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U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion

Increase the proportion of adults who do enough aerobic physical activity for extensive health benefits — PA‑03 Data Methodology and Measurement

On this page:  About the National Data  |  Methodology  |  History

About the National Data

Data

Data Source:  National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), CDC/NCHS

Baseline: 29.3 percent of adults aged 18 years and over engaged in leisure time aerobic physical activity of at least moderate intensity for more than 300 minutes/week, or more than 150 minutes/week of vigorous intensity, or an equivalent combination in 2020

Target: 33.9 percent

Numerator
Number of adults aged 18 years and over who report moderate physical activity for more than 300 minutes per week or who report vigorous physical activity 150 minutes per week or an equivalent combination of moderate and vigorous-intensity activity during leisure time.
Denominator
Number of adults aged 18 years and over.
Target-setting method
Percentage point improvement
Target-setting method details
Percentage point improvement from the baseline using Cohen's h effect size of 0.10.
1
Target-setting method justification
Trend data were not available due to 2019 NHIS redesign. A percentage point improvement was calculated using Cohen's h effect size of 0.1. This method was used because it was a statistically significant improvement from the baseline and the Healthy People 2030 Workgroup Subject Matter Experts expected the data to move in the desired direction during the next decade.

Methodology

Questions used to obtain the national baseline data

(For additional information, please visit the data source page linked above.)

From the 2020 National Health Interview Survey:

Numerator:

The next questions are about physical activities such as exercise, sports, or physically active hobbies that you may do in your LEISURE time. We are interested in two types of physical activity --- moderate and vigorous-intensity. Moderate-intensity activities cause moderate increases in breathing or heart rate whereas vigorous-intensity activities cause large increases in breathing or heart rate.

How often do you do MODERATE-INTENSITY LEISURE-TIME physical activities? [Read if necessary:] How many times per day, per week, per month, or per year do you do these activities?
  1. Never
  2. Unable to do this type activity
  3. _____ times per day/week/month/year
  4. Refused
  5. Don't know
About how long do you do these moderate leisure-time physical activities each time? _____ minutes/hours How often do you do VIGOROUS-INTENSITY LEISURE-TIME physical activities? [If necessary, prompt with:] How many times per day, per week, per month, or per year do you do these activities?
  1. Never
  2. Unable to do this type activity
  3. _____ times per day/week/month/year
  4. Refused
  5. Don't know
About how long do you do these vigorous leisure-time physical activities each time? _____ minutes/hours

Methodology notes

Adults are classified as meeting the objective if they participate in more than 300 minutes of moderate activity per week, 150 minutes of vigorous activity, or 300 minutes per week of an equivalent combination of activity during leisure time.

Total minutes per week of moderate-intensity activity are calculated by multiplying the times per week adults report participating in moderate-intensity activity by the number of minutes reported. Total minutes per week of vigorous-intensity activity are calculated by multiplying the times per week adults report participating in vigorous-intensity activity by the number of minutes reported. To calculate minutes per week for the equivalent combination of moderate and vigorous-intensity activity, minutes per week of moderate-intensity activity are added to two times the minutes per week of vigorous-intensity activity.

If responses meet the criteria for one activity (vigorous or moderate) but the status of the other activity is unknown, the record is included in the numerator and the denominator. If responses do not meet the criteria for one activity and the status of the other activity is unknown, the record is dropped from the analysis.

Note: Beginning with the NHIS re-design,"LIGHT" was dropped from the question, "How often do you do LIGHT OR MODERATE LEISURE-TIME physical activities…", in the rotating core starting in 2020 to be more consistent with the aerobic component of the physical activity guidelines.

Age-adjustment notes

This Indicator uses Age-Adjustment Groups:

  • Total: 18-24, 25-34, 35-44, 45-64, 65+
  • Sex: 18-24, 25-34, 35-44, 45-64, 65+
  • Race/Ethnicity: 18-24, 25-34, 35-44, 45-64, 65+
  • Educational Attainment: 25-34, 35-44, 45-64, 65+
  • Family Income (percent poverty threshold): 18-24, 25-34, 35-44, 45-64, 65+
  • Family Type: 18-24, 25-34, 35-44, 45-64, 65+
  • Country of Birth: 18-24, 25-34, 35-44, 45-64, 65+
  • Disability Status: 18-24, 25-34, 35-44, 45-64, 65+
  • Geographic Location: 18-24, 25-34, 35-44, 45-64, 65+
  • Health Insurance Status: 18-24, 25-34, 35-44, 45-64
  • Sexual orientation: 18-24, 25-34, 35-44, 45-64, 65+
  • Marital Status: 18-24, 25-34, 35-44, 45-64, 65+

History

Comparable HP2020 objective
Modified, which includes core objectives that are continuing from HP2020 but underwent a change in measurement.
Changes between HP2020 and HP2030
This objective differs from Healthy People 2020 objective PA-2.2 in that objective PA-03 was changed to reflect 2018 Physical Activity guidelines and due to 2019 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) redesign. The 10-minute physical activity requirement and light intensity physical activity were dropped from the NHIS questionnaire.
Revision History
  • Revised. 

    In 2022, this objective was revised due to the 2019 NHIS redesign and 2020 survey question changes. The baseline questions changed from, "How often do you do VIGOROUS leisure-time physical activities for AT LEAST 10 MINUTES that cause HEAVY sweating or LARGE increases in breathing or heart rate? " and “How often do you do LIGHT OR MODERATE LEISURE-TIME physical activities for AT LEAST 10 MINUTES that cause ONLY LIGHT sweating or a SLIGHT to MODERATE increase in breathing or heart rate?" to "How often do you do MODERATE-INTENSITY LEISURE-TIME physical activities?" and “How often do you do VIGOROUS-INTENSITY LEISURE-TIME physical activities?"
    The baseline was revised from 37.4% in 2018 to 29.3% in 2020. The target was revised from 42.3% to 33.9% using the original target setting method.
  • Revised. 

    In 2024, the following categories were recalculated with the use of a newer variable: Never married, American Indian or Alaska Native only, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander only, 2 or more races only, Not Hispanic or Latino American Indian or Alaska Native only, Not Hispanic or Latino Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander only, Not Hispanic or Latino 2 or more races only. Estimates from data year 2022 or earlier may vary slightly from estimates previously reported. The baseline, baseline year and target were not affected.

1. Effect size h=0.1 was chosen to correspond with 10% improvement from a baseline of 50%.