Table 1.
Demographic characteristics, physical activity levels, and sitting time among US adults, NHANES, 2007/2008 to 2017/2018
| 2007/2008 | 2009/2010 | 2011/2012 | 2013/2014 | 2015/2016 | 2017/2018 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (n=5,838) | (n=6,254) | (n=5,485) | (n=5,805) | (n=5,571) | (n=5,350) | |||||||
|
|
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| Characteristic | %* | (95% CI) | %* | (95% CI) | %* | (95% CI) | %* | (95% CI) | %* | (95% CI) | %* | (95% CI) |
|
| ||||||||||||
| Sex | ||||||||||||
| Men | 48.4 | (47.1–49.8) | 48.1 | (46.9–49.3) | 48.5 | (47.0–50.0) | 48.1 | (46.7–49.5) | 47.7 | (46.5–49.0) | 48.0 | (46.0–50.0) |
| Women | 51.6 | (50.2–52.9) | 51.9 | (50.7–53.1) | 51.5 | (50.0–53.0) | 51.9 | (50.5–53.3) | 52.3 | (51.0–53.5) | 52.0 | (50.0–54.0) |
| Age (years) | ||||||||||||
| 18−34 | 30.3 | (28.0–32.5) | 29.9 | (28.1–31.8) | 30.2 | (25.3–35.0) | 30.3 | (27.6–33.1) | 29.4 | (26.9–31.9) | 30.0 | (27.2–32.7) |
| 35−44 | 18.9 | (17.2–20.7) | 18.9 | (17.1–20.7) | 17.3 | (14.6–20.1) | 17.4 | (15.6–19.2) | 16.4 | (14.2–18.5) | 16.1 | (13.8–18.4) |
| 45−64 | 35.3 | (33.0–37.5) | 34.4 | (32.8–36.0) | 36.1 | (32.9–39.4) | 34.5 | (32.5–36.4) | 34.6 | (32.4–36.8) | 35.3 | (33.0–37.6) |
| ≥65 | 15.5 | (14.0–17.0) | 16.8 | (15.1–18.5) | 16.4 | (14.2–18.5) | 17.8 | (16.6–19.0) | 19.6 | (17.2–22.0) | 18.7 | (15.9–21.4) |
| Race/ethnicity | ||||||||||||
| White, non-Hispanic | 69.4 | (61.6–77.1) | 67.6 | (60.6–74.6) | 66.0 | (57.9–74.2) | 65.6 | (58.7–72.6) | 63.6 | (55.2–71.9) | 62.3 | (56.8–67.8) |
| Black, non-Hispanic | 11.3 | (7.2–15.4) | 11.6 | (9.8–13.3) | 11.7 | (6.8–16.6) | 11.5 | (8.0–15.1) | 11.5 | (6.8–16.1) | 11.3 | (7.9–14.8) |
| Hispanic | 13.4 | (9.2–17.6) | 13.8 | (7.7–19.8) | 14.5 | (9.2–19.7) | 14.9 | (9.9–19.8) | 15.5 | (9.9–21.0) | 15.9 | (11.7–20.2) |
| Other or multiple race | 5.9 | (3.7–8.1) | 7.0 | (4.8–9.3) | 7.8 | (5.5–10.1) | 8.0 | (6.4–9.5) | 9.5 | (6.7–12.2) | 10.5 | (7.8–13.2) |
| Education level | ||||||||||||
| <High school graduate | 20.8 | (17.7–23.9) | 19.4 | (17.4–21.4) | 16.8 | (13.1–20.5) | 16.0 | (12.7–19.4) | 14.6 | (11.0–18.1) | 11.3 | (9.5–13.0) |
| High school graduate | 25.8 | (23.1–28.4) | 23.2 | (20.8–25.6) | 20.2 | (17.6–22.8) | 22.0 | (19.4–24.7) | 21.4 | (19.1–23.8) | 27.9 | (24.6–31.2) |
| Some college | 28.9 | (27.1–30.7) | 30.5 | (28.7–32.3) | 32.6 | (29.5–35.7) | 32.7 | (30.5–34.9) | 32.3 | (29.3–35.2) | 30.6 | (28.0–33.3) |
| ≥College graduate | 24.5 | (20.3–28.7) | 26.9 | (24.2–29.6) | 30.4 | (25.3–35.5) | 29.3 | (25.3–33.2) | 31.7 | (25.5–38.0) | 30.2 | (25.1–35.3) |
| Employment status | ||||||||||||
| Employed | 65.0 | (61.8–68.3) | 62.1 | (60.4–63.9) | 60.8 | (57.2–64.3) | 61.6 | (58.5–64.7) | 64.6 | (61.0–68.2) | 64.3 | (61.8–66.7) |
| Not employed | 21.0 | (18.3–23.7) | 23.5 | (21.8–25.2) | 25.3 | (22.0–28.6) | 22.8 | (19.9–25.6) | 19.4 | (16.8–22.0) | 19.6 | (17.5–21.7) |
| Retired | 14.0 | (12.5–15.4) | 14.4 | (12.7–16.0) | 14.0 | (12.3–15.7) | 15.7 | (14.5–16.8) | 16.1 | (13.5–18.6) | 16.1 | (13.6–18.7) |
| BMI category | ||||||||||||
| Under/normal weight | 33.0 | (31.0–35.1) | 31.6 | (29.0–34.2) | 32.7 | (28.9–36.4) | 31.0 | (29.1–32.8) | 29.6 | (26.2–32.9) | 27.8 | (25.0–30.7) |
| Overweight | 34.1 | (32.6–35.5) | 33.1 | (31.0–35.2) | 33.2 | (30.5–36.0) | 32.3 | (30.7–33.9) | 31.5 | (30.3–32.7) | 30.7 | (28.2–33.2) |
| Obesity | 32.9 | (30.5–35.3) | 35.3 | (33.4–37.2) | 34.1 | (31.2–37.0) | 36.7 | (34.9–38.6) | 38.9 | (35.6–42.3) | 41.5 | (37.6–45.3) |
| Leisure time physical activity† | ||||||||||||
| Inactive | 47.7 | (42.1–53.2) | 47.8 | (45.3–50.2) | 44.0 | (39.2–48.8) | 46.5 | (43.7–49.3) | 44.3 | (39.8–48.7) | 45.4 | (41.7–49.0) |
| Insufficiently active | 16.8 | (14.9–18.6) | 16.1 | (14.8–17.4) | 16.0 | (14.2–17.7) | 16.4 | (14.8–18.1) | 15.3 | (13.8–16.7) | 16.1 | (13.7–18.5) |
| Sufficiently active | 13.6 | (11.2–15.9) | 14.7 | (13.5–15.9) | 15.5 | (13.7–17.3) | 13.8 | (12.9–14.7) | 15.2 | (13.4–17.1) | 13.9 | (12.0–15.8) |
