A scientific answer to the "does housework count?" debate

BerryH

TL;DR - it doesn't.

Housework and DIY are not strenuous enough to count towards people's activity targets, a paper has found.

It had been thought they could count towards the recommended 150 minutes of moderately intense activity per week.

But the BMC Public Health study, which surveyed over 4,500 adults, found those who counted housework were heavier than those who did other activities.

Experts said activities only counted when they made breathing more rapid and the heart beat faster.

NHS recommendations do say housework does not count towards the 150-minute goal.

But the researchers in this paper say there has been a move towards promoting a "lifestyle approach" to physical activity - encouraging "domestic" activities in people who may not take part in sports or go to the gym.

And they warn that, while any activity is better than none, people should be aware that they still need to meet the moderate activity target on top.

Participants completed a detailed interview about their activity levels, whether they played any sports or did formal exercise as well as their diet and smoking and drinking habits.

They were particularly asked about activity linked to looking after their homes.

Domestic housework in 10 minute bursts or more accounted for 36% of the reported moderate to vigorous physical activity people said they did.

But when weight and height were taken into account, researchers found that those who counted housework as exercise were heavier than people doing other exercise for the same amount of time.

Among women, just a fifth reached the weekly exercise target if housework was discounted.

The research team, which included experts from the Universities of Ulster, Sheffield Hallam and Wolverhampton as well as Sport Northern Ireland concluded: "Domestic physical activity accounts for a significant proportion of self-reported daily moderate to vigorous physical activity particularly among females and older adults.

"However such activity is negatively associated with leanness, suggesting that such activity may not be sufficient to provide all of the benefits normally associated with meeting the physical activity guidelines."
Eating too much?

Prof Marie Murphy, from the University of Ulster, who led the study, said: "Housework is physical activity and any physical activity should theoretically increase the amount of calories expended.

"But we found that housework was inversely related to leanness, which suggests that either people are overestimating the amount of moderate intensity physical activity they do through housework, or are eating too much to compensate for the amount of activity undertaken."

She added: "When talking to people about the amount of physical activity they need to stay healthy, it needs to be made clear that housework may not be intense enough to contribute to the weekly target and that other more intense activities also need to be included each week."

Chris Allen, senior cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation, said: "Your exercise should make you breathe harder, feel warmer, and make your heart beat faster than usual.

"So, unless your household chores tick all these boxes, they won't count.

"If you're daunted by the prospect of a 150-minute target, think of it in 10-minute chunks.

"It doesn't necessarily mean forking out for a gym membership either - try a brisk walk on your lunch break or make a resolution to take the stairs rather than the lift each morning."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-24570276

elephant_in_the_room

Interesting.
I have wondered for some time, and still do:
When we do dedicated exercise, like going to the gym, running, weightlifting, even dancing, it's seen as 'exercise', it's good, we count as more active. It has all kinds of proven health benefits.
When physical work is just part of our daily life, part of work maybe, even if the calorie expenditure is the same, does it have the same halth benefits?
I doubt it. My guess is that it can be found to be actually a stressor. My guess is that to have all the health benefits that exercise is said to have, it also needs to be a 'leisure-type' activity with not too much pressure (at most, positively-playfully competitive pressure, or the wilful challenge of going the extra mile).
That's just my guess. Has it been studied?

Oh_Allie

I wonder if this just applies to run of the mill activities that people do daily or if it would also apply to something more than 'average'.

I personally don't count the 5-10 minutes of housework I do each day to keep my home decent, but every other weekend I do a deep clean (organize, move furniture, heavier chores, etc.) that I don't get to on a daily basis and it's a legthy period of time (4-5 hours). I do this on top of my regular exercise, but since it's not part of my regular routine, I count it. I guess maybe I shouldn't.

Summer_Lunatic

I never log anything I would've done normally if I weren't trying to get fit. So if you're a horder I guess you don't "normally" clean and that might allow you to log it. :laugh:

FindingAmy77

umm, when I do housework its mopping, vacumming, folding laundry, dusting, flipping the matress and changing the bedding, dishes, prepping for dinner, windows, bathrooms, cleaning the cat area (litter box, food they throw everywhere) etc, I put on some music and dance around while getting it done like every two days. I sure work up a sweat so you bet I count it. I don't care what some study says. Now of course, if its only straighten up and do the dishes and run a vacuum for only like ten minutes which is what I do on the days I don't truly clean, then of course that isn't to be counted but if you have to put on your workout clothes to clean so the sweat don't run off you then yes: its exercise. Sorry I am a debater, had to reply to this. I get sick of people saying cleaning doesn't count.

