Downward_Peer Effects SSM_LUPIN.pdf (311.73 kB)
‘No man is an island entire of itself.’ The hidden effect of peers on physical activity: John Donne, Meditation XVII
journal contribution
posted on 2016-10-14, 11:01 authored by Paul DownwardPaul Downward, Simona RasciuteSimona RasciuteInternational public policy emphasises the need to increase current low levels of physical activity (WHO 2010). A large literature examines the reasons for the low levels of physical activity but tends to focus on the correlates of behaviour. This has prompted a call for more causal research to better support policy recommendations to change behaviour (Bauman et al. 2012). Using a large sample of individuals from the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) between 1996/7 and 2006/7, a dynamic panel data analysis is employed to reveal a causal contemporaneous effect of a household peer’s participation in physical activity on an individual’s behaviour. The effect of a peer’s physical activity on an individual’s physical activity is found to be of a magnitude commensurate with the habits of the individual. An individual’s participation in physical activity is also positively associated with their other leisure activity. The research suggests that an individual’s physical activity takes place as part of a portfolio of household leisure, which health promotion needs to take account of.
History
School
- Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences
Published in
Social Science and MedicineVolume
169Pages
149 - 156Citation
DOWNWARD, P. and RASCIUTE, S., 2016. ‘No man is an island entire of itself.’ The hidden effect of peers on physical activity: John Donne, Meditation XVII. Social Science and Medicine, 169, pp. 149–156.Publisher
© ElsevierVersion
- AM (Accepted Manuscript)
Publisher statement
This work is made available according to the conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) licence. Full details of this licence are available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/Acceptance date
2016-09-27Publication date
2016-09-28Copyright date
2016Notes
This paper was accepted for publication in the journal Social Science and Medicine and the definitive published version is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2016.09.038.ISSN
0277-9536Publisher version
Language
- en