Lack of Exercise Plagues American Health

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that adults aged 18 to 64 get about four hours of physical activity each week by exercising moderately for 2.5 hours per week and engaging in a vigorous activity, such as running and muscle strengthening, for an hour and fifteen minutes per week.  Yet, Geoffrey Godbey, from Penn State University (Pennsylvania, USA), and colleagues report that Americans spend, on average, only about two hours each week participating in sports and fitness activities.  Analyzing data collected for the American Time Use Study, the researchers found that dedicated walking is the most prevalent activity, engaged in by about 5% of Americans on an average day for 53 minutes per walker. In terms of the more physically active team sports, the researchers found that basketball is the most popular, followed by football, soccer, baseball, volleyball and hockey.  The lead author observes that: “Among older adults, team sports are almost invisible in terms of daily time use, with only one in 500 people playing baseball or football, and one in 60 people playing basketball on a given day.”