Why Americans are WAY less active than they were 200 years ago

By Georgia Lambert via SWNS

Americans do half-an-hour less exercise now than U.S. citizens did 200 years ago, according to a new study.

Thanks to social media, American people have access to endless amounts of workout routines online, access to huge gyms, and even high-end home workout equipment like Peloton bikes.

However, new research suggests that the average American does about 30 minutes less physical activity a day than an American 200 years ago.

Scientists used data on falling body temperature and the changing metabolic rates of Americans through the ages to measure the declining levels of physical activity since the industrial revolution.

They found that since 1820, resting metabolic rate - or the total number of calories burned when the body is completely at rest - has declined by about six percent in Americans.

That means that American people are taking part in 27 minutes per day of less moderate to vigorous physical activity than 200 years ago.

The reason, say the researchers, is largely because of technology.

Study lead author Dr. Andrew Yegian, a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University, said: “Instead of walking to work, we take cars or trains. Instead of manual labor in factories, we use machines.

“We’ve made technology to do our physical activity for us….Our hope is that this helps people think more about the long-term changes of activity that have come with our changes in lifestyle and technology.”

While it has been well documented in scientific studies that profound technological and social changes have reduced exercise levels, over the past two centuries, the amount that it has gone down for the whole population has never been calculated.

The study, which is the first of its kind, puts a number to the literature and shows that historical records of resting body temperature may be able to serve as a thermometer of physical activity for the whole population.

Dr. Yegian said: “This is a first pass estimate of taking physiological data and trying to quantify declines in activity.

“The next step would be to try to apply this as a tool to other populations.”

The study started as a back-of-the-envelope type calculation after previous research from Stanford University showed that the average body temperature of Americans went down in 200 years to about 97.5 degrees Fahrenheit (36.3 degrees Celsius) - a tick lower than the well-established 98.6-degree Fahrenheit.

The researchers thought that there was a link between falling body temperature and physical activity, which could also be associated with the human metabolism, which produces body heat and is, in part, powered by exercise.

To find an answer to this question: If there is a change in body temperature, what does that mean in terms of metabolism and activity? The team pulled together data from two previous studies and used it to estimate how much physical exercise had gone down.

The researchers noted that factors other than reduced exercise could influence the resting metabolic rate and body temperature, which complicates their estimation.

They also said that future research focusing on redefining relationships between metabolic rates, body temperature, and physical activity could inform more precise investigations of exercise trends.

It could even serve as an anchor for understanding how this decline in physical activity affected the health and morbidity of Americans during the industrial era.

Harvard evolutionary biologist Professor Daniel Lieberman added: “Physical activity is a major determinant of health.

“Understanding how much less active Americans have become over the last few generations can help us assess just how much increases in the incidence of chronic conditions like type 2 diabetes, heart disease and Alzheimer’s can be attributed to decreases in physical activity.”

The findings were published in the journal Current Biology.