Moderate leisure-time physical activity: Who is meeting the public health recommendations? A national cross-sectional study. Archives of Family Medicine

About one third of US adults met either recommendation for moderate activity; 32 % met the Cen-ters for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Association of Sports Medicine recom-mendation and 38 % met the surgeon general’s guideline. Women, ethnic minorities, adults with lower educational attainment, and older adults were least active. Public health efforts are needed to address the issues related to physical inactivity and to provide organized programs to increase moderate physical activity levels in US adults. Arch Fam Med. 1998;7:285-289 Participating in regular physical activity confers many health benefits, such as re-duced risk for coronary artery disease, dia-betes mellitus, obesity, some cancers, and various musculoskeletal conditions.1 How-ever, national rates for participation in lei-sure-time physical activity are consis-tently low for women, older adults, persons with low educational attainment, and eth-nic or racial minorities.