Association Between Government Health Insurance Status and Physical Activity in American Youth

Health insurance plans provide health programming access and affect physical activity levels in American youth, leading to health disparities in American children. The primary purpose of the current study was to investigate the relationship between health insurance status and physical activity level in American youth.

A national, United States census weighted cross-sectional survey was performed analyzing 2002 noninstitutionalized children living in the United States between the ages of 10 to 18 years, equally split by age and sex, with state of residency and race/ethnicity proportional to the 2010 census distribution. Multiple linear regression was performed to investigate the relationship between insurance status and activity level (measured by HSS Pedi-FABS activity score) while controlling for relevant demographic and socioeconomic covariables.

HSS Pedi-FABS activity scores were normally distributed with a mean of 15.4±8.5 points (of 30 possible points). Patients with an insurance status of "government/Medicaid," "other," or "none" each demonstrated significantly lower physical activity scores (14.2±8.5 vs. 13.6±9.0 vs. 10.1±8.5) than children with private insurance (16.5±8.2) (one-way ANOVA with Dunnett-adjusted pairwise comparisons, P<0.001), which remained statistically significant while controlling for Area Deprivation Index, age, gender, race/ethnicity, and Body Mass Index (β=-1.8, P<0.001).

Government/Medicaid health insurance status and lack of health care coverage are associated with low levels of physical activity in American children, even while controlling for socioeconomic confounders. Collaborative work between health care providers and community/ school-based programs may be a reasonable approach to expanding access to recreation, organized sports, and physical activity for publicly and uninsured children.

Level II-Prognostic Study.