Research articleMeeting the 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans Among U.S. Youth
Introduction
Physical activity has numerous health benefits for youth including increased cardiorespiratory fitness and muscular strength, reduced body fat, improved cardiovascular and metabolic health biomarkers, enhanced bone health, and reduced symptoms of depression and/or anxiety.1, 2, 3 Accordingly, the DHHS detailed physical activity guidelines for youth aged 6–17 years in the 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans (2008 Guidelines).4 These guidelines recommend that youth participate in a minimum of 60 minutes of physical activity daily and engage in muscle-strengthening activity at least 3 days per week. However, there is a gap in existing knowledge about how many U.S. youth engage in physical activity at levels sufficient to meet those guidelines.
Although a few studies have described, separately, levels of aerobic5, 6, 7 and muscle-strengthening activity8 in youth, only one, a CDC study9 published in 2010, has reported levels of aerobic and muscle-strengthening activities together. That CDC study9 assessed aerobic and muscle-strengthening activity levels among U.S. high school students. Self-administered questionnaires, with one question to assess aerobic activity and one to assess muscle-strengthening activity, were used in classrooms, and showed that only one in ten students met the recommended levels of aerobic and muscle-strengthening activities. To augment those CDC findings,9 the current study assessed data collected through face-to-face interviews using questions on a broad range of activities.
The primary objectives were to use more-detailed data to examine the prevalence of U.S. adolescents meeting the 2008 Guidelines and to determine whether demographic and BMI variables are associated with meeting the guidelines. Four exclusive assessment criteria based on the 2008 Guidelines were used: meeting the aerobic guideline only, meeting the muscle-strengthening guideline only, meeting both aerobic and muscle-strengthening guidelines, and meeting neither guideline. Assessing levels of physical activity from participation in specific activities will strengthen understanding in this sparsely researched area.
Section snippets
Survey Description
The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) is a stratified and multistage probability cluster sample survey designed to represent the U.S. non-institutionalized civilian population.10 Conducted in 2-year cycles, NHANES collects data from participants (of all ages) through household interviews followed by physical examinations, including measurement of height and weight, at a mobile examination center. Physical activity data were collected in household interviews for youth
Results
Nationally representative estimates from the current study were based on a sample of 6547 participants. Selected characteristics of the weighted sample are presented in Table 1. Based on 2008 Guidelines criteria, 14.7% of U.S. adolescents met the aerobic guideline only, and 21.3% met the muscle-strengthening guideline only (Table 2). The percentage of boys who met the aerobic guideline only or the muscle-strengthening guideline only was higher than that for girls. The percentage meeting the
Discussion
The current study found that in a nationally representative sample of 6547 U.S. adolescents in 1999–2006, less than two of ten (<20%) reported meeting both aerobic and muscle-strengthening guidelines, and approximately one half reported meeting neither the aerobic nor the muscle-strengthening guideline. Efforts to increase levels of youth activity currently receive federal support through state, local, and community organizations (www.letsmove.gov; www.saferoutesinfo.org) but the findings of
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