There is a paucity of literature regarding income inequality and adolescent movement behaviours (physical activity, sedentary behaviours, sleep). This study examined whether income inequality was associated with meeting Canadian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines (24HMG) recommendations among adolescents over time.
Longitudinal data from adolescents (n=9299) in the Cannabis, Obesity, Mental health, Physical activity, Sedentary behaviour and Smoking study (2016–2017 to 2018–2019) were linked with income data at the census division (CD) level from the 2016 Canadian Census. Adolescents (aged 13–19 years) reported on their physical activity, sleep duration and screen time via questionnaire. Gini coefficients were calculated at the CD level using after-tax household income from the 2016 Canadian Census. Multilevel logistic regression analyses were performed to test the association between income inequality and meeting several 24HMG recommendations.
The joint effect (income inequality*time) was significant for meeting the sleep duration recommendation (2017–2018 OR=0.83, 95% CI 0.74, 0.92; 2018–2019 OR=0.77, 95% CI 0.70, 0.86; p<0.0001), meeting any two recommendations over time (2017–2018 OR=0.97, 95% CI 0.86, 1.09; 2018–2019 OR=0.85, 95% CI 0.75, 0.97; p=0.0402) and meeting combined sleep and physical activity recommendations (2017–2018 OR=0.93, 95% CI 0.82, 1.06; 2018–2019 OR=0.82, 95% CI 0.71, 0.94; p=0.0200). Joint effects (income inequality*time) were not significant (p>0.05) for screen time or physical activity independently of sleep.
Adolescents attending schools in areas with greater income inequality may be at higher risk for inadequate sleep and combined short sleep and physical inactivity.