CDC Report: Some Area Residents Among The Laziest In The USA

February 28, 2011

Many of us are just plain lazy — that’s the finding of a new report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Adults in Escambia County, Alabama, are among the laziest in the United States, while Escambia and Santa Rosa County residents are a bit more physically active.

Americans who live in parts of Appalachia and the South are the least likely to be physically active in their leisure time, according to estimates released recently by the CDC, with some times over one-third of adults reported getting no physical activity or exercise other than at their regular job.

In Escambia County, Florida, the report shows 26.1 percent of adults are physically inactive, while in Santa Rosa County, that number is 22.9 percent. In Escambia  County, Alabama, 33.7 percent of the adult population is physically inactive — among the laziest people in the country, according to the CDC report.

The CDC survey found that 25.4 percent of U.S. adults did not spend any of their free time being physically active, including activities such as walking for exercise, gardening, golfing or running.

“Physical activity is crucial to managing diabetes and reducing serious complications of the disease,” said Ann Albright, Ph.D., R.D., director of CDC’s Division of Diabetes Translation. “Moderate intensity activities such as dancing or brisk walking, for just 150 minutes a week, can significantly improve the health of people with diabetes or at high risk for the disease.”

Pictured inset: This map shows the CDC’s estimates of the percentage of adults who are physically inactive in the North Escambia area. Pictured below: The national map from the CDC shows a pocket of physically inactivity in parts of Appalachia and the South (in the darker colors).

Comments

37 Responses to “CDC Report: Some Area Residents Among The Laziest In The USA”

  1. Jim W on March 1st, 2011 4:46 pm

    To David and Matt you two are too funny. Sad but a lot of truth in the joke.

  2. David Huie Green on March 1st, 2011 2:25 pm

    REGARDING:
    “can someone breathe for me breathing on my own is too much work”

    You forced me to tell it:

    A man talked his lazy friend into going fishing with him even though he had to load and unload the boat and run the motor. After a while he noticed the friend’s line wasn’t out.

    “Why aren’t you fishing?”

    “My hook isn’t baited. It’s too much work”

    He put on the worm and even threw the line in the water. After a few minutes, the pole bent down.

    “YOU GOT ONE, MAN! PULL HIM IN!”

    “Would you pull him in for me? It’s too much work.”

    “Man you’re so lazy you need a wife so you can get your son to do all your work for you.”

    “That’s a good idea. You know where I can find a pregnant woman?”

    David thinking the laziest
    have no kids of their own

  3. Matt on February 28th, 2011 11:46 pm

    can someone breath for me breathing on my own is too much work

  4. Bob on February 28th, 2011 9:19 pm

    Wow ……The truth hurts sometime.

  5. all fires should be looked at very hard on February 28th, 2011 3:57 pm

    ewms Mom , Jim W and the rest of you who work hard, are fit and donate
    your time, you are probably NOT WHO THIS SURVEY IS TALKING ABOUT.,
    I know exactly who the people are, and if you think about it so do you.
    Their not all on welfare, but many are your right. Everyone who is in
    healthcare however, knows who is and who isn’t, and it doesn’t take
    a doctors report.

    Drugs are a big factor and don’t forget how many are on them and do
    manage to show up sometime to a hospital, health clinic, or even
    kids who parents take them to the doctor.

    Your right not everyone goes to the doctor, but even those who don’t,
    sometimes they wind up at the hospital.

  6. EWMS Mom on February 28th, 2011 2:38 pm

    Between taking care of three generations, working full time (praise God), volunteering for two organizations and attending church three times a week, exercise is not on my list.

    But I have a hard time admitting to laziness. Exhaustion maybe. Lazy no.

  7. bamatami on February 28th, 2011 2:32 pm

    Lord knows I work with a couple!

  8. Thinker on February 28th, 2011 1:37 pm

    I’m too busy thinking to exercise, and I’m always sitting on my butt commenting on NorthEscambia.com. What is the cause of this trend in Escambia County, Alabama?

  9. David Huie Green on February 28th, 2011 1:22 pm

    regarding:
    “IF A KID DOESN’T WANT TO PARTICIPATE IN PE, THEY USED TO BE ALLOWED TO JUST SIT ON THE BLEACHERS AND COMB HAIR, READ ETC…NOT WHEN WE WERE IN SCHOOL…YOU HAD TO PARTICIPATE UNLESS YOU HAD A DR NOTE OR A NOTE FROM HOME. IF YOU DIDN’T, YOUR GRADE SHOWED IT

    A week or two back I heard one child ask another, “Man how’d you flunk PE???”

