One in five US adults on average report doing zero exercise outside of work in the past 30 days, according to a new report from the United Health Foundation. For its America's Health Rankings, the company reviewed government data to rank US states based on the percentage of adults who reported no physical activity apart from their job in the proceeding month, though no data was provided for Tennessee, per Axios.
The research finds physical activity falls with income and education level, so that adults with an annual household income below $25,000 have a prevalence of physical inactivity "more than four times that of adults with incomes of $150,000" and adults with less than a high school education have a prevalence "more than three times that of college graduates." The report warns of the dangers of sedentary behavior, noting it accounts for $192 billion annually in US healthcare expenditures, or more than 12.6% of the total. The top and bottom states, with the percentage of residents who reported no physical activity in the previous month:
Top:
- Colorado, 15.6%
- Vermont, 16%
- Utah, 16.8%
- Washington, 17.4%
- Minnesota, 17.5%
- Alaska, 18.1%
- New Hampshire, 18.6%
- Massachusetts, 18.8%
- Oregon, 19%
- Montana, 19.1%
Bottom:
- Mississippi, 30.6%
- West Virginia, 28.7%
- Arkansas, 28.5%
- Kentucky, 28%
- Oklahoma, 27.7%
- Louisiana, 27.6%
- Alabama, 27.6%
- Delaware, 25.2%
- Texas, 25.1%
- Florida, 25%
See UnitedHealth's wider ranking of the
most and least healthy states.