| Highly active | 22.0 | (19.2–24.8) | 21.4 | (18.8–24.1) | 24.5 | (21.0–28.0) | 23.3 | (21.0–25.5) | 25.2 | (22.4–28.1) | 24.6 | (22.5–26.6) |
| Multi-domain physical activity‡ | ||||||||||||
| Inactive | 22.5 | (19.5–25.4) | 23.3 | (21.6–24.9) | 21.0 | (18.0–24.1) | 23.4 | (22.2–24.6) | 20.8 | (17.7–23.9) | 20.6 | (18.6–22.6) |
| Insufficiently active | 12.9 | (11.5–14.4) | 13.7 | (12.5–14.9) | 13.2 | (12.3–14.1) | 14.4 | (13.2–15.5) | 13.2 | (12.1–14.2) | 11.2 | (9.8–12.6) |
| Sufficiently active | 12.5 | (11.0–14.1) | 13.3 | (12.2–14.4) | 13.5 | (12.3–14.7) | 13.0 | (11.6–14.4) | 11.8 | (10.2–13.3) | 11.1 | (9.8–12.5) |
| Highly active | 52.1 | (49.7–54.4) | 49.7 | (46.8–52.6) | 52.3 | (48.9–55.6) | 49.3 | (47.4–51.2) | 54.3 | (51.9–56.6) | 57.0 | (55.4–58.7) |
| Daily sitting time | ||||||||||||
| <4 hours/day | 33.6 | (30.6–36.5) | 29.4 | (27.8–31.1) | 22.8 | (19.9–25.6) | 14.6 | (13.1–16.1) | 18.7 | (16.4–21.0) | 26.9 | (23.6–30.2) |
| 4−<6 hours/day | 23.6 | (22.6–24.7) | 24.3 | (22.0–26.5) | 24.3 | (23.0–25.6) | 19.6 | (17.4–21.8) | 25.0 | (22.7–27.3) | 26.3 | (23.9–28.7) |
| 6−8 hours/day | 24.8 | (23.4–26.1) | 27.3 | (25.5–29.0) | 30.0 | (27.9–32.2) | 36.5 | (34.1–38.9) | 30.8 | (28.1–33.5) | 27.2 | (24.6–29.7) |
| >8 hours/day | 18.0 | (16.0–20.0) | 19.0 | (16.9–21.2) | 22.9 | (20.6–25.3) | 29.4 | (26.8–31.9) | 25.5 | (22.6–28.3) | 19.7 | (17.8–21.7) |
Abbreviations: NHANES=National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey; CI=confidence interval; BMI=body mass index
Across the 6 survey cycles, respondents were excluded if they were missing sitting time (n=217), physical activity (n=104), demographic characteristics (n=66), or measured BMI (n=1,890).
Weighted percentages
For leisure-time physical activity, respondents reported the frequency (days per week) and duration (minutes per day) of vigorous- and moderate-intensity “sports, fitness and recreational activities” done for at least 10 minutes continuously in a typical week. The frequency and duration of moderate- and vigorous-intensity activity were multiplied to calculate total weekly volume. Per aerobic physical activity guidelines, the volume of vigorous-intensity physical activity was multiplied by two and added to moderate-intensity activity to create moderate-intensity equivalent minutes. Based on the volume of moderate-intensity equivalent minutes of leisure-time physical activity, each respondent was categorized as inactive (<10 minutes per week), insufficiently active (10–149 minutes per week), sufficiently active (150–300 minutes per week), or highly active (>300 minutes per week).
Includes leisure-time, occupational/household, and transportation-related physical activity. For occupational/household physical activity, respondents reported the frequency (days per week) and duration (minutes per day) of vigorous- and moderate-intensity activities done as part of “paid or unpaid work, household chores, and yard work” for at least 10 minutes continuously in a typical week. For transportation-related physical activity, respondents reported the frequency (days per week) and duration (minutes per day) of “walking or using a bicycle for at least 10 minutes continuously to get to and from places” in a typical week; transportation-related activity was considered moderate-intensity. Within each domain, the frequency and duration of moderate- and vigorous-intensity activity were multiplied to calculate total weekly volume. Per aerobic physical activity guidelines, the volume of vigorous-intensity physical activity was multiplied by two and added to moderate-intensity physical activity to create moderate-intensity equivalent minutes. Based on the combined volume of moderate-intensity equivalent minutes of leisure-time, occupational/household, and transportation-related physical activity, each respondent was categorized as inactive (<10 minutes per week), insufficiently active (10–149 minutes per week), sufficiently active (150–300 minutes per week), or highly active (>300 minutes per week).