Open AccessCan school-based physical activity foster social mobility?
Author(s) -
Véronique Gosselin,
Dorothée Boccanfuso,
Suzanne Laberge
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
canadian journal of public health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.64
H-Index - 72
eISSN - 1920-7476
pISSN - 0008-4263
DOI - 10.17269/s41997-020-00375-6
Subject(s) - social mobility , physical activity , welfare economics , humanities , sociology , social inequality , promotion (chess) , inequality , political science , social science , economics , medicine , mathematical analysis , philosophy , mathematics , politics , law , physical medicine and rehabilitation
Social mobility refers to the intergenerational transmission of socio-economic status, and therefore of health status. Hence, it is important to consider social mobility to tackle the social gradient in health in the long term. Fostering social mobility requires developing public policies that ensure equal opportunities for all children. The intent of this commentary is to illustrate how a proportionate universalism approach to school-based physical activity could be a way to promote equal opportunity for children within the school environment. Alberta's Daily Physical Activity policy and the APPLE Schools program are used to illustrate this approach: these two programs not only create enabling environments that can support children in adopting healthy lifestyles but also contribute to the reduction of social inequalities in physical activity by fostering capacity building.