Table 1. Demographic and Fitness-Change Characteristics of New York City Public Middle School Students (N = 349,381), 2006–2007 Through 2012–2013.
| Characteristic | na , b (%) |
|---|---|
| Sex | |
| Male | 177,355 (51) |
| Female | 172,026 (49) |
| Race/ethnicity | |
| Asian or Pacific Islander | 58,295 (17) |
| Hispanic | 134,453 (38) |
| Non-Hispanic black | 99,363 (28) |
| Non-Hispanic white | 55,857 (16) |
| Language spoken at home | |
| English | 197,727 (57) |
| Spanish | 86,052 (25) |
| Other language | 65,602 (19) |
| Place of birth | |
| United States | 289,160 (83) |
| Foreign country | 60,149 (17) |
| Change in fitnessc (all years) | |
| >20% Decrease | 126,115 (19) |
| 10%–20% Decrease | 79,172 (12) |
| <10% Change | 253,161 (37) |
| 10%–20% Increase | 82,117 (12) |
| >20% Increase | 134,753 (20) |
| Change in obesity statusd (all years) | |
| Obese to not obese | 36,029 (5) |
| Consistently not obese | 504,762 (73) |
| Consistently obese | 119,235 (17) |
| Not obese to obese | 27,273 (4) |
| School-area povertye | |
| Low poverty | 62,238 (18) |
| Medium poverty | 119,219 (34) |
| High poverty | 89,407 (26) |
| Very high poverty | 78,510 (22) |
| School size | |
| Attending small schools (<400 students) | 59,856 (17) |
| Attending nonsmall schools (≥400 students) | 289,525 (83) |
N for missing place of birth = 72; N for missing area poverty = 7; N for missing or having >1 race/ethnicity = 177.
Students in 6th, 7th, and 8th grades contributed 177,281, 220,769, and 186,135 student-years, respectively, across 624 schools.
Based on change in change in fitness composite percentile scores based on Progressive Aerobic Cardiovascular Endurance Run (PACER) Push-up and Curl-up Fitnessgram tests from the year prior.
Obesity status was defined according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention growth chart–derived norms for sex and age (in months), based on a historical reference population, and used to compute the body mass index (BMI) percentile for each child. Obesity was defined as having a BMI ≥95th percentile for youths in the same sex and age (in months) group.
Based on percentage of households in the school zip code living below the federal poverty threshold (low [<10%], medium [10%–20%], high [>20%–30%], and very high [>30%] area poverty) drawing from the American Community Survey 2007–2012 (27).