Thursday, July 05, 2018

People in wealthy states get more exercise; people in rural areas tend to get less, but income is the big driver

Washington Post map; click on the image to enlarge it.
A new report by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows some interesting predictors of physical fitness. Only 23 percent of American adults under 65 meet federal guidelines for weekly physical activity, which say adults should perform at least 150 minutes of moderate physical activity or 75 minutes of vigorous physical activity each week, as well as some muscle-strengthening activity like calisethenics or weight-lifting twice a week, Christopher Ingraham reports for The Washington Post.

Other factors that have a positive correlation to adequate physical activity: living in an urban area (but not a strong correlation), drinking heavily (higher income individuals tend to drink more), working in a managerial or professional role, having a high household income, and not following a religion. Factors that have a negative correlation with physical activity: high average daily temperatures, voting for Donald Trump in 2016, and being in fair or poor physical health. Here are nine scatter-plots of the states, showing the nine factors the study examined, based on statewide rates; the steeper the trend line, the stronger the correlation:


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