Table B1. Relative
likelihood of selected adverse health status characteristics by leisure-time physical activity in the past 2 weeks, adjusted for age and selected sociodemographic characteristics: U.S. adults aged 18 years and over, 1998
Table B2. Relative
likelihood of selected adverse health status characteristics by usual leisure-time physical activity, adjusted for age and selected sociodemographic characteristics: U.S. adults aged 18 years and over, 1998
Health status characteristic
Fair or poor health1
Difficultiesin physical
functioning2
Difficulty walking 1/4 mile3
Diabetes4
Hypertension5
Serious psychological distress6
Obese7
Usual leisure-time physical activity9
Multivariate odds ratio** (CI)
Inactive (including unable)1
1.0 (1.0-1.0)
1.0 (1.0-1.0)
1.0 (1.0-1.0)
1.0 (1.0-1.0)
1.0 (1.0-1.0)
1.0 (1.0-1.0)
1.0 (1.0-1.0)
Some activity, less than regular
0.5 (0.5-0.6)
0.6 (0.6-0.7)
0.4 (0.3-0.4)
0.8 (0.7-1.0)
0.9 (0.9-1.0)
0.7 (0.6-0.8)
0.9 (0.8-1.0)
Regularly active
0.4 (0.3-0.4)
0.4 (0.3-0.4)
0.2 (0.1-0.2)
0.7 (0.6-0.8)
0.8 (0.7-0.9)
0.6 (0.5-0.8)
0.7 (0.6-0.8)
** Adjusted for sex, age, race and Hispanic ethnicity,
educational attainment, and poverty status using the NHIS imputed income files.
The 2000 projected U.S. population was used as the standard population for age
adjustment, with age groups 18-44, 45-64, and 65 and over 1 Based on the questions: "Would you say {your/name} health in
general is excellent, very good, good, fair, or poor?" 2 Based on a series of
questions asking about the degree of difficulty the respondent how much
difficulty he or she has doing activities without the help of another person or
special equipment: walking 1/4 mile, walking up 10 steps, standing for 2 hours,
sitting for 2 hours, stooping, bending, or kneeling; reaching overhead; grasping
small objects;lifting or carrying 10 pounds; or pushing or pulling large
objects. Responses to each consisted of: not at all difficult, only a little
difficult; somewhat difficult; very difficult can't do at all, or does not do
the activity. Adults were classified as having difficulty if they responded
"somewhat" or "very" difficult to at least one of these activities. Adults who
did not do the activity were excluded from the analysis, as were those who could
not provide an answer to any of them. 3 Difficulty walking is based on
answers of "very difficult" and "can't do at all" to the question about walking
a quarter mile shown in footnote #2. 4 Based on the question "Have
you ever been told by a doctor or other health professional that you had
diabetes or sugar diabetes?" Borderline and diabetes only during pregnancy were
excluded. 5 Based on a set of two
questions: "Have you ever been told you had hypertension or high blood
pressure?" and "Have you been told you had hypertension two or more times?" 6 Based on a series of questions
about frequency of negative moods during the past 30 days: sad, nervous,
restless, hopeless, feeling everything is an effort, and worthless. Response
choices were: all of the time; most of the time; some of the time; little of the
time; none of the time. A composite index of these items was developed by
Kessler et al. with a score of 13 or greater representing serious psychological
distress [See reference #10]. 7 Obesity is defined as a body
mass index (BMI) of 30.0 or greater. BMI is calculated, based on self-reported
height and weight, using the formula: weight (in kilograms/ [height (in meters)]2 8
Based on a series of questions about frequency, duration, and intensity of 23
sports-related leisure-time physical activities during the two weeks preceding
the interview. Total average daily kilocalorie expenditure was estimated.
Activity level was classified as "sedentary," moderately active," or "very
active" based on average daily kilocalorie expenditure over the two week period. 9 Based on a set of four
questions about leisure-time physical activity that were introduced with a
phrase specifying that the questions were asking about exercise, sports and
physically active hobbies done in leisure time. The questions asked about the
frequency and duration of light-moderate and vigorous leisure-time physical
activities lasting at least 10 minutes at a time. Adults were classified in
terms of regularity of their activity: "Inactive" refers to adults who engaged
in no light-moderate or vigorous LTPA. "Some activity,
less than regular" refers to
adults who engaged in some activity but less that the amount needed to qualify
as "regularly active." "Regularly active" adults engaged in light-moderate activity at least 5 times per week for at least 30 minutes each time or
vigorous activity at least 3 times a week for at least 20 minutes each time or
both.