Muscle-Strengthening Exercise Among 397,423 U.S. Adults: Prevalence, Correlates, and Associations With Health Conditions

Jason A Bennie; Duck-Chul Lee; Asaduzzaman Khan; Glen H Wiesner; Adrian E Bauman; Emmanuel Stamatakis; Stuart J H Biddle

doi:10.1016/j.amepre.2018.07.022

Muscle-Strengthening Exercise Among 397,423 U.S. Adults: Prevalence, Correlates, and Associations With Health Conditions

Am J Prev Med. 2018 Dec;55(6):864-874. doi: 10.1016/j.amepre.2018.07.022. Epub 2018 Oct 24.

Authors

Jason A Bennie¹, Duck-Chul Lee², Asaduzzaman Khan³, Glen H Wiesner⁴, Adrian E Bauman⁵, Emmanuel Stamatakis⁵, Stuart J H Biddle⁶

Affiliations

¹ Physically Active Lifestyles Research Group (USQ PALs), Institute for Resilient Regions, University of Southern Queensland, Springfield, Queensland, Australia. Electronic address: jason.bennie@usq.edu.au.
² Department of Kinesiology, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa.
³ School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
⁴ Active Living and Public Health Program, Institute of Sport, Exercise and Active Living (ISEAL), Victoria University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
⁵ Prevention Research Collaboration, Sydney School of Public Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; Charles Perkins Centre Epidemiology Unit, Charles Perkins Centre, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
⁶ Physically Active Lifestyles Research Group (USQ PALs), Institute for Resilient Regions, University of Southern Queensland, Springfield, Queensland, Australia.

PMID: 30458949
DOI: 10.1016/j.amepre.2018.07.022

Abstract

Introduction: Although muscle-strengthening exercise has multiple independent health benefits, little is known about muscle-strengthening exercise participation and associations with adverse health conditions among U.S. adults.

Methods: In 2017, data were analyzed from the U.S. 2015 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. During telephone surveys, respondents reported how many times during the past week they engaged in muscle-strengthening exercise. Weighted weekly muscle-strengthening exercise frequencies were calculated for the total sample and across sociodemographic and lifestyle characteristics. A multivariable logistic regression assessed the odds of having self-reported adverse health conditions (e.g., diabetes, coronary heart disease) according to weekly muscle-strengthening exercise frequency.

Results: Data were available on 397,423 adults (aged 18-80 years). Overall, 30.2% (95% CI=29.9, 30.5) met the muscle-strengthening exercise recommendations (two or more times/week) and 57.8% (95% CI=57.5, 58.2) reported no muscle-strengthening exercise. Older age, insufficient aerobic activity, lower income, lower education, poorer self-rated health, being female, and being overweight/obese were significantly associated with lower odds of meeting the muscle-strengthening exercise recommendations independently of other characteristics. After adjusting for confounders (e.g., age, sex, income, smoking, aerobic activity), when compared with those who did none, muscle-strengthening exercise was associated with lower odds for several adverse health conditions, including prevalent diabetes, cancer (non-skin), poor self-rated health, and obesity.

Conclusions: Three in five U.S. adults do not engage in any muscle-strengthening exercise, despite an association for muscle-strengthening exercise with better health conditions. Future muscle-strengthening exercise promotion strategies should target older adults, females, those with low education/income, and those with a poor health status.

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Adult
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Exercise*
Female
Humans
Life Style
Logistic Models
Male
Middle Aged
Muscle Strength*
Prevalence
Resistance Training / statistics & numerical data*
Social Class
United States
Young Adult