Physical Activity

Goal: Improve health, fitness, and quality of life through regular physical activity.

Only 1 in 4 adults and 1 in 5 adolescents in the United States meet physical activity guidelines for aerobic and muscle-strengthening activities.1,2 Healthy People 2030 focuses on improving health and well-being by helping people of all ages get enough aerobic and muscle-strengthening activity.

Physical activity can help prevent disease, disability, injury, and premature death. The Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans lays out how much physical activity children, adolescents, and adults need to get health benefits. Although most people don’t get the recommended amount of physical activity, it can be especially hard for older adults and people with chronic diseases or disabilities.

Strategies that make it safer and easier to get active — like providing access to community facilities and programs — can help people get more physical activity. Strategies to promote physical activity at home, at school, and at child care centers can also increase activity in children and adolescents.

Objective Status

  • 0 Target met or exceeded
  • 1 Improving
  • 11 Little or no detectable change
  • 8 Getting worse
  • 3 Baseline only
  • 1 Developmental
  • 3 Research

Learn more about objective types

References

1.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2018) Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, 2nd Edition. Retrieved from https://health.gov/paguidelines/second-edition/pdf/Physical_Activity_Guidelines_2nd_edition.pdf [PDF - 15.2 MB]

2.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (n.d.) Trends in Meeting the 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines, 2008­–2018. https://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/downloads/trends-in-the-prevalence-of-physical-activity-508.pdf [PDF - 253 KB]