Exercise - Women

Exercise - Women in United States

United States

Regular exercise is an essential element of living a healthy life. People who engage in regular physical activity benefit from healthier outcomes and improved self-esteem. Women who do not exercise regularly often cite lack of time as a reason for inactivity, especially among those who have children, have jobs and have domestic chores after work hours. Feeling unsafe in one’s neighborhood has also been identified as a barrier to physical activity among women.

Regular physical activity (at least 150 minutes a week) is associated with reduced risk of:

• Cardiovascular diseases, such as heart disease and stroke.
• Hypertension and Type 2 diabetes.
• Osteoporosis and pain associated with arthritis.
• Certain cancers, including bladder, breast and colon cancer.
• Depression, sleep problems and anxiety symptoms. 

Adverse pregnancy outcomes, such as gestational diabetes, postpartum depression and longer labor times. Physical activity during the postpartum period (first year after delivery) can decrease symptoms of postpartum depression. Moderate-intensity physical activity is considered safe for pregnant women who are generally healthy.

The prevalence of exercise is higher among:

• Women ages 18-24 compared with women who are 25 and older; the prevalence decreases with each increase in age group.
• Multiracial and white women compared with Hispanic women.
• Women with a college degree, who have a prevalence more than twice that of women with less than a high school education.
• Women with an annual household income of $75,000 or more, who have a prevalence nearly twice that of women with an income less than $25,000.

Physical activity guidelines specify that adults should move more and sit less throughout the day and that some physical activity is better than none. Key guidelines for adults include:

• 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.

Use of publicly accessible outside space, such as bike lanes, sidewalks, hiking trails and parks, is also associated with an increase in exercise levels among employed women. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) makes several recommendations for community efforts to increase physical activity, including built environment approaches to make it easier for people to walk, run, bike, skate or use wheelchairs to get to where they need to go. A behavioral lifestyle intervention implemented through a smartphone app has been found to be effective in increasing physical activity among pregnant women with obesity or overweight. Another study suggests that wearable fitness trackers may be beneficial in motivating and maintaining physical activity.

Healthy People 2030 has several physical activity objectives, including reducing the proportion of adults who do no physical activity in their free time and increasing the proportion of adults who do enough aerobic and muscle-strengthening activity.

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Lindgren, Teri, Julie Hooper, and Yoshimi Fukuoka. “Perceptions and Experiences of Women Participating in a Digital Technology–Based Physical Activity Intervention (the MPED Trial): Qualitative Study.” JMIR Public Health Surveill 5, no. 4 (December 20, 2019): e13570. https://doi.org/10.2196/13570.

Moreno, Jennette P., and Craig A. Johnston. “Barriers to Physical Activity in Women.” American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine 8, no. 3 (February 21, 2014): 164–66. https://doi.org/10.1177/1559827614521954.

Rees-Punia, Erika, Elizabeth D. Hathaway, and Jennifer L. Gay. “Crime, Perceived Safety, and Physical Activity: A Meta-Analysis.” Preventive Medicine 111 (June 1, 2018): 307–13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2017.11.017.

Rodríguez-Blanque, Raquel, Juan Carlos Sánchez-García, Antonio Manuel Sánchez-López, and María José Aguilar-Cordero. “Physical Activity during Pregnancy and Its Influence on Delivery Time: A Randomized Clinical Trial.” PeerJ 7 (February 7, 2019): e6370. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.6370.

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.

Zamani Sani, Seyed Hojjat, Zahra Fathirezaie, Serge Brand, Uwe Pühse, Edith Holsboer-Trachsler, Markus Gerber, and Siavash Talepasand. “Physical Activity and Self-Esteem: Testing Direct and Indirect Relationships Associated with Psychological and Physical Mechanisms.” Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment 12 (October 2016): 2617–25. https://doi.org/10.2147/NDT.S116811.