We know for many making healthy choices is hard. But recent research released by the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics found that only 23 percent of US adults meet exercise guidelines for physical and muscle-strengthening activities in their spare time.
While this surpasses the department’s Healthy People 2020 program’s goal of 20.1 percent of adults meeting the exercise guidelines by 2020, as a nation we should aspire to loftier goals.
Here are a few of the key findings from the CDC research:
- Where you live makes a difference. People who get enough exercise vary by state with the lowest percent of adults (13.5) in Mississippi and the most active (32.5 percent) in Colorado.
- Men are more likely to get enough exercise than women.
- People employed in professional and managerial jobs are more likely to meet the guidelines for exercise.
At Vitality, we’re constantly conducting and monitoring the latest evidence-based research to ensure that our program employs the latest behavioral science to encourage people to make healthy choices regardless of where they live and work.
Our program incorporates opportunities at every turn to encourage and help people improve their health by using wearable devices and doing activity challenges to be more active, making healthy food choices through grocery rebate programs, and practicing prevention through health risk assessments and biometric screenings.
These programs are part of our ongoing efforts to pair the right science with the right incentives and the right technology in ways that create behavior change not only for our clients, but ultimately for the health of our nation.
