Exercise Rates Vary Greatly Among Races of Women 40-Plus School of Public Health Researchers Include All Domains of Physical Activity in Innovative Study

Dr. Ross Brownson, professor of epidemiology at the School of Public Health, reported these findings in last month's issue of the American Journal of Public Health.

"This is really the first national study that looked at all kinds of domains of exercise, not just aerobics and leisure-time activity, across racial/ethnic groups of women," Brownson said. "We wanted to realistically look at physical activity of all types so those groups of people who don't go to a gym or have time to play recreational sports wouldn't be excluded."

Brownson and his team looked at 2,912 U.S. women more than 40 years of age during a one-year period. The women were interviewed by telephone and responded to 92 questions concerning their physical activity. Physical activities in various settings were explored, including activity during leisure-time, at work and while executing "vigorous" household chores including vacuuming, lifting and planting.

Almost half of Native American/Alaskan Native women and more than a third of African-American women reported no leisure-time physical activity at all. But when the types of physical activities are broadened to include household chores and job-related exertion, levels of physical activity increase markedly, with two thirds of African American women, seven out of 10 white women and three quarters of Hispanic women participating in some kind of physical activity.

Brownson said, "If you look at the total population and all forms of physical activity, almost three-quarters of women are active. The standard figure we hear is that only about 20 to 30 percent of women are considered active physically. We are not yet sure about the health benefits of performing household chores and work-related physical activity, but this activity level is much higher than previously thought."

In addition to racial differences, the investigators found that specifically engaging in leisure time physical activity was less common among women who lived in rural areas, smoked, were overweight and those who ate less than five servings of fruits and vegetables per day. Leisure- time exercise was 21 percent more likely among college graduates than women with less than a high school education.

Regardless of race and income, walking was far and away the most common type of activity for those who did engage in leisure-time physical pursuits -- followed by aerobics, gardening and bicycling -- and women aged 60 to 69 were the most regular participants in such activities. "That this age group is so active may surprise some people, but 60 to 69 year-old males have long been considered active in these pursuits. Between the ages of 60 and 69 is often the time when people may have recently retired, so they have more time to exercise and are still fairly healthy enough to remain physically active."

Another reason these figures may be surprising is simply because, until this study, there has not been much data representative of all racial and ethnic groups of women. Brownson said researching women in the 40 years and older category is especially important because, "For postmenopausal women, regular physical activity reduces the risk of premature death and disability from a variety of health conditions, including coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes mellitus, colon cancer, osteoarthritis and osteoporosis."

In the United States, the annual number of lives lost through physical inactivity is estimated at more than 250,000. The recommended level of physical activity for most healthy adults is 30 minutes per day, with an intensity equivalent of walking at a rate of 3 to 4 miles per hour.

"Research is needed to see if physical activity related to housework or occupation offers health benefits similar to those gained through leisure-time exercise," Brownson said. "Some studies have suggested that exercising by choice may relieve stress better than housework or workday activities. Men with physically active jobs often have lower rates of certain diseases, such as colon cancer. So even if they may not be enjoying their jobs, there seems to be some health benefit to work-related physical activity -- we're just not sure of the size of the benefit."

Brownson and his team plan to use this data to look at the personal and environmental barriers to exercise for different races and ethnicities of women. "Now that we know that exercise rates of different groups of women vary greatly, we want to determine why. Reasons can vary from lack of safety to not enough time or energy to care-giving duties, and beyond. Programs aimed at helping women take steps to improve their health need to know how to address these different populations," Brownson said.

Other Saint Louis University School of Public Health authors of the study are Dr. Amy A. Eyler, an assistant professor of community health and researcher at the Prevention Research Center, and Yuh-Ling Shyu, graduate student in health services research.

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