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Table 1 Prevalence of meeting moderate to vigorous-intensity physical activity (MVPA) guidelinesa, strength training guidelinesb, the combined MVPA-strength training guidelinesc and being ‘low-sedentary’d – overall and by sociodemographic and health-related factors

From: The descriptive epidemiology of total physical activity, muscle-strengthening exercises and sedentary behaviour among Australian adults – results from the National Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey

 

Current studye

Population-weighted estimatesf

Met MVPA guidelinea

(n = 9285)

Met strength training guidelineb

(n = 9434)

Met both MVPA and strength guidelinesc

(n = 9284)

‘Low-sedentary’d

(<480 min/day)

(n = 9435)

 

n

N

% (95 % CI)g

% (95 % CI)g

% (95 % CI)g

% (95 % CI)g

Total

9435

17,042,208

52.6 (51.2–54.0)

18.6 (17.5–19.7)

15.0 (13.9–16.1)

78.9 (77.9–80.0)

Sex

n (%)g

n (%)g

    

 Male

4329 (45.9)

8,406,261 (49.3)

55.0 (52.8–57.3)

20.7 (19.2–22.2)

16.9 (15.4–18.4)

75.0 (73.2–76.8)

 Female

5106 (54.1)

8,635,947 (50.7)

50.2 (48.2–52.2)

16.6 (14.9–18.1)

13.1 (11.6–14.7)

82.8 (81.5–84.0)

p-value

  

0.002*

<0.001*

<0.001*

<0.001*

Age

      

 18–24 years

780 (8.3)

2,233,305 (13.1)

62.2 (57.2–67.1)

29.2 (25.2–33.2)

25.3 (21.3–29.3)

80.9 (77.2–84.6)

 25–34 years

1617 (17.1)

3,152,930 (18.5)

58.7 (54.7–62.6)

23.3 (19.9–26.6)

19.0 (15.6–22.3)

73.4 (70.7–76.1)

 35–44 years

1843 (19.5)

3,147,104 (18.5)

53.4 (50.3–56.6)

18.5 (16.4–20.5)

15.3 (13.4–17.3)

76.8 (74.7–78.8)

 45–54 years

1660 (17.6)

3,023,041 (17.7)

52.9 (49.3–56.4)

17.7 (14.9–20.5)

14.3 (11.8–16.8)

76.7 (73.9–79.5)

 55–64 years

1432 (15.2)

2,565,640 (15.1)

48.7 (44.8–52.6)

14.2 (12.1–16.4)

11.1 (8.8–13.4)

78.7 (75.6–81.7)

 65–74 years

1255 (13.3)

1,680,712 (9.9)

46.5 (42.4–50.7)

12.4 (10.2–14.6)

8.3 (6.3–10.4)

87.7 (85.2–90.1)

  ≥ 75 years

848 (9.0)

1,239,476 (7.3)

33.3 (29.4–37.1)

7.6 (5.4–9.7)

4.1 (2.3–5.8)

89.2 (86.4–92.0)

p-value

  

<0.001*

<0.001*

<0.001*

<0.001*

Education level

      

 Low (<Year 12 or no non-school qualification)

2579 (27.8)

4,252,855 (25.3)

40.2 (37.6–42.8)

11.5 (9.9–13.1)

8.5 (6.9–10.2)

84.0 (82.2–85.9)

 Medium (Year 12, diploma or certificate)

4327 (46.5)

8,293,573 (49.4)

52.0 (50.0–54.0)

19.6 (17.8–21.3)

15.4 (13.8–17)

80.4 (78.6–82.1)

 High (Degree or higher degree)

2385(25.7)

4,246,623 (25.3)

66.1 (64–68.1)

23.6 (21.2–26.0)

20.5 (18.2–22.8)

71.0 (68.8–73.3)

p-value

  

<0.001*

<0.001*

<0.001*

<0.001*

Self-rated health

      

 Excellent

1537 (16.3)

2,919,514 (17.1)

67.9 (65.4–70.4)

29.7 (26.1–33.3)

26.1 (22.5–29.7)

79.5 (76.5–82.4)

 Very good

3223 (35.2)

6,172,432 (36.2)

57.4 (55.1–59.7)

21.5 (19.3–23.7)

17.9 (15.8–19.9)

79.8 (78.0–81.5)

 Good

2965 (31.4)

5,316,252 (31.2)

47.9 (45.2–50.6)

14.1 (12.4–15.8)

10.4 (8.7–12)

78.8 (76.6–81.1)

 Fair

1163 (12.3)

1,942,921 (11.4)

35.1 (30.3–39.9)

8.7 (6.4–11.1)

5.4 (3.6–7.1)

77.2 (73.9–80.5)

 Poor

477 (4.7)

691,090 (4.1)

30.5 (24.1–36.9)

8.4 (4.5–12.3)

5.2 (2.1–8.3)

75.0 (67.8–82.2)

p-value

  

<0.001*

<0.001*

<0.001*

0.120

Body Mass Index (kg/m2)

      

 Underweight (<18.5)

121 (1.5)

280,115 (1.9)

54.4 (42.5–66.3)

12.6 (5.30–20.0)

8.6 (2.0–15.1)

84.6 (76.6–92.5)

 Normal (18.5–25)

2735 (34.3)

5,262,928 (36.1)

59.4 (57.0–61.8)

24.2 (21.5–26.9)

20.5 (18.1–22.9)

80.3 (78.2–82.3)

 Overweight (25–30)

2898 (36.4)

5,266,721 (36.1)

56.1 (53.6–58.6)

20.3 (18.2–22.4)

15.8 (13.8–17.9)

79.0 (77.1–80.9)

 Obese (≥30)

2203 (27.7)

3,776,994 (25.9)

45.0 (42.4–47.6)

12.4 (10.7–14)

9.7 (8.2–11.3)

76.7 (74.2–79.1)

p-value

  

<0.001*

<0.001*

<0.001*

0.020*

Smoking status

      

 Never smoked

4573 (48.5)

8,776,577 (51.5)

53.7 (51.8–55.6)

19.0 (17.4–20.5)

15.5 (14.1–16.9)

79.5 (77.9–81.2)

 Ex-smoker

3077 (32.6)

5,263,643 (30.9)

55.1 (53.1–57.0)

21.0 (19.0–23.0)

16.9 (15.1–18.8)

78.8 (76.8–80.9)

 Current smoker

1785 (18.9)

3,001,988 (17.6)

45.0 (41.8–48.3)

13.4 (11.3–15.6)

10.1 (8.2–12.0)

77.4 (74.8–80.0)

p-value

  

<0.001*

0.003*

0.004*

0.140

  1. aPrevalence of respondents who reported engaging in at least 150 min per week of moderate-intensity physical activity or 75 min of vigorous-intensity physical activity per week, or an equivalent combination of bothn
  2. bPrevalence of respondents who reported participating in muscle-strengthening physical activity at least two times per week
  3. cMeeting both the MVPA and strength training guidelines
  4. dTo be classified as ‘low-sedentary’, respondents had to report <480 min/day spent in sedentary behaviours
  5. eNational Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey (NNPAS) 2011–12 respondents
  6. fReplicate weights generated from the Australian Bureau of Statistics - Australian Health Survey: Users' Guide, 2011–13 - 4363.0.55.001
  7. gPercentages are weighted and are given relative to the total number within each sociodemographic and health-related variable
  8. *p < 0.05: X 2 test for overall association for sex and trend for the other sociodemographic and health-related variables