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Updated: Jul 7, 2026

Visualization of Intensity Levels to Reduce the Gap Between Self-Reported and Directly Measured Physical Activity
Published on: March 7, 2019
Do overweight girls overreport physical activity?
Robert G McMurray1, Dianne S Ward, John P Elder
1Department of Exercise and Sport Science, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-8700, USA. exphys@email.unc.edu
Objective:
To determine if overweight adolescent girls are more likely to overreport physical activity compared to normal-weight girls.
Methods:
Participation in physical activities and perceived intensity of activities were assessed from the previous day physical activity recall (PDPAR) in 1021 girls aged 11-14 years old (37% overweight). Daily minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) were measured using accelerometry.
Results:
Girls in the "at-risk for overweight" and "overweight" categories had 17.7% and 19.4% fewer minutes of MVPA per block reported on the PDPAR compared to normal-weight girls (P<0.05).
Conclusions:
Overweight adolescent girls tend to overreport their total amount of physical activity.
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