Most US adults not engaging in strength training

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Only 20 percent of adults engage in recommended strength training exercises, a figure that is substantially lower than the 2010 national health objective of 30 percent, according to findings released Thursday.

The American College of Sports Medicine and other groups recommend that adults engage in physical activities to improve and maintain muscular strength and endurance at least twice a week.

In the present study, researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention analyzed data from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) for 1998 to 2004 to determine trends in strength training among US adults. The NHIS, which involves face-to-face interviews about health issues, featured annual sample sizes of around 32,000 and response rates of about 72 percent.

From 1998 to 2004, the overall proportion of adults engaging in recommended levels of strength training increased slightly, but significantly from 17.7 percent to 19.6 percent. This trend was largely due to a significant increase in training among women; the rate among men did not change much.

Despite the improvement seen in women, the proportion meeting recommended levels of training in 2004 lagged behind men: 17.5 percent vs. 21.0 percent.

In 2004, adults 65 years of age and older were the group least likely to engage in recommended strength training. However, this was the only group that showed a significant increase in training prevalence for both genders from 1998 to 2004.

In 2004, the prevalence of strength training was lowest among Hispanics -- 15.0 percent for men and 9.1 percent for women. Among women, non-Hispanic whites had a significantly higher rate of strength training than other groups, whereas for men, the rates were roughly the same with exception of the low rate noted in Hispanics.

"Additional opportunities for adults to engage in strength training (e.g. in places where adults already pursue leisure-time activity, such as schools and community centers) could increase the prevalence of strength training," the researchers note. "The findings in this report also underscore the need to increase education on the benefits of strength training among targeted adult populations."

SOURCE: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, July 20, 2006