    The other replied, “Beats me, I didn’t do anything–AT ALL.”

    David thinking they’re still being graded on it

  10. Jim W on February 28th, 2011 12:53 pm

    Oh you just knew this was going to be good by looking at the headlines. These people probably have never had to work hard in their lives must less go out and exercise. What they need to do is donate a few days a week to a farmer and they would find out what a little physical work is like. It would be a win win. LOL! Okay I’ll leave that one alone. But I am wondering in that survey how many of those same people are on the welfare system. Just saying.

  11. nudo on February 28th, 2011 11:58 am

    I use to work in the healthcare business…this report is accurate. Don’t take my word for it just open your eyes and look around.

  12. Terri Sanders on February 28th, 2011 11:45 am

    HMMMMMMM….just got back from a 70 mile backpack trip along the Suwanne River.Think I will go for another long hike.Maybe that will help keep me in shape….Let’s see….The Colorado Trail…total length 482 miles give or take a few….Anyone wanting to join me…planning on going in July for the whole month.Being without a job has its benefits!!!

  13. Jack on February 28th, 2011 11:35 am

    They didn’t ask me so obviously the report is bogus. Also the facts make us look bad so quit reporting them.

  14. art on February 28th, 2011 11:30 am

    i agree, i agree, and poop-ed, sometimes i am too poop-ed to pop. that being said, think of all the folks out there that never go to a physician. how can their lifestyle or behavior become part of this survey’s data if indeed said data comes to the cdc via doctors? i must say, i got a few chuckles after reading some of these comments! thank you north escambia dot com. you make my day. (and i do spend a lot of my time reading your articles. they can put that in their survey!)

  15. MM on February 28th, 2011 11:17 am

    From looking at the map, looks like Mississippi beat out Alabama again on this one.

  16. poop-ed on February 28th, 2011 11:00 am

    We are taking the terminology of the question-aire and making an assumption that one is lazy if there is no “after work ” physical activity. The demographics of the dark areas on the map may be areas that would have a higher % farmers, fishermen, general laborers of all types that would have responded in the negative to extra activity because at the end of a long day of labor they are tired! They need to rest. Don’t assume everyone sits behind a desk all day. Many in Ala. and Miss. LABOR for a living and don’t have much time or energy left over for “exercise”. I agree many are lazy and fat and everything else negative that has been said. But many are tired, sick, or just plain old. And these things do make just walking up to the mailbox much more of a challenge than young healthy critics yet know. After a hard week in the field or on the boat I’d like to sit under the AC and partake of my hard earned rest without being judged.

  17. safebear on February 28th, 2011 10:29 am

    I guess they didn’t take into consideration all the people who beat around the bush, jump through hoops to keep from doing something and are running around gossiping or trying to find someone to blame something on.. And we really can’t leave out all the 20+ ounce lifts so many do as well – that has to count for some kind of exercise don’t it?

    And from some of these stories over the last couple of months – some people are getting plenty of exercise dodging bullets or lifting the guns to shoot them.

  18. SW on February 28th, 2011 10:18 am

    OMG! Laziness is infectious?

  19. all fires should be looked at very hard on February 28th, 2011 10:08 am

    Bob
    You have no idea how much the CDC does to insure ALL Americans
    Safety. You need to do a little homework. These are simply facts and
    figures that come into their offices and are compiled by computers.
    They do soooo much more…….that being said….ALL INFECTIOUS
    DISEASES HAVE TO BE TRACKED.
    That’s what keeps ALL of US from getting all the CRUD we don’t
    deserve or want and YET that is the tip of the ice burg.

  20. SW on February 28th, 2011 9:34 am

    I’ll certainly take my share of the credit for this.

  21. Bob on February 28th, 2011 8:47 am

    Glad to see we cut education funds so we can pay god knows how much to do a study to see who is lazy. Government hard at work on tax dollars.

  22. Horiffic on February 28th, 2011 8:28 am

    DUH!

