May 16, 2007 – While vacuuming, mowing the lawn, or cleaning windows can cause you to sweat, it would be inappropriate to attribute the same health effects to these activities as walking or playing sports. At least that’s what the results of a large survey of 14,836 Britons aged 16 and over indicate.1.
Researchers report that vigorous walking or physical activity for 30 minutes a day, five days a week, has a measurable impact on risk factors for cardiovascular disease or obesity. According to their findings, performing household chores would not have this effect.
About 24% of men and 20% of women had a level of physical activity that met the recommendations of medical authorities. These percentages fell to 17.5% and 13%, respectively, when household chores were excluded from the list of physical activities beneficial to the cardiovascular system.
Household chores don’t use the same muscle groups as walking or exercising, and they involve less sustained, less intense and less rhythmic physical activity, say the study’s authors.
These tasks should therefore not be included in the calculation of physical activities likely to provide cardiovascular protection and counter obesity, as has been done for several years. London researchers fear it will give people a false sense of security and not make them move as much as they should.
In 2003, the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for the first time considered activities such as gardening, housework, and even walking to the local grocery store to measure the level of disease. physical activity of the population2.
Pierre Lefrançois – PasseportSanté.net
1. Stamatakis E, Hillsdon M, Primatesta P. Domestic physical activity in relationship to multiple CVD risk factors. Am J Prev Med. 2007 Apr; 32 (4): 320-327.
2. Read the news about it The CDC ennobles housework.
