Abstract
BackgroundThe World Health Organization’s ‘Global Recommendations on Physical Activity for Health’ state that adults should engage in regular moderate-to-vigorous intensity aerobic physical activity (MVPA; e.g. walking, running, cycling) and muscle-strengthening activity (MSA; e.g. strength/resistance training). However, assessment of both MVPA and MSA is rare in physical activity surveillance. The aim of this study is to describe the prevalence, correlates and chronic health conditions associated with meeting the combined MVPA-MSA guidelines among a population representative sample of U.S. adults.MethodsIn this cross-sectional study, data were drawn from the U.S. 2015 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. During telephone interviews, MVPA and MSA were assessed using validated questionnaires. We calculated the proportions meeting both the global MVPA and MSA physical activity guidelines (MVPA ≥150 min/week and MSA ≥2 sessions/week). Poisson regressions with a robust error variance were used to assess: (i) prevalence ratios (PR) for meeting both guidelines across sociodemographic factors (e.g. age, sex, education, income, race/ethnicity); and (ii) PRs of 12 common chronic health conditions (e.g. diabetes, coronary heart disease, hypertension, depression) across different categories of physical activity guideline adherence (met neither [reference]; MSA only; MVPA only; met both).ResultsAmong 383,928 adults (aged 18–80 years), 23.5% (95% CI: 20.1, 20.6%) met the combined MVPA-MSA guidelines. Those with poorer self-rated health, older adults, women, lower education/income and current smokers were less likely to meet the combined guidelines. After adjustment for covariates (e.g. age, self-rated health, income, smoking) compared with meeting neither guidelines, MSA only and MVPA only, meeting the combined MVPA-MSA guidelines was associated with the lowest PRs for all health conditions (APR range: 0.44–0.76), and the clustering of ≥6 chronic health conditions (APR = 0.33; 95% CI: 0.31–0.35).ConclusionsEight out of ten U.S. adults do not meet the global physical activity guidelines. This study supports the need for comprehensive health promotion strategies to increase the uptake and adherence of MVPA-MSA among U.S. adults. Large-scale interventions should target specific population sub-groups including older adults, women, those with poorer health and lower education/income.
Highlights
The World Health Organization’s ‘Global Recommendations on Physical Activity for Health’ state that adults should engage in regular moderate-to-vigorous intensity aerobic physical activity (MVPA; e.g. walking, running, cycling) and muscle-strengthening activity (MSA; e.g. strength/resistance training)
More than 50 years of epidemiological research demonstrates that physical inactivity is an independent risk factor for all-cause mortality and multiple chronic health conditions, including cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, colon/breast cancer and depression [1,2,3,4,5,6,7]
Physical activity guideline adherence classification categories A total of 39.6% ‘met neither’, 9.9% ‘met MSA only’, 30.2% ‘met aerobic MVPA only’ and 20.3% (95 CI: 20.1, 20.6%) ‘met both’
Summary
The World Health Organization’s ‘Global Recommendations on Physical Activity for Health’ state that adults should engage in regular moderate-to-vigorous intensity aerobic physical activity (MVPA; e.g. walking, running, cycling) and muscle-strengthening activity (MSA; e.g. strength/resistance training). Assessment of both MVPA and MSA is rare in physical activity surveillance. The 2010 World Health Organization’s (WHO) ‘Global Recommendations on Physical Activity for Health’ state that adults (18–64 years) should engage in: (i) 150 min/ week of moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity, or 75 min/week of vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity, or an equivalent combination of both; and (ii) two or more days per week of MSA involving major muscle groups [7]. We have recently shown that compared to meeting one guideline, concurrent MVPA-MSA is associated with favourable cardiometabolic outcomes among a sample of ~ 10,000 Korean adults [28]
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More From: International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity
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