Obese adults spend more time watching TV and movies and less time engaged in sports and exercise

Data from the ERS-developed Eating and Health Module of the American Time Use Survey provide information on activities and behaviors of different segments of the U.S. population. Survey respondents age 20 and older were asked their height and weight, allowing for calculation of their Body Mass Index (BMI) which was then grouped into normal, overweight, and obese weight categories. On an average day in 2014, time spent eating and drinking as a primary, or main, activity did not vary much across the weight groups; neither did eating while doing something else. However, other activities did show different patterns. The most pronounced was watching TV and movies. Obese adults spent an average of 190 minutes a day watching TV and movies, compared with 153 minutes by normal weight individuals and 171 minutes by overweight adults. Sports and exercise was another activity where time use patterns differed. Normal weight and overweight adults spent the same amount of time, statistically-speaking—18 minutes and 20 minutes—engaged in sports or exercise, while those who were obese averaged 11 minutes a day. This chart appears in the ERS report, Americans’ Eating Patterns and Time Spent on Food: The 2014 Eating & Health Module Data, July 2016.

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