Table 3. Characteristics of included qualitative studies (presented in alphabetical order by lead author's last name).

Bibliographic information	Location	Stated study aim	Methods (design, data collection, analysis)	Participants	Measure and level of SEP
Anderson et al., 2016	USA (Baltimore City)	To provide in-depth information on the social roles that youths' parents and friends play related to eating and physical activity behaviors and to explore the impact of other social relationships on youths' eating and physical activity behaviors.	Mixed-methods, interviews, guided by principles of content analysis	48 adolescents living in a low-income African American food dessert, aged 11–13 (28 males, 20 females)	Area level SEP Low income neighborhood Low-SEP
Blanton et al., 2013	USA (Michigan)	To investigate perceptions and opinions of a nature-based physical activity intervention designed for low-income urban adolescents.	Qualitative, focus groups, hierarchical content analysis	20 primarily African American adolescents, aged 11–14 (13 males, 7 females)	School level SEP Free school meal uptake Low-SEP
Boshoff et al., 2007	Australia (South Australia)	To expand the knowledge base about the attributes of children in neighborhoods defined as low SES who display healthy behaviors in their eating and physical activity.	Mixed-methods, focus groups, inductive thematic analysis	23 physically active adolescents, aged 10–13 (11 males, 12 females)	Area level SEP n/a “low-income neighborhood” Low-SEP
Bragg et al., 2009	USA (North Carolina)	To identify motivators and barriers relative to engagement in physical activity as reported by culturally diverse low-income adolescents and adults.	Qualitative, focus groups, content analysis	41 culturally diverse adolescents, aged 12–15 (21 males, 20 females)	Individual level SEP Family income less than $40,000 Low-SEP
Charlton et al., 2014	UK (South Wales)	To examine clustering of factors associated with low fitness in adolescents in order to best target public health interventions for young people.	Mixed-methods, focus-groups, grounded theory analysis	20 students from deprived schools in South Wales, aged 13–14?years (10 males, 10 females)	School level SEP Deprived schools according to deprivation of the catchment area and free school meal eligibility Low-SEP
Cooky, 2009	USA (Los Angeles)	To use qualitative methodologies and the sociology of accounts to examine a recreational sport program for low-income minority girls in the metropolitan Los Angeles area.	Qualitative, interviews, tri-level analysis	13 “at risk” minority adolescents, aged 13–15 (13 females)	Individual level SEP Family Income Low-SEP
Dagkas and Stathi, 2007	UK (Midlands)	To explore the social factors that influence young people’s participation in school and out of school physical activities.	Qualitative, Interviews, coding using inductive and deductive procedures	52 adolescents from two secondary school, ages 16 (26 males, 26 females)	School level SEP Location of the school and provision of free school meals Middle-high SEP and low-SEP
Duck et al., 2020	USA (Mississippi)	To identify and explore factors that influence physical activity in children in a low-income neighborhood.	Qualitative, photovoice and focus groups, content analysis	5 adolescents from a predominantly black population, ages 10–14 (3 males, 2 females)	School level SEP 100% eligible for free/reduced school meals Low-SEP
Hecke et al., 2016	Belgium (Brussels, Gent, Antwerp)	To determine which social and physical environmental factors affect adolescents’ visitation and physical activity in Public Open Spaces in low-income neighborhoods.	Qualitative, interviews, thematic analysis	30 adolescents from neighborhoods in Brussels, Ghent and Antwerp, aged 12–16 (19 males, 11 females)	Area level SEP Low SES neighborhoods/communities selected based on population density, unemployment rates, welfare index and per capita income Low-SEP
Humbert et al., 2006	Canada	To illuminate the factors that youth from low- and high-SES areas consider important to increase physical activity participation among their peers.	Qualitative, focus groups, content analysis	160 adolescents from 2 schools in a midsized Canadian city, aged 12–18 (80 males, 80 females)	Area/school level SEP Demographic and social characteristics of the neighborhoods in which the schools were located Low- and high-SEP
Jonsson et al., 2017	Sweden (Gothenberg)	To illuminate factors that undermine the healthy habits of adolescents from a multicultural community with low socioeconomic status (S.E.S.) in Sweden with regard to physical activity (P.A.) and food, as stated in their own voices.	Qualitative, focus groups, content analysis	53 adolescents from a school with a large number students from a foreign background, ages 12–13 (21 males, 32 females)	Area level SEP According to Swedish standards, based on average income, proportion of people of foreign origin, long-term financial assistance, long-term unemployment, low voter turnout, low educational level, poor self-reported health, and poor life expectancy Low-SEP
Jonsson et al., 2017	Sweden (Gothenberg)	To illuminate what adolescents in a multicultural community of low socioeconomic status (SES) in Sweden convey concerning facilitators of PA.	Qualitative, focus groups, content analysis	53 adolescents from a school with a large number students from a foreign background, ages 12–13 (21 males, 32 females)	Area level SEP According to Swedish standards, based on average income, proportion of people of foreign origin, long-term financial assistance, long-term unemployment, low voter turnout, low educational level, poor self-reported health, and poor life expectancy Low-SEP
Kiley and Robinson, 2016	Canada (Alberta)	To investigate why-when female students attending an affluent private school opted out of PE class when they transitioned from middle school to senior high school and PE became optional.	Qualitative, interview, transcription and coding	Six adolescents in grade 10 enrolled in PE, aged 15–16 (6 females)	School level SEP Students attending a fee paying school (base tuition exceeding $17,000 per year) High-SEP
