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Background: Assessing awareness and knowledge of the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, 2nd edition (Guidelines), released in 2018, is important for monitoring factors that contribute to increasing physical activity. Methods: We estimated prevalence of awareness and knowledge of the adult aerobic guideline (≥150 min/wk of moderate-intensity equivalent aerobic physical activity preferably spread out over a week) among adults (n = 3471) and of the youth aerobic guideline (≥60 min/d of mostly moderate- to vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity) among a subset of parents (n = 744) from a nationwide sample of US adults in the 2019 FallStyles survey. We estimated odds ratios using logistic regression, adjusting for demographic and other characteristics. Results: Approximately 1 in 10 US adults and parents reported being aware of the Guidelines. Only 3% of adults knew the correct adult aerobic guideline. The most common responses were “don’t know/not sure” (44%) and “30 minutes a day, 5 or more days a week” (28%). Among parents, 15% knew the youth aerobic guideline. Awareness and knowledge tended to be lower with lower education and income. Conclusions: Limited awareness and knowledge of the Guidelines suggest communication about the Guidelines could be strengthened, especially among adults with low income or education.

Background: Surveillance is a core function of public health, and approaches to national surveillance of physical activity and sedentary behavior have evolved over the past 2 decades. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of surveillance of physical activity and sedentary behavior in the United States over the past 2 decades, along with related challenges and emerging opportunities. Methods: The authors reviewed key national surveillance systems for the assessment of physical activity and sedentary behavior among youth and adults in the United States between 2000 and 2019. Results: Over the past 20 years, 8 surveillance systems have assessed physical activity, and 5 of those have assessed sedentary behavior. Three of the 8 originated in nonpublic health agencies. Most systems have assessed physical activity and sedentary behavior via surveys. However, survey questions varied over time within and also across systems, resulting in a wide array of available data. Conclusion: The evolving nature of physical activity surveillance in the United States has resulted in both broad challenges (eg, balancing content with survey space; providing data at the national, state, and local level; adapting traditional physical activity measures and survey designs; and addressing variation across surveillance systems) and related opportunities.

Background: Adults should perform ≥150 minutes per week of moderate-intensity equivalent physical activity for substantial health benefits and >300 minutes per week for additional benefits. The authors analyzed 21 years of National Health Interview Survey data to better understand trends in aerobic physical activity participation among US adults. Methods: The authors estimated the annual prevalence (1998–2018) of self-reported leisure-time physical inactivity, insufficient activity, meeting only the minimal aerobic guideline, and meeting the high aerobic guideline overall and by selected characteristics. Prevalence differences between 1998 and 2018 were compared across subgroups and periods of significant change were identified using JoinPoint regression. Results: The prevalence of inactivity decreased from 40.5% (1998) to 25.6% (2018) while the prevalence of meeting the high aerobic guideline increased from 26.0% to 37.4%. Increases in meeting the high guideline were similar across age groups, racial/ethnic groups, levels of education, and Census regions. Increases in insufficient activity and meeting the minimal guideline were statistically significant but of relatively small magnitude. Conclusions: The prevalence of inactivity decreased and meeting the high aerobic guideline increased overall and for all subgroups from 1998 to 2018. Physical activity promotion strategies may aim to continue these trends while also narrowing persistent disparities in participation across subgroups.

Background: Although disparities in leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) participation by race/ethnicity and income are known, the combined association of these characteristics with LTPA participation is less understood. This study aims to describe trends and determine whether racial/ethnic differences in adult physical activity by income level have changed over the past 2 decades. Methods: The authors estimated LTPA participation (outcomes: any aerobic activity, meeting the aerobic activity guideline, meeting the muscle-strengthening guideline, and meeting the combined aerobic and muscle-strengthening guidelines) among adults ≥18 years by race/ethnicity across income levels using 1998–2018 National Health Interview Survey data in 3-year aggregates. They also tested for trends, prevalence differences, and difference in differences using logistic regression. Results: LTPA participation increased from 1998–2000 to 2016–2018 for all outcomes for non-Hispanic white, non-Hispanic black, and Hispanic adults at all income levels. Disparities narrowed for some groups but persisted between white and racial/ethnic minority groups across income levels for engaging in any aerobic activity and meeting the aerobic guideline (0.2–8.8 percentage point difference in differences). Disparities in meeting the muscle-strengthening and combined guidelines were less common. Conclusions: Opportunities exist to ensure that adults, particularly members of lower income racial/ethnic minority groups, have support to help them participate in LTPA.

Background:Emerging evidence suggests that combined physical activity (PA) and inactivity may be more important for chronic disease risk than PA alone. A highly active yet highly sedentary population is needed to study this interaction. The present purpose is to describe the sitting habits of a group of recreational runners and determine if sitting varies with reported training duration or anticipated running velocity.Methods:Marathon and half-marathon participants completed the Multicontext Sitting Time Questionnaire and reported peak training duration, anticipated finishing time, and demographic information. Sitting time was described across 5 contexts for workdays and nonworkdays. Total sitting time was analyzed by tertiles of training duration and anticipated event running velocity.Results:218 participants took part in this study. Median reported training time was 6.5 hours per week. Median total sitting time was higher on workdays than nonworkdays (645 and 480 minutes, respectively, P < .0001). Total sitting time was not associated with training duration or anticipated event running velocity.Conclusions:These results suggest that recreational distance runners are simultaneously highly sedentary and highly active, supporting independence of sedentary behaviors and moderate- to vigorous-intensity PA. This population may provide the characteristics needed to study the joint effects of active and sedentary behaviors on health outcomes.