Everyone but the poor is exercising more

yarwell

According to The Economist

unrelentingminx

What about all those people that are part-time workers, unemployed, stay at home mums, retired or in school/uni? They are probably poorer than the 'poorest' full-time workers above.

As a guess, I would say in the current climate the 'poorest' full-time workers may be working longer hours to make ends meet so don't have as much time for exercise.

KittensMaster

The man is keeping them down in yet another way

harlequin0318

Personal opinion - I think it all stems from poor education

amusedmonkey

What this graph fails to recognize is that many of the minimum wage jobs are physical in nature, so if you average out the activity it will turn out that they aren't doing so bad afterall. And what about those who exercise at the comfort of their own home because they can't afford to join a gym? This report is nearly meaningless. All it says is that the more money you have the more of it you are willing to spend on exercise.. well duh! (notice how it does not list cheaper or free exercise such as running)

There are other aspects like keeping up appearances and such, but regardless, I don't find this one useful.

Carnhot

Given that definition of "working out" and the price of gym memberships, equipment, kit etc. is it any wonder?

blackcoffeeandcherrypie

This research is a little biased, I think. It only studies *gym usage* not total exercise. Obviously, there is a whole world of exercise outside of expensive gyms, which many may find cliquey, middle class or intimidating.

In order to be an accurate analysis, this would have to include jogging, cycling, walking, using fitness videos, playing sports such as football, using weights at home, etc. Without that, all this graph shows is that people with more money go to the gym more often and that the poorest people in society may feel socially, economically or culturally excluded. There is an interesting analysis to be made about the 'aspirational' nature of gym membership for the 2nd percentile, who may be on the brink of upper working class / lower middle class and wishing to demarcate themselves as a social group through their use of gym use.

I went to the article and looked for references or insight into how the exercise was carried out, but couldn't find any links. I'm not even sure that swimming was included.

Pinnacle_IAO

WHEW!
So glad I'm rich....

isulo_kura

That's a pretty pointless graphic. All it says is that those more well off are doing what' they classify as exercise'. In reality a lot of those less well off are more likely to be doing more manual based work so they may be getting their exercise in another way. Going to a gym or buying expensive exercise equipment is not the only way to 'exercise' That's just the obvious flaw in that assumption

crazyjerseygirl

Yeah, sadly the research is ehhhhhh looking.

What if full time work? Do 2-3 PT jobs count? What is "aerobics" I run, which is an aerobic activity, but it's not "aerobics". How was the question asked? The article seems focused on fancy gyms.

Bro, do you even science?