Trends in insufficient physical activity among adults in China 2010–18: a population-based study

BACKGROUND: The global prevalence of insufficient physical activity (PA) was reported to be 27.5% in 2016, and there were stable levels of insufficient PA worldwide between 2001 and 2016. The global target of a 10% reduction in insufficient PA by 2025 will not be met if the trends remain. The relevant data for trends in China were still scarce. This study aimed to determine nationwide temporal trends in insufficient PA among adults in China from 2010 to 2018. METHODS: 645 903 adults aged 18 years or older were randomly selected from four nationally representative cross-sectional surveys of the China Chronic Disease and Risk Factor Surveillance conducted in 2010, 2013, 2015, and 2018. PA was measured using the Global Physical Activity Questionnaire. Temporal changes in insufficient PA prevalence and participation of domain-specific moderate- to vigorous-intensity PA (MVPA) were analyzed using logistic regression. RESULTS: From 2010 to 2018, the age-adjusted prevalence of insufficient PA in China increased from 17.9% (95% confidence interval 16.3% to 19.5%) in 2010 to 22.3% (20.9% to 23.8%) in 2018 (P for trend < 0.001). By age group, with a significant increase in insufficient PA in adults aged 18–34 years (P for trend < 0.001), which rose more rapidly than in adults aged ≥ 35 years (P for interaction < 0.001). Insufficient PA has increased significantly among adults engaged in agriculture-related work, non-manual work, and other manual work (all P for trend < 0.05). And among the occupational groups, those engaged in agriculture-related work had the fastest increase (P for interaction = 0.01). The percentage of adults participating in work-related MVPA decreased from 79.6% (77.8% to 81.5%) to 66.8% (64.9% to 68.7%) along with a decrease in time spent on work-related MVPA, while percentages of adults participating in recreation-related MVPA increased from 14.2% (12.5% to 15.9%) to 17.2% (16.0% to 18.4%) (all P for trend < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Among Chinese adults, an increasing trend was found in insufficient PA from 2010 to 2018, with more than one-fifth of adults failing to achieve the recommendation of adequate PA. More targeted PA promotion strategies should be developed to improve population health. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12966-023-01470-w.