WASHINGTON and ATLANTA, Sept. 19, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- World-leading analytics and advice firm, Gallup, and Sharecare, the digital health company helping people manage all their health in one place, have released new research on rates of regular exercise. The findings offer a comprehensive look at exercise rates by city, gender, age, income, and race and ethnicity, and are part of the Gallup-Sharecare Well-Being Index, the world’s largest dataset on well-being.
Nationally, there is good news regarding exercise. In 2016, 53.4% of U.S. adults exercised regularly, as measured by those exercising 30 or more minutes for 3 or more days in the prior week. This is the highest recorded national exercise rate since Gallup and Sharecare began measuring in 2008. During this same time period, those who didn’t exercise at all declined by almost 3 points to 27.4%, adding to this positive national trend. Demographically, males outpace females, rates fall as people age, and Hispanics (55.5%) boast the highest rates of regular exercise followed by Asians (54.6%).
In 2016, the communities with the highest rates of regular exercise are from Colorado and California. Boulder, Colorado - a community with a track record of high well-being, high fresh produce consumption and extremely low rates of obesity – was the number one exercise community in 2016, with almost 70% of residents indicating they exercise regularly.
The highest five exercise communities in the U.S. are:
1. Boulder, CO 69.6%
2. Fort Collins, CO 67.9%
3. San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles-Arroyo Grande, CA 67.0%
4. Greeley, CO 65.3%
5. Santa Rosa, CA 62.3%
Several of the lowest exercise communities are in Ohio, a state that has six communities in the bottom 25, including Akron, Toledo, Cincinnati, Canton-Massillon, Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, and Cleveland-Elyria. Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, North Carolina was the nation’s lowest community for regular exercise, with only 41.8% of their residents exercising regularly.
The lowest five exercise communities in the U.S. are:
185. Toledo, OH 46.5%
186. Montgomery, AL 45.7%
187. Cedar Rapids, IA 45.6%
188. Akron, OH 45.0%
189. Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC 41.8%
There are many benefits to regular exercise. The highest 10 exercise communities have significantly lower incidence of chronic disease, with approximately 30% less obesity, diabetes, depression, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and heart attack, as compared with the lowest 10 communities. These communities also report higher rates of positive emotions, lower rates of smoking, higher rates healthy eating and fresh produce consumption, as well as better community well-being measures, including higher rates of impactful volunteerism and of feeling safe and secure.
“Exercising just 30 minutes three days each week can play a significant role in reducing obesity and other chronic diseases, resulting in significantly reduced health care utilization,” said Dan Witters, research director for the Gallup-Sharecare Well-Being Index. “Leaders in business, government and health care should continue to implement known methods for integrating exercise into the daily lifestyles of their constituents and leverage all five elements of well-being as a means of inspiring better exercise habits.”
The research in State of American Well-Being: 2016 Community Rankings for Exercise is based on a subset of 354,473 telephone interviews with U.S. adults across all 50 states and the District of Columbia, conducted from January 2, 2015 to December 30, 2016. Gallup conducts 500 telephone interviews a day with randomly selected Americans to gather their perceptions of well-being for a resulting sample that projects to an estimated 95% of all U.S. adults.
For more information and to access the complete report, visit http://www.well-beingindex.com/2016-exercise.
About the Gallup-Sharecare Well-Being Index™
The Gallup-Sharecare Well-Being Index is the world’s largest data set on well-being, with over 2.5 million surveys fielded to date. The Well-Being Index provides unmatched, in-depth insight into the well-being of populations, is frequently cited by national media, and has been leveraged by Nobel laureates and academicians for peer-review and scholarly articles.
The partnership between Gallup and Sharecare merges decades of clinical research, health care leadership and behavioral economics expertise to track and understand the key factors that drive greater well-being for individuals and populations. Previously known as the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index®, the Gallup-Sharecare Well-Being Index™ was recently rebranded following Sharecare’s 2016 acquisition of Healthways. This rebrand signifies a new and exciting union of the powerful insights generated by Gallup and meaningful health engagement fostered by Sharecare, to create a healthier world through knowledge, information and action. To learn more, visit www.well-beingindex.com.
About Sharecare
Sharecare is the digital health company that helps people manage all their health in one place. The Sharecare platform provides each person – no matter where they are in their health journey – with a comprehensive and personalized health profile where they can dynamically and easily connect to the information, evidence-based programs and health professionals they need to live their healthiest, happiest and most productive life. In addition to providing individual consumers with direct access to award-winning and innovative frictionless technologies, scientifically validated clinical protocols and best-in-class coaching tools, Sharecare also helps providers, employers and health plans effectively scale outcomes-based health and wellness solutions across their entire populations. To learn more, visit www.sharecare.com.
Contact:
Jen Martin Hall, Sharecare
(404) 665-4305
pr@sharecare.com
Riley Brands, Gallup
(202) 715-3106
riley_brands@gallup.com