The effect of socio-economic status on the effective students’ participation in physical activity: A cross sectional study from Ras Alkhaimah Medical and Health Sciences University-UAE

Abstract

The socio-economic status make-up of an individual Influences habitual physical activity and plays an important role in one’s achievements in every field of life, including performance in sports. The current study aimed to assess the effect of socio-economic status determined by parental education and family income on the effective students’ participation in physical activity sessions at RAK Medical& Health Sciences University. The study demonstrated significant positive correlation between physical activity levels of the students and mother education (r=0.139, p=0.05) and family income (r = 0.182, p= 0.01), while father education had no significant effect on the level of students’ physical activity (r =0.030, p=0.676). Conversely, a significant negative correlation was noted between the physical activity levels of the students and number of family members (r = -0.130, p= 0.068). The study also revealed that the majority (114/198, 52%) of students were in the medium socio-economic status category. In addition, students with low socio-economic status were more likely to display low physical activity whereas students with high socio-economic status were more likely to display high physical activity.