Study: Today's Women Larger Because They Don't Do As Much Housework
(CBS) -- Could women be getting fat because they don't do enough housework?
That's what one new study suggests. And as CBS 2's Roseanne Tellez reports, for some women the study itself has their hearts pumping.
If women only did more clearing, cleaning and sweeping, they might not be so obese. At least that's what a new study from the University of South Carolina says.
But many women aren't buying it.
"I just think that's ridiculous … how about men. Is that why are obese, because they're doing less housework?" Becky Allen tells Tellez. "There are so many reasons why women could be obese."
Even though female TV characters from a bygone era always made time for housework, the study, which tracked women from 1965 to 2010, says that as more women went to work outside the home they became more sedentary. Thus, more housework could help you stay fit.
The study found that in 1965, the average women spent nearly 26 hours per week on household chores. Today, it's about half that.
"The answer is not women need to be doing more housework. The answer is we need to be making time to schedule our workouts, schedule time for fitness and be more active," trainer Michele Blakely says.
