Brazilian population: A social disparity analysis.

OBJECTIVES: To estimate the prevalence of leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) or sports in the Brazilian population according to demographic and income variables. METHODS: Data from 60,202 Brazilian individuals (18 years and over) were analyzed, belonging to the National Health Survey 2013 sample. The prevalence of different modalities of LTPA and sports was estimated according to age, sex, skin color and income. The adjusted prevalence ratios were estimated by Poisson regression. RESULTS: Of every thousand Brazilians, 695 do not practice LTPA or sports. Walking is the most practiced LTPA (98/1000), followed by soccer (68/1000) and weight training (45/1000). For poor and black men, the most frequent LTPA was soccer, and, for women, gymnastics and walking. The prevalence of weight training and gymnastics was higher for white people compared with black people. All LTPA practices were more prevalent in individuals with higher income, except for soccer. Running on a treadmill and weight training had, respectively, 24.7 and 6.4 times higher prevalence in the richer quartile. CONCLUSIONS: The study allowed identifying the type of LTPA and sport reported as the most frequent by the Brazilian population according to age, sex, skin color, and income, detecting strong social disparities in these practices.