Population Results – Trends and Reductions in Disparities

Achievement of the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans for adults and children.

 

The Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans recommend that children and adolescents do 60 minutes (1 hour) or more of physical activity daily. These activities should be enjoyable, age-appropriate, and offer variety. All adults should avoid inactivity. Adults who participate in any amount of physical activity gain some health benefits. For substantial health benefits, adults should do at least 150 minutes (2 hours and 30 minutes) a week of moderate-intensity, or 75 minutes (1 hour and 15 minutes) a week of vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity, or an equivalent combination of moderate- and vigorous intensity aerobic activity. Ten-minute intervals throughout the week can meet the requirements. Muscle-strengthening exercises that involve all major muscle groups on 2 or more days a week are important, too.

Healthy People 2020 objectives show that we have more work to do. More than 80 percent of adults do not meet the guidelines for both aerobic and muscle-strengthening activities. Similarly, more than 80 percent of adolescents do not do enough aerobic physical activity to meet the guidelines for youth. Complementary strategies will include reducing time spent in sedentary behaviors, particularly entertainment screen time (television, video games, and use of computers for non-school work) and increasing the proportion of trips made by walking or bicycling.

R7 also measures active commuting, also known as active transportation, which is any form of human-powered transportation, including bicycling. Public transportation is included in active commuting because users have to use human power to access public transportation stops and their end destination (often known as the “first” and “last” mile). Safety and security issues (real and perceived) are significant barriers to active transportation, as is lack of access to adequate active transportation facilities.

Reported among SNAP-Ed eligible persons

Physical Activity

R7a. At least 150 minutes per week of moderate‐intensity aerobic physical activity or 75 minutes per week of vigorous‐intensity aerobic physical activity or an equivalent combination of moderate‐and vigorous‐intensity aerobic activity

R7b. Muscle-strengthening activities on 2 or more days a week that work all major muscle groups (legs, hips, back, abdomen, chest, shoulders, and arms)

Sedentary Behavior

R7c. Entertainment-based screen time viewing for 2 or fewer hours on an average school day

Active Commuting

R7d. Use public transportation, walking, or bicycling to travel to and from work on a regular basis
for destination-based active transportation, not recreation)

Adults

1. Number or percentage of adults who report or demonstrate achievement of minutes per week of moderate or vigorous physical activity – 150 minutes for moderate intensity; 75 minutes for vigorous intensity
2. Number or percentage of adults who participate in 2 days per week of muscle-strengthening involving all major muscle groups
3. Number or percentage of adults achieving an average or above average score on a health-related fitness test
4. Number or percentage of adults who use public transportation, walking, or bicycling to travel to and from work on a regular basis (active commuting)

Children/Adolescents

1. Number or percentage of children/adolescents who report or demonstrate achievement of 60 minutes per day of moderate to vigorous physical activity
2. Number or percentage children/adolescents who participate in 2 days per week of muscle-strengthening involving all major muscle groups
3. Number or percentage of children who improve aerobic capacity score as measured by Fitnessgram, the national physical fitness assessment
4. Number or percentage of children/adolescents who achieve the healthy fitness zone for aerobic capacity on the Fitnessgram

Toddlers/Preschoolers

1. Number or percentage of parents who report toddlers’ achievement of 90 minutes per day of physical activity (30 mins structured, 60 mins unstructured)
2. Number or percentage of parents who report preschoolers’ achievement of 120 minutes per day of physical activity (60 mins of structured, 60 mins of unstructured)

Adults, children/adolescents, toddlers/preschoolers

ADULTS

CHILDREN & ADOLESCENTS

Additional evaluation tools to measure R7 can be found in the SNAP-Ed Library.

Active commuting
Population-based data collection
SNAP-Ed eligible persons
Surveillance

While not every state, territory, or tribe administers the BRFSS, this survey represents the most definitive source on health at the state level. States or communities that do not administer the BRFSS could incorporate the aforementioned survey questions in their own locally administered health surveys. Lastly, because SNAP-Ed funds cannot pay for surveillance in the general population or the population whose income exceeds 185 percent of the federal poverty level, a broader purchase of telephone numbers for sampling purposes must be cost-allocated between SNAP-Ed and other funding sources. However, SNAP-Ed funds can be used to pay for an oversample of respondents from low-income areas to ensure representativeness of the SNAP-Ed priority population.

500 Cities Project data and map books
https://www.cdc.gov/500Cities/

Data analysis of 27 chronic disease measures, including one on nutrition, physical activity, and weight status, for the 500 largest American cities and the census tracts within them.

¹ U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans. Available from https://health.gov/paguidelines/.
² SHAPE America – Society of Health and Physical Educators. Active Start: A Statement of Physical Activity Guidelines for Children From Birth to Age 5, 2nd Edition. Reston, VA: SHAPE America; 2009.
³ Sallis JF, Buono MJ, Roby JJ, Micale FG, Nelson JA. Seven-day recall and other physical activity self-reports in children and adolescents. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1993;25(1):99-108.
⁴ Craig CL, Marshall AL, Sjöström M, Bauman AE, Booth ML, Ainsworth BE, et al. International Physical Activity Questionnaire: 12-country reliability and validity. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2003;35(8):1381-1395.
⁵ Weston AT, Petosa R, Pate RR. Validation of an instrument for measurement of physical activity in youth. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1997;29(1):138-43.
⁶ Ridley K, Olds TS, Hill A. The Multimedia Activity Recall for Children and Adolescents (MARCA): development and evaluation. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2006;26;3-10.
⁷Hardy LL, Booth ML, Okely AD. The reliability of the Adolescent Sedentary Activity Questionnaire (ASAQ). Prev Med. 2007 Jul;45(1):71-74. Epub 2007 Apr 14.