Physical Inactivity - Women in United States

United States

Physical inactivity is associated with many adverse health outcomes, including heart disease, cancer and Type 2 diabetes. In contrast, regular exercise may lower women's risk of breast cancer and help improve depression and sleep. Physical activity during pregnancy reduces the risk of excessive weight gain and gestational diabetes, and physical activity during the postpartum period (first year after delivery) can help decrease symptoms of postpartum depression. 

Research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggests that 8.3% of deaths among adults age 25 and older without a disability in the United States can be attributed to physical inactivity.

According to America’s Health Rankings analysis, the prevalence of physical inactivity is higher among:

• Hispanic and Black women compared with Asian, multiracial and white women.
• Women with less than a high school education compared with those who are college graduates; the prevalence of physical inactivity is lower with each increase in education level.
• Women with an annual household income less than $25,000 compared with women who have higher incomes; the prevalence of physical inactivity is lower with each increase in income level.
• Women who have difficulty with self-care compared with those who do not have a disability.
• Women who have not served in the U.S. armed forces compared with those who have served.

Reducing sedentary time (e.g., time spent sitting or watching television) decreases the health risks associated with physical inactivity. The physical activity guidelines from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recommend that adults move more and sit less throughout the day, and meet the following benchmarks:

• At least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity (or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity) aerobic physical activity, such as running, riding a bike, dancing or swimming, a week. 
• Muscle-strengthening activities involving all major muscle groups, two or more days a week.

HHS guidelines also recommend that pregnant and postpartum women continue to do at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity each week. This should be done in consultation with a health care provider and adjusted as needed based on medical conditions. 

The CDC has several recommendations to increase physical activity at the community level, including environmental approaches to enhance opportunities for active transport and leisure-time activity, zoning code reforms that promote physical activity, and social support interventions such as walking or cycling groups. The recommendations also stress the importance of increasing access to safe spaces for physical activity, an issue that disproportionately affects racial and ethnic minority groups and rural residents. Infrastructure interventions that focus on introducing or increasing access to existing parks, trails and greenways are a cost-effective approach to improving physical activity, yielding an average of $3.10 in economic returns for each dollar invested. 

The Community Preventive Services Task Force (CPSTF) maintains a list of additional strategies to increase physical activity, which includes worksite digital health and telephone interventions and individually-adapted health behavior change programs. A 2017 review of the literature found that implementing awareness, incentives and social support interventions around physical activity in the workplace results in measurably higher levels of moderate-to-vigorous-intensity physical activity among working-age women.

Healthy People 2030 has several physical activity objectives, including:

• Reducing the proportion of adults who engage in no leisure-time physical activity.
• Increasing the proportion of adults who meet minimum guidelines for aerobic and muscle-strengthening activity.
• Increasing the proportion of adults who walk or use a bicycle to get places.
• Increasing the proportion of worksites that offer physical activity programs to employees.

“ACOG Committee Opinion No. 804: Physical Activity and Exercise During Pregnancy and the Postpartum Period.” Obstetrics & Gynecology 135, no. 4 (April 2020): e178–88. https://doi.org/10.1097/AOG.0000000000003772.

Carlson, Susan A., E. Kathleen Adams, Zhou Yang, and Janet E. Fulton. “Percentage of Deaths Associated With Inadequate Physical Activity in the United States.” Preventing Chronic Disease 15 (March 29, 2018): 170354. https://doi.org/10.5888/pcd18.170354.

Jacob, Verughese, Jeffrey A. Reynolds, Sajal K. Chattopadhyay, David P. Hopkins, David R. Brown, Heather M. Devlin, Austin Barrett, et al. “Parks, Trails, and Greenways for Physical Activity: A Community Guide Systematic Economic Review.” American Journal of Preventive Medicine 66, no. 6 (June 2024): 1089–99. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2024.01.021.

Reed, Jennifer L., Stephanie A. Prince, Cara G. Elliott, Kerri-Anne Mullen, Heather E. Tulloch, Swapnil Hiremath, Lisa M. Cotie, Andrew L. Pipe, and Robert D. Reid. “Impact of Workplace Physical Activity Interventions on Physical Activity and Cardiometabolic Health Among Working-Age Women: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.” Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes 10, no. 2 (February 2017). https://doi.org/10.1161/CIRCOUTCOMES.116.003516.

Shi, Hongying, Frank B. Hu, Tianyi Huang, Eva S. Schernhammer, Walter C. Willet, Qi Sun, and Molin Wang. “Sedentary Behaviors, Light-Intensity Physical Activity, and Healthy Aging.” JAMA Network Open 7, no. 6 (June 11, 2024). https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.16300.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, 2nd Edition. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2018.https://health.gov/sites/default/files/2019-09/Physical_Activity_Guidelines_2nd_edition.pdf.