Research reveals that not doing enough housework is 'making women fat'

zainab quadri

August 27, 2015 11:39 AM

Nowadays women are spending more time at work and devoting less time to housework, which is detrimental to their health.

The average female now spends almost 20 per cent less time on chores than her counterpart in the early 1980s.

Nowadays women are spending more time at work and devoting less time to housework, and researchers have found out that a drop in the amount of time spent on housework has contributed to the obesity epidemic.

The average female now spends almost 20 per cent less time on chores than her counterpart in the early 1980s.

Advances in technology have also meant the housework she does do is likely to be lighter than in past.

While this brings many benefits, substituting strenuous housework for sedentary office work may take its toll on the waistline.

For instance, while mopping floors burns off 200 calories an hour – roughly a bar of chocolate – sitting in front of a computer uses up as few as 70 calories.

Researcher Melanie Luhrmann, a lecturer in Economics, said: ‘Our research suggests that we are probably ill-advised to just look at food consumption as the main factor explaining obesity.

‘Both physical activity and calories are important.

‘Maybe we should spend more time on a more comprehensive approach where we don’t tell people to do more sport or eat less, but to work out how active they are and work on their diet accordingly.’

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