Metabolic Equivalent (MET) Values for Activities in American Time Use Survey (ATUS)

This Web site is a companion piece to the paper:

Tudor-Locke C, Washington TL, Ainsworth BE, Troiano RP. Linking the American Time Use Survey (ATUS) and the Compendium of Physical Activities: methods and rationale. J Phys Act Health 2009 May;6(3):347-53. [View Abstract in PubMed] [View PDF]

It contains, and provides a searchable interface to, Tables 3, 4, and 5 referenced in that article. Tables 1 and 2 are contained within the article itself.

The MET values presented on these tables and in the original article are to be used expressly for analysis of the American Time Use Data. While they are based on the Compendium of Physical Activities, the MET levels differ from those in the Compendium due to combining activities and their associated MET levels in the ATUS.

For consistency in assigning intensity values to physical activity questionnaires, researchers should use the MET values presented in the Compendium of Physical Activities .

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Corrections

Please note the following changes to these tables, which were made to resolve discrepancies or correct oversights in the original versions.

Changes to the SAS Syntax
Activity	Previous MET Value	Updated MET Value
Updated on 25 May 2011
02 02 99 Food and drink prep, presentation, and clean-up, n.e.c.	2.36	2.32
02 03 01 Interior arrangement, decoration, and repairs	3.32	3.33
02 05 99 Lawn and garden, n.e.c.	3.66	3.45
02 99 99 Household activities, n.e.c.	2.67	2.93
04 05 99 Helping non-Household adults, n.e.c.	2.51	2.64
04 99 99 Caring for and helping non-Household members, n.e.c.	2.64	2.18
14 99 99 Religious and spiritual activities, n.e.c.	1.78	1.75
15 03 99 Indoor & outdoor maintenance, building & clean-up activities, n.e.c.	4.03	3.82

Changes to the Tables (CSV, XLS, and Web)
Activity	Previous MET Value	Updated MET Value
Updated on 10 December 2009
11 01 01 Eating and drinking	2.00	1.50
11 01 99 Eating and drinking, n.e.c.	2.00	1.50
Updated on 25 May 2011
01 05 01 Personal emergencies	activity not listed	1.52
01 05 99 Personal care, emergencies, n.e.c.	1.71	1.52
02 04 99 Exterior maintenance, repair and decoration, n.e.c.	activity not listed	4.49
02 05 01 Lawn, Garden, and Houseplants, n.e.c.	activity not listed	3.66
02 05 99 Lawn and garden, n.e.c.	3.66	3.45
03 02 99 Activities related to Household children's education, n.e.c.	1.59	1.57

Download the Tables

You can download these tables in Comma-Separated Values (CSV) or MS Excel (XLS) format for analysis in SAS or other statistical software.

SAS syntax for linking ATUS Activities with Compendium MET values
Table 3: CSV XLS
Table 4: CSV XLS
Table 5: CSV XLS

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Last modified: 25 May 2011	Search \| Contact Us \| Accessibility \| Privacy Policy