Women who have children exercise less than women without children, study finds

The study shows that Danish women with children are less physically active than women without children. A gap that can be attributed to several factors, including lack of time and childcare decisions.

Are women with children at risk of poor health? The study, to be published in the June issue of the Journal of Public Health and available online, suggests that women with children are less physically active than women without children.

To reach this conclusion, a team of researchers from Denmark and the UK examined the results of the 2021 Danish National Health Survey. They analyzed data regarding the recorded hours of physical activity from 9,338 women with children (46.6% of the sample). 10,684 women without children (53.4% ​​of the sample) aged 16 to 40 years. They then compared these statements with recommendations on the issue from the World Health Organization (WHO), a UN agency.

Noticeable difference

WHO recommendations are as follows: To be healthy, adults aged 18 to 64 years should engage in at least 150 to 300 minutes per week of moderate-intensity endurance activity (walking, cycling, etc.) or practice at least 75 –150 minutes. minutes of endurance exercise at a constant intensity (running, tennis, etc.) or a combination of these. WHO also recommends practicing moderate-intensity or greater-intensity muscle-strengthening exercises twice a week or more often and limiting sedentary time.

According to a study published in the journal Public Health, the proportion of Danish women with children who did not meet WHO physical activity recommendations was 24% higher than that of women without children. 63.8% of women with children did not engage in physical activity within this framework, compared to 51.3% of women without children. These proportions may be particularly high because, as the researchers note, the data was collected during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Fatigue, lack of time…

According to the study, this difference may be due to mothers’ difficulty finding time to exercise, the fatigue they experience, and a “lack of social support and access to child care.”

According to WHO, worldwide men are more physically active than women. In France, 71% of men met WHO recommendations for physical activity in 2015, compared with 53% of women, according to a study by Public Health France. A difference that can be explained by several factors.

“Around the age of 25-30, a period of life when entering the labor market and starting a family are often combined, women’s sports activities may be limited due to lack of time. In fact, women continue to devote more time. spend more time than men on household and parental tasks,” for example, the national statistical institute Insee emphasized in a study conducted in 2017.

Public health issue

Therefore, the researchers recommend the implementation of public health policies aimed at promoting physical activity among mothers, as well as the creation of environments that encourage this activity, such as sports programs, including child care.

According to the WHO, this is a public health issue because regular physical activity “helps prevent and treat noncommunicable diseases such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes and some types of cancer.” It also helps “prevent hypertension, maintain a healthy body weight and improve mental health, quality of life and well-being.”