Article from 1999, referenced study likely from earlier.
The average American walks less than 75 miles a year - about 1.4 miles a week, barely 350 yards a day.
Thank you to @urlyman@mastodon.social for pointing this out.
These numbers seem way too low, 1.4 miles a week??? Even in 2024 where we have more means of transport than ever, I still walk more than that every day!
Are you joking? That seems ridiculously low to me. That’s barely 300 metres per day. I walk more than that just pacing around my apartment on a typical day. I actually can’t even envision what a life with so little walking would look like.
No, I just wrote the wrong word because I’m going on way too little sleep this weekend. I should’ve said low.
Ah, makes sense! I was worried for your well-being for a second there :P Hope you get some rest soon!
lol, thanks me too
I have failed to find the mentioned study.
I can believe an elderly person barely moving, and perhaps there are a number of them?
Yeah, aside from riding my bike, I would hardly call myself active but I sure as hell walk waaaay more than that. Even if I was above average (doubtful), these numbers seem off, especially for back then. With all sorts of delivery and micromobility devices these days, I figure we’re walking even less than we did in the 90s but still more than 1.4 miles per week (you could easily walk that without even leaving a building)
One third of Americans are obese and one third overweight. Riding a bike occasionally is easily above average.
I can see why you might connect the two, but I weigh 240 lbs and bike commute every day as long as it isn’t freezing. Overweight and obese people ride bikes all the time.
Being sedentary is only part of the reason we’re so fat: Can’t out exercise a bad diet and we are barraged with highly processed foods to the point that you can accidentally eat a lot of processed stuff even when you’re trying to eat healthy.
Oh, also, beer but I quit drinking so that should help lol
Fair on the weight!
Still, I have to say that bike commuting regularly is definitely above average. Maybe you’re not living in the most representative area?
I have family that certainly only walk a few hundred meters a day.
I’d be surprised if I wasn’t: Most things are within about a 25 minute walk for me, much less on a bike. Still though, I feel like that study’s numbers were off.
Not the mentioned study, but still interesting.
Adults reported taking an average of 5117 steps per day. Male gender, younger age, higher education level, single marital status, and lower body mass index were all positively associated with steps per day. Steps per day were positively related to other self-reported measures of physical activity and negatively related to self-reported measures on physical inactivity. Living environment (urban, suburban, or rural) and eating habits were not associated with steps per day.
Important to note that study participants may not be reflective of the average American.
Edit: 1 miles is apparently near 2,000 steps. (From another article which credited “researchers”.)
The typical American walks only to and from their garage. Georg, who lives in a cave and walks 10,000 miles a day, is an outlier and should not have been counted.
So 416 mph, not bad. That good olde made-up paleo diet, right?
The link is broken. It tries to save the page instead of showing an already saved version.
Ah, you are right. Thank you.
Edit: Fixed archive link.
