Grades and trends from the 2024 United States Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth
Abstract Body (Do not enter title and authors here): Background Regular physical activity provides numerous health benefits including improved cardiovascular health. Population-level physical activity surveillance is critical for informing research, practice, and policy efforts for supporting population health and health disparities. The United States Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth addresses physical activity surveillance needs by integrating data from numerous sources capturing levels of physical activity and related behaviors (e.g., sedentary behavior, sleep), and facilitators and barriers for physical activity among United States youth. The 2024 Report Card is the 5th and decennial iteration in the series, released October 2024.
Methods A Report Card Working Group was assembled under the auspices of the Physical Activity Alliance and National Physical Activity Plan. Members reviewed the evidence for 11 indicators using data from nationally representative surveys and assigned grades. Data were examined for the overall population and, when possible, by age, sex, race/ethnicity, and disability subgroups. A standardized grading rubric was used to assign a letter grade to each indicator ranging from A to F. Trends in key benchmarks over time were examined since the first report card (2014) or earliest available data.
Results Sufficient data were available to assign grades for 8 of the 11 indicators. The assigned grades ranged from B- to F, with overall physical activity levels earning a D- (Table 1). No indicators improved since 2014. Five indicators - overall physical activity, organized sport participation, active transportation, sedentary behaviors, and school - worsened since 2014.
Conclusions The compiled surveillance report indicates generally poor grades and concerning trends over the recent decade. These findings highlight opportunities to improve physical activity levels and resources for supporting cardiovascular health among United States youth. Policy approaches are needed to combat societal factors that interfere with physical activity. Gaps in data availability, specificity, and quality point to needs for improved surveillance to track impacts. The 2024 Report Card can be a tool for supporting advocacy of regular physical activity at the national and local level.
Webber-ritchey, Kashica
( DePaul University
, Chicago
, Illinois
, United States
)
Hibbing, Paul
( University of Illinois Chicago
, Chicago
, Illinois
, United States
)
Pate, Russell
( University of South Carolina
, Columbia
, South Carolina
, United States
)
Serrano, Natalicio
( University of North Carolina
, Chapel Hill
, North Carolina
, United States
)
Stanish, Heidi
( University of Massachusetts Boston
, Boston
, Massachusetts
, United States
)
Jiang, Qianxia
( Children’s Mercy Kansas City
, Kansas City
, Missouri
, United States
)
Spring, Katherine
( Pennington Biomedical Research Center
, Baton Rouge
, Louisiana
, United States
)
Fox, Andrew
( Children’s Mercy Kansas City
, Kansas City
, Missouri
, United States
)
Moon, Mallory
( Children’s Mercy Kansas City
, Kansas City
, Missouri
, United States
)
Steel, Chelsea
( Children’s Mercy Kansas City
, Kansas City
, Missouri
, United States
)
Carlson, Jordan
( Children’s Mercy Kansas City
, Kansas City
, Missouri
, United States
)
Staiano, Amanda
( PENNINGTON BIOMED RESEARCH CEN
, Baton Rouge
, Louisiana
, United States
)
Bai, Yang
( University of Utah
, Madison
, Wisconsin
, United States
)
Dodson, Elizabeth
( Washington University in St. Louis
, St. Louis
, Missouri
, United States
)
Dooley, Erin
( University of Alabama at Birmingham
, Birmingham
, Alabama
, United States
)
Forseth, Bethany
( University of Kansas Medical Center
, Kansas City
, Kansas
, United States
)
Greenberg, Jayne
( International Sport and Culture Association
, Fort Lauderdale
, Florida
, United States
)
Grimes, Amanda
( University of Missouri – Kansas City
, Kansas City
, Missouri
, United States
)
Hasson, Rebecca
( University of Michigan
, Ann Arbor
, Michigan
, United States
)
Author Disclosures:
Kashica Webber-Ritchey:DO NOT have relevant financial relationships
| Paul Hibbing:DO NOT have relevant financial relationships
| Russell Pate:No Answer
| Natalicio Serrano:DO NOT have relevant financial relationships
| Heidi Stanish:No Answer
| Qianxia Jiang:No Answer
| Katherine Spring:DO NOT have relevant financial relationships
| Andrew Fox:DO NOT have relevant financial relationships
| Mallory Moon:No Answer
| Chelsea Steel:DO NOT have relevant financial relationships
| Jordan Carlson:DO NOT have relevant financial relationships
| Amanda Staiano:DO NOT have relevant financial relationships
| Yang Bai:No Answer
| Elizabeth Dodson:DO NOT have relevant financial relationships
| Erin Dooley:DO NOT have relevant financial relationships
| Bethany Forseth:DO NOT have relevant financial relationships
| Jayne Greenberg:DO NOT have relevant financial relationships
| amanda grimes:DO NOT have relevant financial relationships
| Rebecca Hasson:DO NOT have relevant financial relationships