A British poll found that people tend to exercise less than squatting on the toilet every week. According to the findings, people exercise on average 90 minutes per week, but they are sitting on the toilet three hours and nine minutes.
One-quarter of respondents said they were active for less than half an hour per week, which is at odds with official guidelines that recommend 2 hours and 30 minutes of moderate intensity exercise every week.
The survey also revealed that 12% of people aren’t aware exercise could help them stay healthy. The poll involved 2,000 British adults.
The research revealed the reasons why people refuse to stay active. While 20 percent of respondents said busy working lives were an obstacle, 18 percent of female respondents and 12 percent of males said family was an issue.
Social Media a Powerful Motivator
Pollsters also found that while social media can become a powerful motivator for young people to exercise, it does not have the same effect on older users. More than 40 percent of respondents aged 18 to 24 said that seeing photos of friends and celebrities exercising inspired them to stay active too. Just 28 percent of older respondents made a similar statement.
Steven Ward, the director of UKactive, the nonprofit that conducted the poll, explained that people were made to move, yet modern lifestyles taught us to spend more time shopping than exercising.
Ward thinks lack of exertion paired with unhealthy diets and the habit of using our smartphones or tablets in the bathroom can only make the situation worse. According to the group, sedentary lifestyles kill around 37,000 people every year and cost the government $27 billion each year.
Other experts agree that sedentary lifestyles are modern societies’ silent killer. Moreover, many older people think that staying psychically active is just for the youth, but they are wrong. Older adults benefit the most from being active mentally, physically, and socially, according to experts.
Image Source: Flickr
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