Physical activity differences by birthplace and sex in youth of Mexican Heritage

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Publication Type Journal Article
School or College College of Health
Department Exercise & Sport Science
Creator Hannon, James C.
Other Author Oh, Hyun-Ju; Williams, Daniel P.
Title Physical activity differences by birthplace and sex in youth of Mexican Heritage
Date 2012-01-01
Description 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.
Type Text
Publisher Human Kinetics Publishers, Inc.
Volume 9
Issue 4
First Page 500
Last Page 507
Dissertation Institution University of Utah
Language eng
Bibliographic Citation Oh, H.-J., Hannon, J., & Williams, D. P. (2012). Physical activity differences by birthplace and sex in youth of Mexican heritage. Journal of Physical Activity and Health, 9(4), 500-7.
Rights Management (c) Human Kinetics Publishers, Inc.
Format Medium application/pdf
Format Extent 298,114 bytes
Identifier uspace,17432
ARK ark:/87278/s6pn9qdr
Setname ir_uspace
ID 707963
Reference URL https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6pn9qdr
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