Cleaning is Not-Exercise

Do you treat household chores as an opportunity for a workout?  If so, your efforts may be in vain.  A new study suggests that cleaning is not intense enough to count as exercise.

The research was carried out by BMC Public Health, who collected data from 4563 adults in in Northern Ireland.  In an interview, 42.7% said they met or exceeded the NHS guidelines on exercise.  The NHS recommends that we should do 150 minutes moderate activity per week to stay healthy.  They describe moderate-intensity as ‘an activity that will raise your heart rate and make you breathe faster and feel warmer.’  Overall, domestic housework accounted for 36% of the moderate to vigorous physical activity participants did. 

Researchers measured their BMI.  It was found that those who reported more domestic physical activity tended to have higher BMIs than those who reported less domestic physical activity.  Age, gender, smoking and socioeconomic status were taken into account.

In their official response to the research the NHS said that ‘Claims that housework is not strenuous enough are unsupported.  It is not possible to say this with certainty based on this study.’