ATLANTA, June 16 (UPI) -- Not enough U.S. high school students in grades 9-12 get enough exercise or meet physical activity goals, federal health officials say.
Health officials say the study used data from the National Youth Physical Activity and Nutrition Survey and included a school-based survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that measured physical activity among a nationally representative sample of ninth-graders to 12th-graders.
"Youth need at least 1 hour of physical activity every day and at least three days of muscle-strengthening activity per week," the report published in the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report says.
"Of U.S. high-school students, 15.3 percent met the aerobic activity objective, 51 percent met the muscle-strengthening activity objective and 12.2 percent met the objective for both aerobic and muscle-strengthening activities."
Female students, students in upper grades and obese students meet fewer of the recommended levels of physical activity, the report says.
