title: Physical activity differences by birthplace and sex in youth of Mexican heritage.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  One of the goals of Healthy People 2020 is to increase physical activity (PA) and reduce health disparities among different racial and ethnic segments of the U.S. population. Few studies have been conducted to examine PA differences by birthplace and sex in youth of Mexican heritage.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants were 101 youth (43 boys, 58 girls, 59% U.S.-born, 41% Mexico-born) who wore a sealed New Lifestyles NL-1000 pedometer for 7 consecutive days.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Mexico-born youth took more steps, on average, than their U.S.-born counterparts (P = .038). However, moderate-to-vigorous intensity (MVI) time did not differ between Mexico- and U.S.-born youth (P = .146). By contrast to birthplace, sex-related differences were more consistent, as boys took more steps (P = .005) and accumulated more MVI time (P = .043) than girls. Only 4% of our sample met either one or both of the PA recommendations.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We conclude that PA may differ by birthplace and by sex in youth of Mexican heritage, as U.S.-born girls were the least active segment of our sample. Culturally sensitive interventions to increase daily PA must become a higher public health priority for youth of Mexican heritage, in particular, for U.S.-born girls of Mexican heritage.
authors.affiliation: Dept of Recreation and Sport Pedagogy, Ohio University, Athens, OH, USA.
authors.forename: Hyun-Ju
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Oh
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hannon
authors.forename: Daniel P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Williams
mesh_terms: D000054:Acceleration; D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D015992:Body Mass Index; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002648:Child; D003469:Culture; D005260:Female; D005843:Geography; D015438:Health Behavior; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D008800:Mexico / Q000208:ethnology; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000502:physiology*; D036801:Parturition; D012737:Sex Factors; D040241:Social Marketing; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States; D055815:Young Adult