title: Decline in physical activity in black girls and white girls during adolescence.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Physical activity declines during adolescence, but the underlying reasons remain unknown.
  
  
  METHODS
  We prospectively followed 1213 black girls and 1166 white girls enrolled in the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Growth and Health Study from the ages of 9 or 10 to the ages of 18 or 19 years. We used a validated questionnaire to measure leisure-time physical activity on the basis of metabolic equivalents (MET) for reported activities and their frequency in MET-times per week; a higher score indicated greater activity.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The respective median activity scores for black girls and white girls were 27.3 and 30.8 MET-times per week at base line and declined to 0 and 11.0 by year 10 of the study (a 100 percent decline for black girls and a 64 percent decline for white girls, P<0.001). By the age of 16 or 17 years, 56 percent of the black girls and 31 percent of the white girls reported no habitual leisure-time activity. Lower levels of parental education were associated with greater decline in activity for white girls at both younger ages (P<0.001) and older ages (P=0.005); for black girls, this association was seen only at the older ages (P=0.04). Pregnancy was associated with decline in activity among black girls (P<0.001) but not among white girls, whereas cigarette smoking was associated with decline in activity among white girls (P<0.001). A higher body-mass index was associated with greater decline in activity among girls of both races (P< or =0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Substantial declines in physical activity occur during adolescence in girls and are greater in black girls than in white girls. Some determinants of this decline, such as higher body-mass index, pregnancy, and smoking, may be modifiable.
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA 15261, USA. kimm@pitt.edu
authors.forename: Sue Y S
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Kimm
authors.forename: Nancy W
authors.initials: NW
authors.lastname: Glynn
authors.forename: Andrea M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Kriska
authors.forename: Bruce A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Barton
authors.forename: Shari S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Kronsberg
authors.forename: Stephen R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Daniels
authors.forename: Patricia B
authors.initials: PB
authors.lastname: Crawford
authors.forename: Zak I
authors.initials: ZI
authors.lastname: Sabry
authors.forename: Kiang
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D044383:Black People; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002648:Child; D004522:Educational Status; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income; D011247:Pregnancy; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D044465:White People; D001741:Black or African American