Exercise low on Americans' activity list: study

Really? Who would have guessed?

Only five percent of Americans do anything vigorous like running, biking or aerobics on a given day and preparing meals is the most common moderate physical activity, according to new research.

In a study that looked at the intensity of what Americans do daily, researchers found that exercise was not high on the list.

Americans, by far, favored sedentary tasks such as making phone calls and grabbing a snack over activities that require them to actually get up and move.

"The greatest prevalence for reported moderate activities was food and drink preparation for both men and women," Catrine Tudor-Locke and her team said in a report in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

"Overall only 5.07 percent report any vigorous intense activity."...

Of the moderately intense tasks, the most common at 25.7 percent was preparing meals, which was below the 80 percent of people who cited watching television or going to the movies, or the 28 percent of people who read.

But the study shows that Americans are five times more likely to spend time in the kitchen than doing something physically demanding such as playing a sport or hiking, confirming the stereotype of Americans as couch potatoes.

Wonder what eating was rated as. Probably "great" intensity.

Although the study does not reveal whether Americans are getting more or less exercise than before, Tudor-Locke said it will help scientists understand how Americans can change their habits.

Good luck with that.