Young adults are becoming less active in meeting the recommended 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous intensity physical activity a week, a QUT study has found.
The study by David Abernethy and Associate Professor Toby Pavey, from QUT’s School of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences, with Dr. Jason Bennie, from Murrumbidgee Primary Health Network, was published in PLOS ONE and investigated the physical activity levels of 2 million American adults between 2011 and 2019.
First author, Abernethy, said the researchers saw a steady decline among young adults.
“While the study used data from the U.S., Australia faces similar physical activity (PA) adherence challenges, which indicates the need for effective, targeted interventions to increase the PA levels of our population.
“This decline among young adults was unexpected, particularly as prior evidence has suggested that increasing age is generally associated with declines in PA.
“A possible explanation for this decline is the increased accessibility and reliance on sedentary behaviors associated with expansion of digital media resulting in decreased PA among young adults.
“An analysis of high school students in the U.S. found that TV screen time had significantly decreased, and other screen time significantly increased between 2007 and 2015.”
Abernethy said ongoing research on PA trends and identifying factors contributing to sufficient activity helps to enable understanding of population behavior shifts, priority areas for intervention and the impact of public health campaigns that promote physical activity.
“In this study, approximately half of U.S. adults reported sufficient moderate-vigorous activity,” he said.
“While any level of PA is beneficial, being able to achieve 150 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity each week significantly improves well-being and reduces the risk of chronic disease and premature death.
“Moderate-intensity PA allows for conversation, while vigorous-intensity PA causes huffing and puffing, making it harder to talk.”
Professor Pavey said the study corroborated others that had found men were more likely to be physically active than women.
“Various explanations have been put forward, including that gender norms often prioritize women’s caregiving roles, lack of a female-specific PA culture, and beauty and media standards which cause avoidance of various activities that could promote unwanted muscle, which is seen as counter-productive to the commonly promoted slender physique,” he said.
“Meeting PA guidelines were more common among males, those with a higher level of education, former and never smokers, a normal BMI and those eating more fruit and vegetables a day, in other words, those who are aware and practice health-giving lifestyles.”
The key priority groups for increasing PA this study has identified include:
Young adults: Addressing declines in PA after leaving secondary school
Women: Closing the gender gap in PA participation
Lower-educated populations: Expanding accessible and inclusive PA programs
People living with obesity: Offering low-impact, barrier-free PA options
People with chronic disease and mental health conditions: Integrating PA into health care through GP referrals and community programs
More information:
David Abernethy et al, Temporal trends in aerobic physical activity guideline adherence among nationally representative samples of U.S adults between 2011 and 2019: Cross-sectional findings from a sample of over 2 million adults, PLOS ONE (2025). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0316051
Provided by
Queensland University of Technology
Citation:
Healthy physical activity levels of young adults decreasing, researchers find (2025, April 9)
