The purpose of this study was to identify racial differences in physical activity (PA), fitness, and BMI in female 8th-grade sports participants and nonparticipants. Girls from 31 South Carolina middle schools (N = 1,903, 48% White; mean age = 13.6 ± 0.63) reported PA and previous year sports-team participation, completed a submaximal fitness test, and had height and weight measured. Sports team participation was positively associated with PA and negatively associated with television viewing and BMI, in a dose-response manner. Compared with Whites, African-Americans reported less PA and more television viewing, and had greater BMI scores. Whereas PA intervention programs that incorporate a sports-team component could benefit all girls, African-American girls could be specifically targeted because of their lower physical activity.
Race Differences in Activity, Fitness, and BMI in Female Eighth Graders Categorized by Sports Participation Status
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Sirard is with the Division of Epidemiology and Community Health School of Public Health University of Minnesota Minneapolis, MN 55454-1015. Pfeiffer is with the Dept. of Kinesiology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824-1049. Dowda and Pate are with the Dept. of Exercise Science, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208.
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