I must get more exercise. I have to get more exercise. If only I had time to exercise…

It is the mantra of many working parents who know they have to exercise to stay healthy, but find it almost impossible to fit yet another activity into their already overcrowded day. 

While many of us know the importance of exercise, few are doing anything about it. Indeed, Australians, particularly working parents, are becoming less active by the day. 

This inactivity means many of us are becoming fatter; we are fast rivalling the United States as the fattest nation on earth. 

Health Survey

A new survey conducted by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare has found that although 90% of people know it is important to be physically active, the time that people spend exercising has dropped over recent years. 

The survey found that the drop in exercise levels occurred among all age groups (except those aged 60 years and over).

Co-author of the study, Dr Tim Armstrong, says one of the most common reasons people give for not exercising is lack of time, and it is particularly true of working parents. 

"We know from time-use surveys that Australians tend to be working longer hours. So you combine that with duties with the kids…it doesn't leave much discretionary time." 

But exercise doesn't have to be strenuous to produce health benefits and it doesn't have to take up huge chunks of your day. 

30 Minutes a Day

Up to the mid-1990s, medical experts said that to get the health benefits of exercise, you had to do at least three vigorous sessions of exercise a week, such as gym workouts. 

But since 1996, when the US Surgeon-General released a ground-breaking report summarising the key medical evidence, the official word on exercise has changed. 

This change is vital to people who have trouble finding the time to exercise. The key message is this: to get the health benefits of exercise, you need to do 30 minutes of moderate physical activity on all or most days of the week.

Moderate activity is things like walking, cycling, swimming, lawn-mowing, gardening, even dancing. It does not have to be a sweaty gym session or a knee-jarring jog.

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