Abstract
BACKGROUND: Overweight and obesity(OAO) are major global public health concerns. This study aims to clarify how individual- and community-level factors influence sports participation among OAO adults. METHODS: Drawing on data from the 2021 Chinese General Social Survey(CGSS), we applied hierarchical linear modeling(HLM-) to examine the effects of economic income, educational attainment, self-assessed health, community sports resources, and community living environment on sports participation, and to test cross-level moderating effects. RESULTS: Correlation analyses revealed significant positive associations between sports participation and economic income, educational attainment, self-assessed health, community sports resources, and community living environment (all p < 0.01). In the HLM, individual-level predictors included economic income (b(3j) = 0.127, p < 0.001) and educational attainment (b(4j) = 0.015, p < 0.001). At the community level, sports resources (g(01) = 0.168, p < 0.001) and living environment quality (g(02) = 0.167, p < 0.001) each had significant positive effects. Moreover, community sports resources (g(41) = -0.032, p < 0.05)and the living environment (g(42) = -0.076, p < 0.01) significantly moderated the relationship between educational attainment and sports participation. CONCLUSIONS: These findings illuminate the multilevel determinants of sports participation among OAO adults and offer empirical support for the design of targeted obesity prevention and weight management interventions.