SirDoctorofTARDIS

I wear a fitbit almost 100% of the time so by way of counting steps I guess I count my house work.

wibutterflymagic

I my opinion any "regular", "normal", "typical" house work that you do doesn't really count as a true work out activity. If someone doesn't do much cleaning normally and then has a day of activity where they dust, vaccuum, do lots of moving then I would count that as activity.....maybe only light activity but still activity.

Everyone is different as to what their "normal" is so anything outside of that can only be determined by that person.

wibutterflymagic

umm, when I do housework its mopping, vacumming, folding laundry, dusting, flipping the matress and changing the bedding, dishes, prepping for dinner, windows, bathrooms, cleaning the cat area (litter box, food they throw everywhere) etc, I put on some music and dance around while getting it done like every two days. I sure work up a sweat so you bet I count it. I don't care what some study says. Now of course, if its only straighten up and do the dishes and run a vacuum for only like ten minutes which is what I do on the days I don't truly clean, then of course that isn't to be counted but if you have to put on your workout clothes to clean so the sweat don't run off you then yes: its exercise. Sorry I am a debater, had to reply to this. I get sick of people saying cleaning doesn't count.

I agree.

rml_16

If someone is counting housework and still meeting goals, why do you care?

djshari

Well it says that it is not as effective as a regular workout - not that it doesn't burn calories. I personally do not count it and if I do get any benefit (other than a clean house) it is considered a bonus.

UsedToBeHusky

I'm pretty sure it depends on how often you do it and how intense the activity is. If you mop daily, then no. But if you get on your hands and knees and scrub a house full of hardwood floors every six months, then yes.

swat1948

I only count housework when it's something out of the ordinary that keeps me moving for longer than 10 minutes for sure, no carpet here so the whole house gets mopped. You can bet that works up a sweat. So if I clean for a couple of hours vigorously then yes, I will count it but ordinary cleaning, no.

JaneMills0

Surely the point is that the people that don't count exercise do still do housework. So they burn more, they burn their exercise calories and their housework calories. So yes they weigh less.

tomomatic

If you set your activity level to "Sedentary" because you're normally at an office job or something... and you suddenly start cleaning the house, then I say you log it.

It depends on your level of fitness. You are definitely burning calories but if you're a firefighter or farmer who is used to carrying heavy equipment around all day, then pushing a vacuum is barely going to raise your heart rate.

If you want to be scientific about it, get a heart rate monitor. If cleaning the house raises your heart rate to the same level as going for a walk, then it counts. (assuming that you consider walking an exercise.... and some marathoners/athletes probably do not).

CollieFit

Sorry I am a debater, had to reply to this. I get sick of people saying cleaning doesn't count.

People can do what they like.
The research simply states that those who count it tend to be larger than those who don't.

*shrugs shoulders*

I never counted it. Just never saw the point.

1princesswarrior

Anyone who saw my house and how dirty it is would disagree with this article. According to my HRM, my HR reaches around 150, about the same as running intervals, and I have burned 1600 cleaning. I count that.

Now I don't count weekly laundry folding and putting away. But I count dishes when every dish in the house is dirty, no I don't have a dishwasher.

But that's just me.

husseycd

From wearing a Bodymedia, I know my NEAT calories tend to account for more calories than my workouts. No, it doesn't replace a workout, however, for me, being active throughout the day (running errands, cleaning, cooking, etc) ends up being over 300 more calories than if I'm truly sedentery (like when I'm sick). You know how hard I have to workout to burn that?

rml_16

Anyone who saw my house and how dirty it is would disagree with this article. According to my HRM, my HR reaches around 150, about the same as running intervals, and I have burned 1600 cleaning. I count that.

Now I don't count weekly laundry folding and putting away. But I count dishes when every dish in the house is dirty, no I don't have a dishwasher.

But that's just me.

I don't use my dishwasher, but I can't imagine you're burning that many calories washing dishes unless you're drying them and putting them away so you're walking around the kitchen a lot.

Like I said above, if you're counting it and meeting your goals, then keep doing that. But if you're not meeting your goals, that would be the first thing I'd evaluate.

k8blujay2

*headdesk* Why do you people care so much what another does to achieve their goals?

gabbygirl78

Obviously they have never cleaned house with me... lol... Music, dancing, sweeping, mopping, vacuuming, laundry etc ..... the list goes on and on... my daughter and I make it fun and its not something we do everyday so yes if it gets your heart rate up and you break a sweat doing it then it is exercise.

Selunca

I don't count housework unless its vacuming (because my vacume is heavy and I move all my furniture to vacume) or scrubbing my toilet/bath tub because I have to scrub so hard (My husband is a mechanic)

Otherwise I don't count sweeping, mopping, doing dishes, etc. etc. I don't even like to count when I go shopping, so I only count when I go grocery shopping.