A new study published this month is showing that women, whether they work outside the home or not, are burning fewer calories on a daily basis, and the reason seems to be housework, or the lack of it.
The comparisons are being made between women in 1965 and women in 2010. It found that women who do not work outside the home burned, on average, 360 fewer calories per day compared to their 1965 counterparts. Women working outside of the home were burning about 132 fewer calories in 2010 than their counterparts did in 1965.
In 1965, the average at-home woman spent 25.7 hours a week on housework. In 2010, she spent only 13.3 hours a week on housework. Edward Archer, a research fellow with the Arnold School of Public Health at the University of South Carolina in Columbia, and lead author of the new study makes the conclusion that the decrease in the active activity in housework, and subsequently the decrease in energy expenditure, is resulting over the years to larger waistlines for women.
In addition to less time spent on housework these days (the study also finds that women are spending twice as much time in front of the television), the effort involved in doing housework is much less than it once was. The clunky, heavy vacuum machines of the past required more effort, and new modern spray mops may be replacing the old-fashioned scrubbing the floor on hands and knees.
While having less housework seems like a good thing, it seems that we need to replace those old activities or time spent with other ways to move and keep active while we are at home. It is so tempting to sit in front of the television or computer when we have some time, but a healthier choice might be to kick a ball around with the kids outside. Then again, there is always scrubbing the kitchen cabinets.