A new study suggests that obese women get an average of one hour of exercise annually.
Researchers analyzed data from a 2005-2006 government survey that included nearly 2,600 adults between ages 20 and 74. They studied participants' weight, diet and sleeping patterns, in addition to analyzing exercise levels as measured by an accelerometer.
They concluded that the average obese woman exercised vigorously for about an hour a year. Vigorous activity was defined as an activity that burns fat, such as jogging or jumping rope. Obese men exercised for around 3.6 hours per year.
"They're living their lives from one chair to another," Edward Archer, a research fellow with the Nutrition Obesity Research Center at the University of Alabama at Birmingham told HealthDay.
"We didn't realize we were that sedentary. There are some people who are vigorously active, but it's offset by the huge number of individuals who are inactive," he said.
The study is published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings.
