Americans don’t get enough exercise.
Less than a third of American adults meet suggested benchmarks for aerobic and strength-building activities set by health officials, according to a new study published Thursday.
The US Department of Health and Human Services. recommends healthy adults spend at least 150 minutes a week, approximately 20 minutes a day, doing moderate-intensity aerobic exercise and at least two days a week doing muscle-strengthening activities.
Only 28% of people in the US actually follow those guidelines, according to the study published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that analyzed more than 30,000 responses from its 2020 National Health Interview Survey. Research from institutions across the country noted that activity may have been affected during the height of the COVID pandemic.
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People living in rural areas were even less likely to get enough exercise: Just 16% of people outside cities met benchmarks for aerobic and muscle-strengthening activities, compared with 28% in rural areas. large metropolitan cities.
Regional differences also emerged. People living in the South were less physically active than those in other regions, while people in the West were more active.
Major improvements are needed at the local, state and national levels to promote healthy exercise, the authors said, such as improving physical spaces in cities and rural areas to make them more attractive for activity and encouraging philanthropic investment in research.
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