Who Meets Physical Activity Goals?

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) in the U.S. recommends adults participate in a minimum of 150 minutes of moderate exercise or 75 minutes of intense exercise weekly.

There is significant geographic variability in percentage of adults meeting recommended levels of physical activity.

The chart in this post is generated from the CDC website and plots individual states and the rates for adults achieving the physical activity goal. Darker blue colors indicate greater physical activity. 

The 12 states with over 55% of adult meeting the physical activity goals include:
1. Washington
2. Oregon
3. California
4. Montana
5. Utah
6. Colorado
7. New Mexico
8. Alaska
9. Vermont
10. New Hampshire
11. Hawaii
12. District of Columbia

The 6 states with less than 45% of adults meeting the physical activity goals include:
1. Texas
2. Oklahoma (my state)
3. Arkansas
4. Mississippi
5. Tennessee
6. Indiana

The reasons for this significant variation between states is unclear. There appears to be some inverse correlation between state physical activity level rates and obesity rates.

More information about these patterns can be found in the citation below:

Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity Data, Trends and Maps web site. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity, Atlanta, GA, 2015. Available at http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/DNPAO/index.html