Health: social vulnerability, neighborhood and physical activity

Abstract The article examines the association between physical activity, social vulnerability level and neighborhood in São Paulo’s downtown. Physical activity levels were studied in adults living in vulnerable and non-vulnerable census tracts, and physical activity practice was related to neighborhood characteristics and to the individuals’ sociodemographic variables. The distribution of physical activity levels was different for the two groups: in the vulnerable group, active people at the workplace predominated, unrelated to neighborhood conditions. In the non-vulnerable group, physical activity is divided between leisure and work, and most are somewhat active. In this group, there is an association between physical activity and gender, not having a car and sense of security at night in one’s own neighborhood.