Ethnicity differences in pedometer-based physical activity levels among adolescent girls

The purpose of this study was to determine adolescent girls' objective daily physical activity levels and how these levels varied as a function of ethnicity. The participants were 104 middle-school girls (mean age = 12 ± 0.96 years). All subjects wore the Walk4Life Neo II pedometer for three consecutive weekdays to obtain their steps and physical activity time. More than 60% of the girls exceeded 60 minutes physical activity per day. Fewer than 10% of the girls exceeded 12,000 steps per day, and > 90% reached 100 steps per minute. Hispanic girls accumulated significantly more activity time per day (F (2, 79) = 5.17, p = 0.008, η² = 0.11) and steps per day (F (2, 79) = 4.90, p = 0.01, η² = 0.11) than Caucasian girls. No significant differences were found between Hispanic girls and girls of other ethnicities, and between Caucasian girls and girls of other ethnicities. In conclusion, middle-school girls' physical activity levels measured by steps per day, minutes per day and steps per minute reflected differently when using the existing physical activity recommendations of children as the assessment standard. Hispanic middle-school girls were more physically active than Caucasian girls.