Elsevier

The Journal of Pediatrics

Volume 135, Issue 3, September 1999, Pages 301-306
The Journal of Pediatrics

Adolescent physical activity and inactivity vary by ethnicity: The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health,☆☆,

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-3476(99)70124-1Get rights and content

Abstract

Objectives: To determine the extent to which physical activity and inactivity patterns vary by ethnicity among subpopulations of US adolescents. Study design: Nationally representative data from the 1996 National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health of >14,000 US adolescents (including 3135 non-Hispanic blacks, 2446 Hispanics, and 976 Asians). Methods: Hours per week of inactivity (TV viewing, playing video or computer games) and times per week of moderate to vigorous physical activity were collected by using questionnaire data. Multinomial logistic regression models of physical activity and inactivity were used to adjust for sociodemographic factors. Results: Large ethnic differences are seen for inactivity, particularly for hours of television or video viewing per week (non-Hispanic blacks, mean = 20.4; non-Hispanic whites, mean = 13.1). Physical activity (≥5 bouts of moderate to vigorous physical activity per week, 5-8 metabolic equivalents) is lowest for female and minority adolescents. Ethnic differences are far greater for inactivity than for moderate to vigorous physical activity. Conclusion: Minority adolescents, with the exception of Asian females, have consistently higher levels of inactivity. Results vary by sex; males have higher inactivity and physical activity, whereas lowest physical activity is found for non-Hispanic black and Asian females, although Asian females also have low inactivity and low levels of overweight. Overall, efforts to reduce the problem of adolescent overweight should focus on increasing activity levels of adolescents, particularly female, older, and major minority subpopulations. (J Pediatr 1999;135:301-6)

Section snippets

Sample Design

The study population consists of over 20,000 adolescents enrolled in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, a nationally representative, school-based sample of adolescents in grades 7 to 12 in the United States. The collection of data followed informed consent procedures established by the institutional review board of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Add Health was longitudinal; the first wave of data (wave 1) was obtained between April and December 1995, and the

Overweight Prevalence

Overweight prevalence (BMI ≥85th/95th percentiles, Figure) is highest among non-Hispanic black females (39.4/19.8%) and Hispanic males (30.2/12.6%) and females (29.8/13.5%) and lowest for Asian females (11.1/4.2%).

Figure . Percent of adolescents with BMI ≥85th and 95th percentiles NHANES I22 by sex and ethnic group, weighted to be nationally representative with the error terms corrected for design effects.

Rates among the ethnic subpopulations were high for Cuban females (37.8/16.2%) and Puerto

DISCUSSION

Add Health provides the unique opportunity to examine patterns of overweight, physical activity, and inactivity among large and nationally representative samples of ethnic subpopulation groups (eg, Chinese, Puerto Ricans, and Cubans). Other national surveys have collected these data for selected ethnic groups (mainly whites, Hispanics or Mexican-Americans, and non-Hispanic blacks or blacks) but lack the depth of coverage and the detailed sociodemographic data of Add Health.

As noted in the text,

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    Supported in part by National Institute of Child Health and Human Development grant P01-HD31921 and the Dannon Institute Postdoctoral Fellowship in Interdisciplinary Nutrition Science.

    ☆☆

    Reprint requests: Penny Gordon-Larsen, PhD, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Carolina Population Center, University Square, 123 West Franklin St, Chapel Hill, NC 27516-3997.

    0022-3476/99/$8.00 + 0  9/21/100854

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