Citing Exercise Survey: American Cancer Society Encourages Women to Engage in Exercise by Making it Fun

According to a recent survey from the American Cancer Society, “women are 10 percent less likely than men to make time for physical activities they enjoy and that 40 percent of women said they would be more physically active in their free time if it felt less like work and more like play.”

To counter the negative results of the survey and to capitalize on what the women said they want, the American Cancer Society Choose You movement has issued a statement which encourages women to help close this exercise gap by discovering fun ways to get active with its 100,000 Acts of Play Challenge.

To help track the results and encourage others to participate in the program, the agency is taking advantage of the internet. As part of the 100,000 Acts of Play Challenge, women are urged to share their activity each time they get active in May at ChooseYou.com/Play.

During the month of May, which happens to include Mother’s Day, in and effort to increase awareness of the ways women can play, Choose You will host a series of pop-up “play teams,” hitting the streets of New York (May 1), Los Angeles (May 11) and Washington DC (May 22) to encourage spontaneous play and invite passersby to get active with nostalgic childhood toys, including the 80s famed Skip It, hula hoops, hoppity hop balls and double-dutch jump ropes.

“Being active is an essential element of maintaining a healthy weight and helping to reduce your cancer risk, but sometimes getting motivated to go to the gym is a lot easier said than done,” says Colleen Doyle, MS, RD and director of nutrition and physical activity at the American Cancer Society. “We all need a little inspiration sometimes to incorporate physical activity into our lives, and one of the easiest ways is by doing something that feels less like working out and more like fun.”

The data from the women’s exercise survey showed that 63% of women say they engage in physical activity that they enjoy because it is good for their mind, while 75% say it is good for their physical fitness and 38% are out to spend more time with friends and family.

“It is essential to find a way to bring the power of play and physical activity that you enjoy back to your day,” says Doyle. “There are so many options – play tag with your kids, jump rope with a friend, or even hula-hoop at the office. The important thing is to keep moving and to have fun.”