ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the use of evidence to underpin PA guidance and suggests this has given disproportionate emphasis to health behaviourist approaches. This results in PA interventions which mainly focus on motivating individuals to adopt more active lifestyles while giving limited attention to important contextual factors which may affect their capacity to do so. The chapter argues that greater attention should therefore be paid to social science analyses of the patterns and processes that produce structural inequalities in health. To address this, this chapter makes the case for expanding the evidence base, and examines how this might be done. It overviews patterns of health inequalities and explains the importance of PA policy in addressing them. It then compares how different theoretical perspectives can inform this, and draws attention to the value of Social Determinants of Health (SDH) frameworks to the PA community. Using the example of current UK PA guidance, the chapter explores the implications of neglecting social context and discusses how a wider evidence base that addresses structural influences on health behaviour might be mobilised to inform and enhance future PA policy and practice.
