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      Economic analysis of participation in physical activity in England: implications for health policy

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          Abstract

          Background

          Changing the relative price of (in) activity is an important tool for health policies. Nonetheless, to date, analyses of correlates of physical activity (PA) have excluded the notion of price. Using the first nationwide dataset on prices of PA for England, we explore for the first time how money and time prices are associated with PA (in general) and specific activities.

          Methods

          A nationally representative telephone follow-up survey to Health Survey for England (HSE) 2008 was undertaken in 2010. The sample covered individuals who reported to have undertaken some PA in the HSE 2008. Questions focussed on: ex-post money and time prices; type and quantity of PA; perceived benefits of PA and socio-economic details. Count regression models (all activities together, and swimming, workout, walking separately) were fitted to investigate the variation in quantity of PA.

          Results

          Of 1683 respondents, 83% participated in PA (one or more activities), and spent an average of £2.40 per occasion of participation in PA and 23 minutes travelling. Participation in PA was negatively associated with money prices per occasion (i.e. family member/child care fees, parking fees, and facility charges) and travel time price. Participation in PA was more sensitive to travel time price than money price. Among the specific activities, the money price effect was highest for swimming with a 10% higher price associated with 29% fewer occasions of swimming; followed by workout (3% fewer occasions) and walking (2% fewer occasions). Only swimming and workout were sensitive to travel time price. People who felt doing PA could help them ‘get outdoors’, ‘have fun’, or ‘lose weight’ were likely to do more PA.

          Conclusions

          Two main policy implications emerge from the findings. First, the results support the notion that positive financial incentives, e.g. subsidising price of participation, could generally lead to an increase in quantity of PA among those already exercising. Second, such policies could lead to desired policy goals if implemented at an individual activity level (e.g. 50% subsidy on swimming entrance charges) rather than a blanket implementation (e.g. subsidising average entrance charges across all activities by 50%).

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          Most cited references33

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          The impact of food prices on consumption: a systematic review of research on the price elasticity of demand for food.

          In light of proposals to improve diets by shifting food prices, it is important to understand how price changes affect demand for various foods. We reviewed 160 studies on the price elasticity of demand for major food categories to assess mean elasticities by food category and variations in estimates by study design. Price elasticities for foods and nonalcoholic beverages ranged from 0.27 to 0.81 (absolute values), with food away from home, soft drinks, juice, and meats being most responsive to price changes (0.7-0.8). As an example, a 10% increase in soft drink prices should reduce consumption by 8% to 10%. Studies estimating price effects on substitutions from unhealthy to healthy food and price responsiveness among at-risk populations are particularly needed.
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            Paying Not to Go to the Gym

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              Incentives to Exercise

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                Author and article information

                Contributors
                Nana.Anokye@brunel.ac.uk
                Subhash.Pokhrel@brunel.ac.uk
                Julia.Fox-Rushby@brunel.ac.uk
                Journal
                Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act
                Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act
                The International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity
                BioMed Central (London )
                1479-5868
                14 September 2014
                14 September 2014
                2014
                : 11
                : 1
                : 117
                Affiliations
                Health Economics Research Group (HERG), Brunel University London, Uxbridge, Middlesex, UB8 3PH, London, UK
                Article
                117
                10.1186/s12966-014-0117-9
                4172973
                25927369
                9dd107cf-f7bb-4817-90ac-6ac5e141238e
                © Anokye et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2014

                This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver ( http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.

                History
                : 9 May 2014
                : 8 September 2014
                Categories
                Research
                Custom metadata
                © The Author(s) 2014

                Nutrition & Dietetics
                physical activity,prices,time,money,participation,demand
                Nutrition & Dietetics
                physical activity, prices, time, money, participation, demand

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