Exercise - Women in United States

United States

Regular exercise is a vital component of a healthy lifestyle. Engaging in regular physical activity offers numerous benefits for both physical and mental health. 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.
• Certain cancers, including bladder, breast and colon cancer.
• Depression, sleep problems and anxiety. 
• Adverse pregnancy outcomes, such as gestational diabetes and postpartum depression. Making sure to exercise in the first year after giving birth can decrease symptoms of postpartum depression.
• Influenza and pneumonia mortality.

Women who do not exercise regularly often point to lack of free time as the reason for inactivity, particularly those who have children, jobs or domestic chores after work hours. Feeling unsafe due to neighborhood crime is also recognized as a significant barrier to physical activity among women.

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

• American Indian/Alaska Native, multiracial and white women compared with Hispanic women.
• Women with a college degree compared with women with less than a high school education. The prevalence is higher with each increase in education level. 
• Women with annual household incomes of $75,000 or more compared with those who have incomes less than $25,000.
• Women who do not have a disability compared with women who have a disability. 
• Women who have served in the U.S. armed forces compared with those who have not served.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommends that adults engage in more physical activity and sit less throughout the day, with the reminder that any physical activity is better than none. Physical activity guidelines for adults suggest:

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

The use of publicly accessible outdoor spaces, such as bike lanes, sidewalks, hiking trails and parks, is associated with an increase in exercise levels among employed women. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 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 want to go. The Community Preventive Services Task Force (CPSTF) has found that the median economic benefit-to-cost ratio of improved health from creating or enhancing access to parks, trails and greenways is $3.10 returned for each dollar invested.

A behavioral lifestyle intervention implemented through a smartphone app has been effective in increasing physical activity among pregnant women with overweight or obesity. Another study suggests that wearable fitness trackers may help motivate and maintain physical activity. The CPSTF maintains a list of strategies to increase physical activity, including worksite digital health and telephone interventions, as well as social support interventions in community settings.

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 engage in sufficient aerobic and muscle-strengthening activities.

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Gell, Nancy M., and Danielle D. Wadsworth. “How Do They Do It: Working Women Meeting Physical Activity Recommendations.” American Journal of Health Behavior 38, no. 2 (March 2014): 208–17. https://doi.org/10.5993/ajhb.38.2.6.

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 and Surveillance 5, no. 4 (December 20, 2019): e13570. https://doi.org/10.2196/13570.

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Singleton, Chelsea R., Fikriyah Winata, Kaustubh V. Parab, Oluwafikayo S. Adeyemi, and Susan Aguiñaga. “Violent Crime, Physical Inactivity, and Obesity: Examining Spatial Relationships by Racial/Ethnic Composition of Community Residents.” Journal of Urban Health 100, no. 2 (April 2023): 279–89. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-023-00716-z.

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.

Webber, Bryant J., Heather C. Yun, and Geoffrey P. Whitfield. “Leisure-Time Physical Activity and Mortality from Influenza and Pneumonia: A Cohort Study of 577 909 US Adults.” British Journal of Sports Medicine 57, no. 19 (May 16, 2023): 1231–37.https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2022-106644.