--- description: They don't spend enough time doing fat-burning activities like jogging title: Obese Women Exercise for Only an Hour a Year on Average image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Health](/section/health/) ## Health Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Obesity](/tag/obesity/) ## Obesity Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Obese Women Get Only One Hour Of Exercise in a Whole Year by [Alexandra Sifferlin](/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 20, 2014 9:25 PM CUT by [Alexandra Sifferlin](/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 20, 2014 9:25 PM CUT The average obese woman gets only one hour of vigorous exercise each year, and obese men get less than four, according to a new study. Participants in the study, published in _Mayo Clinic Proceedings,_ had accelerometers that tracked their movements and provided data about how much they exercised and at what intensity. Vigorous exercise was defined as fat-burning activities like jogging, though one academic not related to the study cautioned that “vigorous” is relative to an individual’s fitness level. For some severely obese people, walking could be a vigorous activity. The federal [recommendation](http://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/everyone/guidelines/adults.html/ "undefined") for exercise is at least 2.5 hours of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise every week, and research shows that just 30 minutes of exercise five days a week will help maintain one’s weight. \[[HealthDay](http://consumer.healthday.com/fitness-information-14/aerobics-or-calisthenics-health-news-239/average-obese-woman-gets-just-1-hour-of-exercise-per-year-study-684974.html "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/8840/obese-women-exercise-an-hour-a-year/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/8840/obese-women-exercise-an-hour-a-year/"},"headline":"Obese Women Get Only One Hour Of Exercise in a Whole Year","datePublished":"2014-02-20T21:25:45.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T06:26:59.334Z","description":"They don't spend enough time doing fat-burning activities like jogging","url":"https://time.com/8840/obese-women-exercise-an-hour-a-year/","keywords":["Obesity","Exercise"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alexandra Sifferlin","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/obesity/","name":"Obesity"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/8840/obese-women-exercise-an-hour-a-year/","name":"Obese Women Get Only One Hour Of Exercise in a Whole Year"}}]}] ```