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Updated: Mar 9, 2026

Physical Activity Measurement in Children Accepting Table Tennis Training
Published on: July 27, 2022
Physical activity and sedentary behavior of US immigrant versus non-immigrant adolescents: findings from the NEXT
Wynette Williams1, Kaigang Li2, Denise Haynie3
1a Department of Behavioral Sciences and Health Education , Emory University , Atlanta , GA , USA.
Objective:
This study examined associations of physical activity (PA) and sedentary behavior (SB) with adolescents' immigration status and language spoken at home and with friends.
Methods:
Participants (N = 2475) were included from Wave 1 of the NEXT Generation Health Study, a nationally representative 10th-grade cohort study starting in 2009. PA included recommended moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) and vigorous PA (VPA); SB included screen viewing and social-media use. Linear and logistic regressions were conducted controlling for complex survey variables.
Results:
Adolescents with non US-born compared with US-born parents were less likely to engage in VPA (odds ratio = 0.60, p ≤ .05, 95% CI = 0.38-0.96). Parent country of origin and language spoken were not significantly associated with recommended MVPA engagement. None of screen viewing and social-media use was significantly associated with immigration status.
Conclusions:
Recent immigration status was negatively associated with adolescents' PA documenting an important health disparity.
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