# From the perspective of spatial justice and temporal justice a study on social stratification of physical activity participation among Chinese residents—empirical analysis based on CGSS2023

## TL;DR

This study explores how social class differences in China affect people's physical activity levels, using spatial, temporal, and cultural factors to inform fairer public health policies.

## Contribution

The study introduces a novel analytical framework combining spatial, temporal, and cultural dimensions to examine physical activity stratification in China.

## Key findings

- Physical activity frequency increases systematically from rural to urban central areas.
- Working more hours consistently reduces physical activity across all regions.
- Educational years strongly predict physical activity even after controlling for income.

## Abstract

Physical activity is one of the important ways to promote public health and implement the “Healthy China” strategy. Currently, physical activity has become an evident difference in participation between various social classes; this is becoming a key part of inequality in health. The purpose of this study is to explore how social stratification affects Chinese residents’ participation in physical activities, so provide a theoretical basis for formulating more fair and effective public health policies.

This study provides an analytical framework from the three dimensions of space, time and capital. The 2023 China General Social Survey (CGSS) data with a sample size of 2129 is taken for ordered logistic regression model to explore how social stratification affects residents’ participation in physical activities through various channels. This method systematically investigates how independent and interactive effects of various social factors affect physical activity frequency.

1) Significant spatial gradient effect: residents’ physical activity frequency shows a systematic increase from the countryside, towns, urban fringes to the center of the city. 2) Time constraints are everywhere: For every hour more you work, exercise becomes less across all regions; 3) Cultural capital makes a big difference: Controlling for income, education years show strong positive effect on physical activity even after that; 4) The “gym paradox” was found - people who regularly use gyms for exercise actually do the least amount of exercise.

This study shows the various levels of mechanisms through which social stratification affects participation in physical activities. Spatial differences are not only the “compositional effect” of socioeconomic factors but also an independent “contextual effect” caused by uneven built environments and public service provision. “Time poverty” is now a general form of social constraint that cuts across different geographical boundaries, while the transcendent power of cultural capital proves that Bourdieu’s theory is applicable to health behavior studies, revealing the cultural reproduction mechanism behind health inequality. Discovery of the ‘gym paradox’ challenges the simplistic assumption that commercialised fitness is equivalent to modern sporting participation, suggesting instead that we need to reconsider what place there might be for localised forms of exercise which are oriented around lifestyles as part of a national programme on fitness.