OBJECTIVE

This report presents national estimates of occupational differences among employed adults meeting the 2008 federal guidelines for both aerobic and muscle-strengthening activities performed during leisure time from 2008 through 2014.

METHODS

Using pooled data from the 2008–2014 National Health Interview Survey, age-adjusted percentages of currently employed adults aged 18–64 who met the 2008 federal physical activity guidelines for leisure-time aerobic and muscle-strengthening activities are shown by occupation, sex, race and Hispanic ethnicity, education, and hours worked in the week before the survey interview.

RESULTS

Among all employed adults aged 18–64, those in production and related occupations were the least likely to meet the 2008 federal physical activity guidelines for both aerobic and muscle-strengthening activities performed during their leisure time. Across occupation categories, men were more likely than women to meet the guidelines. Non-Hispanic white adults in professional, teaching or social service, sales, and services occupations were more likely than non-Hispanic black or Hispanic adults in those occupations to meet the guidelines. In production and related occupations, Hispanic adults were less likely to meet the guidelines than non-Hispanic adults; in managerial occupations, by contrast, all adults were equally likely to meet the guidelines regardless of their race and ethnicity. The likelihood of meeting the guidelines uniformly increased as education increased across every occupation category. Lastly, employees in professional, services, and sales occupations who worked 50 hours or more in the last week were more likely to meet the guidelines than their counterparts who worked fewer hours. In production and related occupations, by contrast, the number of hours worked in the last week was unrelated to whether adults met the guidelines.

CONCLUSION

Occupational differences in meeting the 2008 federal guidelines for both aerobic and muscle-strengthening activities by sex, race and ethnicity, and education suggest that disparities in leisure-time physical activities across occupations and socioeconomic strata exist.