Rich People Are ‘Weekend Warriors,' Study Finds

People with higher incomes are more likely to be the 'weekend warriors' in gyms, a new study has found.

The research was conducted by the American Cancer Society researchers, in collaboration with the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston and Georgia State University. The researchers relied on activity monitors and analyzed that individuals with higher income mostly exercised for fewer days in a week, and spent a long time doing sedentary work. However, money helped them in realizing their fitness goals.

To conduct the study, the researchers used the data to analyze physical activity and sedentary behavior of the participants in relation to their income levels. The data was analyzed after studying 5,206 adults, who enrolled in the National Health and Examination Survey from 2003-2006, a nationally representative survey.

It was found that those who earned $75,000 or more a year engaged in additional 4.6 minutes of moderate to vigorous intensity exercise every day, as compared to those who earned less than $20,000.

The study also said: "High-income individuals also engaged in 9.3 fewer minutes of light intensity activity, spent 11.8 more minutes daily sedentary, were 1.6 times more likely to meet guidelines for a brief 2-day period (‘weekend warrior’), and were 1.9 times more likely to meet guidelines during a 7-day period."

People earning less do not have enough facilities to support their weekly workout regime, and lack of parks and open spaces and inflexible work environment act as barriers, the researchers found.

However, richer people, who have a limited time, have more resources and places to exercise. Even if they are more exposed to a sedentary lifestyle, access to better facilities helps them in meeting their weekly activity guidelines by getting enrolled in best of the gyms.

According to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, only one in three children do some form of exercise every day. Less than 5 percent of the adults in the country engage in 30 minutes of physical activity each day and only one in three adults actually meet the weekly physical activity guidelines.

Among the people aged 75 years and above, only 35 to 44 percent are physically active, and among the adults aged 65 to 74 years, 28 to 34 percent engage in a physical activity to keep themselves fit.

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Physical inactivity causes 6 percent of the burden of disease from coronary heart disease, 7 percent of type 2 diabetes, 10 percent of breast cancer, and 10 percent of colon cancer, according to a 2012 study. The study published in the Lancet, a general medicine journal, also said: "If inactivity were not eliminated, but decreased instead by 10% percent or 25 percent, more than 533 000 and more than 1·3 million deaths, respectively, could be averted every year."