Dietary and Physical Activity Behaviors in 2021 and Changes from 2019 to 2021 Among High School Students — Youth Risk Behavior Survey, United States, 2021

The fall of 2021 was the first school semester to begin with widespread in-person learning since the COVID-19 pandemic began.Understanding dietary and physical activity behaviors of adolescents during this time can provide insight into potential health equity gaps and programmatic needs in schools and communities.This report uses data from the 2021 national Youth Risk Behavior Survey conducted among a nationally representative sample of U.S. public and private school students in grades 9-12 to update estimates of dietary and physical activity behaviors among U.S. high school students overall and by sex and race and ethnicity.In addition, 2-year comparisons (2019 versus 2021) of these behaviors were examined.In 2021, daily consumption of fruits, vegetables, and breakfast during the past 7 days remained low and decreased overall with specific disparities by sex and race and ethnicity from 2019 to 2021.The overall prevalence of students attending physical education classes daily, exercising to strengthen muscles on ≥3 days/week (i.e., met the guideline for muscle-strengthening activity), and playing on at least one sports team decreased from 2019 to 2021; whereas being physically active for ≥60 minutes/day on all 7 days (i.e., met the guideline for aerobic activity) and meeting both aerobic and muscle-strengthening guidelines remained low but did not change.These findings underscore the need for strategies to increase healthy dietary and physical activity behaviors both in the recovery phase of COVID-19 and longer term.MMWR / April 28, 2023 / Vol.72 / No. 1 US Department of Health and Human Services/Centers for Disease Control and Preventionschool leaders can use the findings in this report to highlight the need for school health policies, practices, and programs that promote students' healthy dietary and physical activity behaviors and their overall physical and mental health during immediate and longer-term pandemic recovery efforts. Methods Data SourceThis report includes data from the 2019 (N = 13,677) and 2021 (N = 17,232) YRBS, a cross-sectional, school-based survey conducted biennially since 1991.Each survey year, CDC collects data from a nationally representative sample of public and private school students in grades 9-12 in the 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia.Additional information about YRBS sampling, data collection, response rates, and processing is available in the overview report of this supplement (9).The prevalence estimates for dietary and physical activity behaviors for the overall study population and by sex, race and ethnicity, grade, and sexual identity are available at https:// nccd.cdc.gov/youthonline/App/Default.aspx.The full YRBS questionnaire, data sets, and documentation are available at https://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/data/yrbs/index.htm.This activity was reviewed by CDC and was conducted consistent with applicable federal law and CDC policy.** 45 C.F.R. part 46.102(l)(2), 21 C.