Multiscale Impact of Environmental and Socio-Economic Factors on Low Physical Fitness among Chinese Adolescents and Regionalized Coping Strategies

Zihan Tong, Zhenxing Kong, Xiao Jia, Hanyue Zhang and Yimin Zhang ()
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Zihan Tong: Key Laboratory of Exercise and Physical Fitness, Ministry of Education, Beijing Sport University, Beijing 100084, China
Zhenxing Kong: Key Laboratory of Exercise and Physical Fitness, Ministry of Education, Beijing Sport University, Beijing 100084, China
Xiao Jia: Key Laboratory of Exercise and Physical Fitness, Ministry of Education, Beijing Sport University, Beijing 100084, China
Hanyue Zhang: Institute of Physical Education, Northeast Normal University, Changchun 130024, China
Yimin Zhang: Key Laboratory of Exercise and Physical Fitness, Ministry of Education, Beijing Sport University, Beijing 100084, China

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 20, 1-24

Abstract: As low physical fitness in adolescents increases their risk of all-cause mortality in future adulthood as well as regional public health budgets, many scholars have studied the factors influencing physical fitness in adolescents. However, the spatial non-stationarity and scale between physical fitness and influencing factors in adolescents are often neglected. To rectify this situation, this study constructed a multi-scale geographically weighted regression model based on data from the China National Student Fitness Survey and the China Statistical Yearbook in 2018 to investigate the spatial patterns of factors influencing low physical fitness among adolescents. The results showed that the influencing factors for measuring the physical fitness of Chinese adolescents had significant spatial heterogeneity and multi-scale effects. The local R 2 values were relatively low in the western region of China. Consideration should be given to increasing the lifestyle and ethnic and cultural characteristics of local residents when selecting influencing factors in the future. The physical fitness of men was mainly influenced by socio-economic factors, while that of women was influenced by natural environmental factors. According to the different spatial distribution patterns of MGWR, this study suggests that each region should develop regionalized strategies to cope with the low physical fitness of adolescents, including taking advantage of the natural environment to develop physical fitness promotion projects, accelerating the upgrading of industrial structures in the north-eastern and western regions, and the need to remain cautious of rapid urbanization in the east.

Keywords: physical fitness; public health; environmental factors; socio-economic factors; spatial heterogeneity; multi-scale geographic weighted regression (MGWR); coping strategies; China (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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