Search Results

Background: Adults should perform ≥150 minutes per week of moderate-intensity equivalent physical activity for substantial health benefits and >300 minutes per week for additional benefits. The authors analyzed 21 years of National Health Interview Survey data to better understand trends in aerobic physical activity participation among US adults. Methods: The authors estimated the annual prevalence (1998–2018) of self-reported leisure-time physical inactivity, insufficient activity, meeting only the minimal aerobic guideline, and meeting the high aerobic guideline overall and by selected characteristics. Prevalence differences between 1998 and 2018 were compared across subgroups and periods of significant change were identified using JoinPoint regression. Results: The prevalence of inactivity decreased from 40.5% (1998) to 25.6% (2018) while the prevalence of meeting the high aerobic guideline increased from 26.0% to 37.4%. Increases in meeting the high guideline were similar across age groups, racial/ethnic groups, levels of education, and Census regions. Increases in insufficient activity and meeting the minimal guideline were statistically significant but of relatively small magnitude. Conclusions: The prevalence of inactivity decreased and meeting the high aerobic guideline increased overall and for all subgroups from 1998 to 2018. Physical activity promotion strategies may aim to continue these trends while also narrowing persistent disparities in participation across subgroups.

Background: New or enhanced activity-friendly routes to everyday destinations is an evidence-based approach for increasing physical activity. Although national estimates for some infrastructure features surrounding where one lives and the types of nearby destinations are available, less is known about the places where individuals walk. Methods: A total of 5 types of walking trips (N = 54,034) were defined by whether they began or ended at home (home based [HB]) and trip purpose (HB work, HB shopping, HB social/recreation, HB other, and not HB trip) (2017 National Household Travel Survey). Differences and trends by subgroups in the proportion of each purpose-oriented trip were tested using pairwise comparisons and polynomial contrasts. Results: About 14% of U.S. adults reported ≥1 walking trip on a given day. About 64% of trips were HB trips. There were few differences in prevalence for each purpose by subgroup. For example, prevalence of trips that were not HB decreased significantly with increasing age and increased with increasing education and household income. Conclusions: Given age-related and socioeconomic differences in walking trips by purpose, planners and other professionals may want to consider trip origin and destination purposes when prioritizing investments for the creation of activity-friendly routes to everyday destinations where people live, work, and play.

Background: Understanding how participation is changing across domains of physical activity is important for monitoring progress and informing promotion efforts. The authors examined changes in physical activity participation in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2007/2008 to 2017/2018. Methods: The prevalence of inactivity, insufficient activity, and meeting the aerobic physical activity guideline in multidomain physical activity and each domain (leisure time, occupational/household, and transportation) was estimated for each cycle and stratified by selected characteristics. The authors tested trends over time and overall changes (2017/2018 vs 2007/2008). Results: For multidomain physical activity, the prevalence of inactivity decreased linearly; meeting the aerobic guideline increased nonmonotonically, and the 2017/2018 prevalence (68.1%) was higher than 2007/2008 (64.1%). Similar findings were observed for adults aged ≥65 years, non-Hispanic Blacks, Hispanics, high school graduates, and adults with obesity. Domain-specific results varied, but decreasing trends in inactivity and increasing trends in meeting the guideline were consistently observed across subgroups for occupational/household activity. Meeting the guideline through transportation activity was rare. Conclusions: Increases in meeting the guideline and decreases in inactivity in multidomain activity and selected domains are encouraging results, especially among subgroups historically reporting low activity participation. Activity promotion efforts are important to maintain progress, and the transportation domain may be an underutilized source of physical activity.

Background: The National Health Interview Survey is unique among US federal surveillance systems with over 20 years of consistent assessment of muscle-strengthening and aerobic activity. The authors examined trends in the prevalence of US adults who met the muscle-strengthening (2 or more days per week) and the combined muscle-strengthening and aerobic physical activity (at least 150 min/wk of moderate-intensity equivalent activity) guidelines from 1998 to 2018. Methods: The 1998–2018 National Health Interview Survey data were analyzed. Age-adjusted prevalence of meeting the muscle-strengthening and combined aerobic and muscle-strengthening guidelines by selected respondent characteristics were estimated for each year and linear and higher-order trends were assessed. Results: From 1998 to 2018, prevalence of meeting the muscle-strengthening guideline increased from 17.7% to 27.6%, and meeting the combined aerobic and muscle-strengthening guidelines increased from 14.4% to 24.0%. All subgroups demonstrated significant increases in meeting both guideline measures over this period although trends varied across the 21 years; increasing trends were more commonly sustained in the second decade of monitoring. Conclusions: Although increasing trends in prevalence of meeting the muscle-strengthening and combined guidelines are encouraging, current prevalence estimates remain low. Opportunities exist for the continued promotion of muscle-strengthening activity using evidence-based approaches.

Background: During the past decade, guidelines for youth aerobic and muscle-strengthening physical activity remained unchanged. Active People, Healthy Nation^SM highlighted school and youth strategies (eg, sports and physical education [PE]) to increase physical activity. Sex, grade, and race/ethnicity disparities exist. This study examines sex-specific trends and differences by grade and race/ethnicity for the prevalence of 5 youth physical activity behaviors from 2009 to 2019. Methods: The national Youth Risk Behavior Survey assesses adolescents (grades 9–12) meeting the aerobic, muscle-strengthening, and both guidelines (2011–2019) and sports participation and daily PE (2009–2019). Sex-stratified logistic regression assessed trends and 2009 or 2011–2019 differences by grade and racial/ethnic subgroups. Results: Decreases in meeting the aerobic, muscle-strengthening, and both guidelines were observed for nearly all male subgroups by grade and race/ethnicity, whereas female subgroups exhibited declines or no change to low prevalence. Sports and PE participation remained mostly constant; select subgroups showed decreases (ie, Hispanic males [sports]; Black males and ninth-grade females [PE]). Conclusions: Past decade prevalence and patterns suggest that school-based and other strategies for all adolescents and tailored interventions for sex-specific subgroups may be needed to supplement sports and PE in promoting high school youth physical activity.