Exclusive Survey by the Alliance for a Healthier Generation and Woman’s Day Reveals Families are More Likely to Be Sedentary than Physically Active

(NEW YORK) September 8, 2015 — If the last activity you did with your child was sedentary, you’re not alone. According to a new survey conducted by Woman’s Day and the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, a national non-profit founded by the American Heart Association and Clinton Foundation working to combat childhood obesity, families are not getting enough physical activity. The results are featured in the October issue of Woman’s Day, on newsstands September 8.

According to the survey, when mothers spend ten minutes or more doing something with their children, it is more likely to be sedentary or involve a screen than be physical. The top three activities mothers and children do together are eating a meal (90%), watching television (79%), and doing homework (65%). Only half of the 1,154 moms surveyed had gone out together for a walk, run, or bike ride with their kids (ages 5 to 18) in the last week and just 26% had played a sport, run around or danced together.

Almost half (44%) of moms reported their children don’t get the recommended amount of activity per week (7 hours)—and barriers they pointed to included homework, the child’s attitude and the “draw of the screen”.

“The survey results underline the increasingly sedentary lifestyle many of our kids are leading,” says Dr. Howell Wechsler, CEO of the Alliance for a Healthier Generation. “The good news is, there is opportunity to change this trend—and families can make small changes that make a big difference.”

“We know that Americans are busier than ever, but becoming more active can help set up families for a lifetime of healthy habits and lowering the risk of obesity and heart disease,” says Susan Spencer, Editor-in-Chief, Woman’s Day. “By partnering with the Alliance on this survey, we learned sixty-seven percent of moms believe it would be easy for them to add an extra ten minutes of movement with their kids daily and we were able to provide our readers with creative solutions to transform their family’s health one minute at a time.” 

To spread the word about the lack of physical activity across the country and inspire families to get moving, the Alliance launched #Commit2Ten, a social media campaign challenging the nation to add 10 more minutes of physical activity to its daily routine during the month of September.

Woman’s Day and the Alliance encourage families to #Commit2Ten, with 10 additional minutes of physical activity per day.

Survey Methodology

On behalf of Woman’s Day and the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, Ipsos Public Affairs conducted a nationwide online survey of 1,154 mothers ages 18 and older from April 17 to April 29, 2015. The estimated credibility interval for the survey is +/- 2.9 percentage points.

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About the Alliance for a Healthier Generation

The Alliance for a Healthier Generation, founded by the American Heart Association and the Clinton Foundation, empowers kids to develop lifelong, healthy habits. The Alliance works with schools, companies, community organizations, healthcare professionals and families to build healthier environments for millions of children. To learn more and join the movement, visit HealthierGeneration.org. 

About Woman’s Day

Woman’s Day is an indispensable resource to 20 million women. The brand speaks to readers’ values and focuses on what’s important. The pages empower women with smart solutions for core concerns—health, home, food, style and money, and celebrate connections cherished with family, friends and community. Whether in-book, online, mobile or through social outlets, we provide inspiring insight and fresh ideas on how to get the most of everything. Woman’s Day inspires its loyal audience with actionable and relatable tools to lead a vibrant, healthy and satisfying life. Woman’s Day is published by Hearst Magazines, a unit of Hearst Corporation, one of the nation’s largest diversified media and information companies. With 21 titles in the U.S., Hearst is the leading publisher of monthly magazines in terms of total paid circulation (AAM 2H 2014), reaching 78 million readers (Spring 2015 MRI gfk) and 54 million site visitors each month (comScore). Follow Woman’s Day on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.