We are beginning to know: playing sports (or at least practicing regular physical activity) is excellent for the body as well as for the mind. A sedentary lifestyle, on the other hand, is a risk factor for many chronic diseases – diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, etc.
Yes, but here it is: according to a survey published this Friday, November 19, 2021 by theNational Institute of Youth and Popular Education (Injep), sport is far from obvious to everyone. So, “in 2020, a quarter of people aged 15 and over residing in France did little or no physical activity or sport” in the space of 12 months. Worse: 11% of the 12,000 people questioned did not do any physical activity for the whole year…
Mental workload, health and loneliness affect women’s physical activity
And the majority of these non-athletes (63%, precisely), are women, often over 50 and less qualified than the national average.
Sedentariness of women: how to explain these figures? For 26% of women who practiced little or no sport in 2020, the reason is mainly physical since they claim to suffer from “bad or very bad state of health“. In 21% of cases, it is loneliness that is a hindrance to sporting activity since they describe “sociability difficulties“.
Finally, 20% of sedentary and non-athletic women describe a “accumulation of professional, school and family constraints“… Mental load also affects personal well-being: how do you find time to go for a walk, swim or run when you have to take care of children, housework, cooking etc.?
Read also :
- How many steps should you take per day?
- Covid-19: physical inactivity increases the risk of death
- Osteoarthritis: what activity to protect your joints?
