Aerobic Physical Activity in U.S. Adults: An Updated Report

In 2022, the American Academy of Audiology shared an update regarding two data briefs about physical activity in the United States. One was related to youth participation in organized sports (Black, Terlizzi, and Vahratian 2022), while the other examined adult adherence to physical activity guidelines (Elgaddal, Kramarow, and Reuben, 2022). Both briefs used data from the 2020 National Health Interview Survey.

In 2022, Elgaddal and colleagues examined the percentage of adults who met the aerobic and muscle-strengthening guidelines put forward by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2018). In a newly-published report, Elgaddal and Kramarow (2026), used data from the 2024 National Health Interview Survey to provide an update on aerobic physical activity only. In this new report, they found that 47.2 percent of adults met the recommended guidelines for aerobic physical activity. 

Elgaddal and Kramarow (2026) also examined aerobic physical activity as a function of selected socio-demographic factors. These include sex, age, race and Hispanic origin, family income and education, geographic region and level of urbanization, disability status, body mass index (BMI), and respondent-assessed health status. Interested readers are encouraged to read the full report for these details. 

Of note to audiologists is that hearing was considered under disability status. A respondent was considered to have a disability if they reported “a lot of difficulty” or “cannot do at all/unable to do” to at least one of the following six domains of function: (1) seeing, (2) hearing, (3) mobility, (4) communication, (5) cognition, and (6) self-care. Only 22.4 percent of those considered to have a disability met the recommended aerobic physical activity guidelines compared to almost 50 percent (49.8 percent) of those who were not considered to have a disability.

References

American Academy of Audiology. (2022). New data briefs released pertaining to physical activity. https://www.audiology.org/new-data-briefs-released-pertaining-to-physical-activity/

Black, L. I., Terlizzi, E. P., & Vahratian, A. (2022). Organized sports participation among children aged 6–17 years: United States, 2020 (NCHS Data Brief No. 441). National Center for Health Statistics.

Elgaddal, N., & Kramarow, E. A. (2026). Aerobic physical activity among adults age 18 and older: United States, 2024. NCHS Data Brief, 555, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.15620/cdc/174653

Elgaddal, N., Kramarow, E. A., & Reuben, C. A. (2022). Physical activity among adults aged 18 and over: United States, 2020 (NCHS Data Brief No. 443). National Center for Health Statistics.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2018). Physical activity guidelines for Americans (2nd ed.). https://odphp.health.gov/sites/default/files/2019-09/Physical_Activity_Guidelines_2nd_edition.pdf