Prevalence of highly active adults—Behavioral risk factor surveillance system, 2007
Introduction
Participation in regular physical activity is one of the most important steps that can be taken to improve and maintain health and decrease the likelihood of morbidity and mortality from health conditions such as cardiovascular disease, obesity, type 2 diabetes, and certain types of cancer (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2008a, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2008b). The United States (US) Department of Health and Human Services released the 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans (2008 Guidelines) in October 2008. The 2008 Guidelines are the end product of the 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans Advisory Committee Report (Advisory Committee Report), the most comprehensive scientific review of the health benefits of physical activity in over a decade (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2008b). The 2008 Guidelines differed from previous recommendations as it contained two standards for aerobic physical activity: a minimum level to obtain substantial health benefits, and a second standard to obtain additional and more extensive health benefits.
Prevalence and US state- and territory based estimates using the minimum aerobic physical activity standards have been previously described (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2008, Loustalot et al., 2009). The minimum standard in the 2008 Guidelines was participation in at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity, 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity, or an equivalent combination of aerobic physical activity on a weekly basis. The purpose of this report is to summarize the prevalence and US state- and territory-based estimates of adults meeting the 2008 Guidelines standard to obtain additional and more extensive health benefits: at least 300 minutes of moderate-intensity, 150 minutes of vigorous-intensity, or an equivalent combination of aerobic physical activity on a weekly basis.
The new standard to obtain additional and more extensive health benefits set forth in the 2008 Guidelines was derived from the extensive review of the health benefits of physical activity described in the Advisory Committee Report (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2008b). While certain health benefits are obtained from participating in small amounts of aerobic physical activity (i.e., fall prevention, activities of daily living), higher levels of physical activity may be required to influence other health outcomes (i.e., colon and breast cancer, premature death) (Fulton et al., 2009). For example, to significantly reduce the risk for colon and breast cancer or enhance functional ability and energy balance, moderate-intensity physical activity in excess of 300 minutes per week of moderate-intensity physical activity may be required (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2008a).
Section snippets
Survey
The Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) is an ongoing, state- and territory-based, random-digit-dialed telephone survey of US adults (aged ≥ 18 years), from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, US Virgin Islands, Guam, and Puerto Rico. The survey collects data on preventive health practices and risk behaviors in the civilian, noninstitutionalized US adult population. For this analysis, 32,766 BRFSS respondents were excluded due to incomplete physical activity data, resulting in
Highly active
In 2007, 43.5% of BRFSS respondents were categorized as highly active (> 300 minutes per week) (Table 1). A significantly larger proportion of men than women were categorized as highly active. By age group, the highest proportion categorized as highly active was among younger respondents (18–24 years), and the lowest among older respondents (≥ 65 years). Among racial and ethnic groups, non-Hispanic whites had a significantly higher proportion categorized as highly active than all other racial/ethnic
Discussion
Our findings indicate that 43.5% of BRFSS 2007 respondents were categorized as highly active according to the 2008 Guidelines. In this analysis, higher prevalence estimates among those categorized as highly active were noted among males, young individuals, non-Hispanic whites, individuals having a higher level of education, those having a lower BMI, and those residing in the Western US; which is consistent with previous research (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2007, Centers for
Conflict of interest statement
The authors declare that they have no competing interests, and no external funding was received for the study.
Acknowledgments
The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the opinions of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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