Indicator: Youth Physical Activity

Priority or Priorities: Early Childhood Development, ACES/Resiliency
Initiative(s): Promote and Support Universal Home Visiting Services 7, 8, 10
Outcome (s): Children and youth respected, safe and nurtured in their communities

Why This is Important

Lack of enough physical activity is a critical health-related risk factor. Lack of physical activity can contribute to a young person being overweight, impair development of bones and muscles, and result in increased levels of stress. Increased physical activity is an important factor in reducing youth obesity.

Where We Stand

Sixty-two percent of the high school-aged respondents to the 2005 Maine Youth Risk Behavior Survey indicated that they had exercised or participated in physical activities that made them sweat and breathe hard for at least 20 minutes on three or more of the past seven days. Older teens reported slightly lower rates of such vigorous exercise than younger ones, with 75% of middle school students reporting that they exercised vigorously. In addition boys reported higher rates than girls (63% versus 61%). A similar disparity is demonstrated in the national sample (2005); 62% of girls reported vigorous physical activity compared to 76% of boys. Twenty-six percent of Maine youth reported that they exercised moderately (defined as engaging in physical activities that did not make them sweat or breathe hard for at least 30 minutes on five or more of the previous seven days). Maine youth reported slightly lower rates of physical activity than youth nationally in 2005.

Data Source and Context

This information comes from the Maine Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS), Maine Department of Education. The data source is the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System maintained by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Data from the Maine YRBS is available on-line at http://www.mainecshp.com/survey.html. National YRBS figures for 2005 can be found at http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/yrbs/index.htm.

*Important Note: YRBS data is gathered every two years using a questionnaire administered to a sample of students in Maine and nationally. When the Maine YRBS survey has an overall response rate of 60% or higher, the CDC statistically weights the results so that the numbers can be generalized to all public school students in the state in grades 9-12. When the overall response rate is below 60%, the CDC does not perform such statistical weighting, and the data apply only to the students who actually filled out the questionnaires. Maine’s YRBS data for 1999 was unweighted, so information from that year cannot be compared reliably with data from 1995, 1997, 2001, 2003 and 2005.