Abstract

Most adolescents do not meet the requirements outlined in the physical activity guidelines for Americans. A lack of physical activity not only increases the likelihood of negative health outcomes, but it is also linked to a decrease in positive health outcomes. One such outcome that physical activity has been shown to impact is flourishing. Using data from the national survey of child health, we explored flourishing in adolescents (12-17 years) who did and did not meet the national guideline of 60 minutes of daily moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. Only 15.9% of adolescents in the study met the guidelines. There was an association between flourishing and physical activity. Compared to adolescents who are physically active every day, those who do not participate in physical activity were 4.13 times less likely to flourish, and those who were physically active 1-3 days a week were 1.84 times less likely to flourish. There was no significant difference between those who were physically active 4-6 days a week and those who participated in physical activity daily. These findings underscore the urgent need to encourage adolescents to be more physically active and may have notable impacts on future research and policy related to physical activity.

Keywords: Physical activity; Children; Adolescents; Flourishing

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