Abstract(s)
Despite growing interest in integrating people’s daily mobility into contextual studies of social
inequalities in health, the links between daily mobility and health inequalities remain inadequately
conceptualized. This conceptual proposal anchors the relationship between daily mobility and
contextual influences on social inequalities in health into the concept of mobility potential, which
encompasses the opportunities and places individuals can choose (or are constrained) to access.
Mobility potential is realized as actual mobility through agency. Being shaped by sociallypatterned
personal and geographic characteristics, mobility potential is unequally distributed across
social groups. Social inequalities in realized mobility may thus result. We discuss pathways by
which these may contribute to contextual influences on social inequalities in health. One pathway
is reflected in disadvantaged groups encountering more fast-food outlets during their daily
activities, which may relate to their higher risk of unhealthy eating. This proposal lays the bases
for empirical research explicitly testing hypotheses regarding the contribution of daily mobility to
social inequalities in health.