Loptson and Muhajarine, 2012	Canada (Saskatoon)	To use qualitative methods to gain insight into the pathways linking the neighborhood environment with children's activity patterns.	Qualitative, interview, coding list used for theme development	24 adolescents representing a range of residential neighborhood types, ages 10–14 (gender n/a)	Area level SEP Low-income neighborhoods were those with median household incomes below $50,000, and high-income neighborhoods were those with median household incomes above $85,000. Low-, middle-, and high-SEP
Malijak et al., 2014	USA (Midwestern United States)	To examine leaders' and students' perspectives on the challenges faced when implementing physical activity clubs.	Qualitative, interviews, analysis conducted using The Population-Based Health Promotion Model	278 adolescents from 14 high schools in an urban inner city school district, ages 14–18 (gender n/a)	School level SEP Schools in a low-socioeconomic district (approximately 85% of the district received free/reduced price school meals) Low-SEP
Martins et al., 2018	Portugal (Lisbon)	To explore and analyze the perspectives of physically active and inactive adolescent boys and girls with different socioeconomic status, regarding the meanings that PE had on their physical activity lifestyles throughout childhood and adolescence.	Qualitative, interviews, thematic analysis	16 adolescents from two school in contrasting areas, aged 17–18 (8 males, 8 females)	School level SEP Based on the (Portuguese) National Institute of Statistics census (INE, 2003) Low-SEP and middle-high-SEP
Quarmby, 2013	UK (West Midlands)	To explore the discourses on which young people draw their understandings about health and whether family structure mediated individual agency.	Qualitative study, group interviews, analytical framework based on an interpretive perspective	Three adolescents chosen to represent contrasting views, ages 11–12 (1 male, 2 females)	School and individual level SEP IMD of school combined with familial and demographic information Low-SEP
Rivard, 2014	Canada (Quebec)	To describe the perceptions and involvement of 19 participants (students and educators) on health issues within the context of the HSA in a low socioeconomic school in Quebec.	Qualitative, focus groups, content analysis	12 adolescents with avoid average academic performance, ages 11–12 (gender n/a)	School level SEP Rated 9/10 on the socioeconomic environment index (EEI) as calculated by the Ministry (MEQ, 2003) Low-SEP
Roberts, 2019	USA (Washington D.C)	To use an intersectional framework, largely focusing on the race-gender-class trinity, to examine youth active travel within a context of transportation inequity.	Qualitative, focus groups, content analysis	48 adolescents living in the Washington D.C., ages 12–15 (18 males, 30 females)	Individual level SEP Family Income Low-SEP
Schaillee et al., 2017	Belgium (Flanders)	To understand the social mechanisms that allow developmental benefits to occur for this group (urban dance initiatives for disadvantaged girls).	Qualitative, interviews, raw data units clustered into common and higher themes	25 adolescent females enrolled in urban dance program, ages 11–19 (25 females)	Individual level SEP Living conditions based on interview and survey data Low-SEP
Smyth et al., 2014	Australia	To animate discussion around how social class operates with adolescent girls from low socio-economic status backgrounds to shape and inform their decisions about participation in physical activity (PA) inside and outside of school.	Qualitative, group interviews and focus groups, transcripts were thematized using a process of ‘portraiture’	138 adolescents in a single secondary school in Australia, ages 15–16 (138 females)	School level SEP Based on the Australian’s Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA) and Statistical Local Area (SLA) Index of Relative Socio-economic Advantage and Disadvantage Low-SEP
St. George and Wilson, 2012	USA	To qualitatively explore the parenting context as well as specific family factors (support, rules, monitoring) and peer factors (support) related to weight status, physical activity (PA), and healthy eating in low-income African-American boys versus girls.	Qualitative, focus groups, bioecological framework used for analysis	45 African American adolescents, 51% overweight/obese, age 11–13 (22 males, 23 females)	Area level SEP Two underserved communities in South Carolina (median income?≈?$17,000–$22,000, high crime levels) Low-SEP
Sweeney and Von Hagen, 2016	USA (New Jersey)	To identify similarities and differences in parents' and children's perceptions of the environment that surrounds travel to and from school, how these perceptions form, and how they influence travel mode choice to and from school.	Qualitative, interviews, content and thematic analysis	48 adolescents from three New Jersey communities, aged 11–14 (22 males, 26 females)	Family Income Median household income ($) School 1–78,821 School 2–78,625 School 3–89,99 Middle-SEP
Wilson et al., 2005	USA (South Carolina)	To identify preferences for physical activity (PA) and motivational themes for increasing PA in underserved adolescents.	Qualitative, focus groups, content analysis	51 adolescents, primarily African American, aged 10–13 (25 males, 26 females)	School level SEP Adolescents who received free/reduced school meals Low-SEP
Wright et al., 2010	USA (South Carolina)	To assess how parental role modeling and parental social support influence physical activity in underserved (minority, low-income) adolescents.	Qualitative, focus groups, content analysis	52 adolescents, primarily African American, aged 10–14 (22 males, 30 females)	School level SEP 87% free or reduced school lunch program Low-SEP

Note: This table presents the characteristics of included studies.