    People the CDC recieves all of your doctors reports on the required diseases.
    THEY DON:T HAVE TO CALL YOU.
    Even the drug store knows who is lazy and sits home and eats the wrong stuff
    and doesn’t exercise.
    I can tell who doesn’t exercise and eats junk food all evening just by looking
    at where your body fat is, and I can tell who has diabetes by looking at you.
    There are a lot of diseases like that. I can tell if you have herpes by looking
    at your elbows.
    Get educated people ….I’m not a nurse…. I just have eyes and a brain.

    GEEESH!

  23. Boomer Bill on February 28th, 2011 8:22 am

    THh data seems to correspond to the unemployment figures.Is this a cause or an effect? Why work or excercize when you can sit around and receive gov. money?

  24. William on February 28th, 2011 8:07 am

    For those interested in how the CDC calculated their data:

    The prevalence of diagnosed diabetes and selected risk factors by county was estimated using data from CDC’s Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) and data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Population Estimates Program.

    http://apps.nccd.cdc.gov/DDT_STRS2/FAQ.aspx#countylevelestimates

  25. Sylvia H on February 28th, 2011 8:04 am

    What survey? When? Who did they talk to????

  26. Highercost on February 28th, 2011 8:02 am

    One of them must be my neighbor. If I told him that breathing was work he would quit breathing. The word he uses is RETIRED. so I guess when you retire you will drop everthing and just set down and do nothing.. Sounds kinda boring to me.

  27. ! on February 28th, 2011 8:00 am

    Oh, and it looks like MS has the most dark blue of any state. William, it might help to mention that to cool your readers down. Lol. Or maybe getting angry is what we need in order to do something about these statistics!

  28. iagree on February 28th, 2011 7:54 am

    IT’S BECAUSE SO MANY PEOPLE SIT IN FRONT OF A COMPUTER ALL DAY,MOSTLY ON FACEBOOK. HOMES DONT GET CLEANED,CHILDREN ARE IGNORED,SUPPER DOESNT GET COOKED,NO EXERCISE (WHICH RELATES TO OBESITY) AND IT GOES ON AND ON AND ON……DOESNT SURPRISE ME AT ALL. lOOK AT THE BODY TYPES OF THE PEOPLE THAT ACTUALLY GO OUT AND WORK VS THE ONES WHO SIT AT HOME ALL DAY…YOU WILL SEE THE DIFFERENCE. eVEN IF SOMEONE DOESN’T DO A PHYSICAL LABOR JOB, IF THEY WORK RETAIL OR IN AN OFFICE WHERE THEY CAN GET UP AND MOVE AND WALK AROUND, THEY ARE SMALLER AND IN BETTER HEALTH THAN THE AVERAGE PERSON WHO STAYS IN A SITTING POSITION MOST OF THE DAY. cUDOS TO THOSE WHO GET UP AND EXERCISE EVERYDAY, WHETHER YOU STAY HOME OR NOT! WE NEED TO DO SOMETHING WHILE KIDS ARE YOUNG TO PROMOTE A HEALTHY LIFESTYLE….THE PE PROGRAMS IN OUR SCHOOLS ARE TERRIBLE. IF A KID DOESN’T WANT TO PARTICIPATE IN PE, THEY USED TO BE ALLOWED TO JUST SIT ON THE BLEACHERS AND COMB HAIR, READ ETC…NOT WHEN WE WERE IN SCHOOL…YOU HAD TO PARTICIPATE UNLESS YOU HAD A DR NOTE OR A NOTE FROM HOME. IF YOU DIDN’T, YOUR GRADE SHOWED IT……………

  29. ! on February 28th, 2011 7:50 am

    This study is a very sad reality as many members of my family have diabetes & heart disease. They also have very sedentary lifestyles. I walk, run or bike for 90 minutes every day mainly to fend off these diseases that are killing my family. Exercise is also a “stress-buster” for me. Though I do wonder how the CDC arrived at these figures, there’s really no excuse for the laziness of our society.

  30. David Huie Green on February 28th, 2011 7:14 am

    REGARDING:
    ” i dont recall the cdc contacting me to ask if i was lazy or not. where do they get their numbers? does anyone recall taking part in this survey?”

    I’m pretty sure they called me but I was too lazy to pick up the phone.

  31. xpeecee on February 28th, 2011 7:10 am

    Well, I can honestly say that is not true for me! I have a regular exercise routine. I take an afternoon stroll every day – - – on my golf cart……….

  32. art on February 28th, 2011 7:09 am

    this survey stuff burnt my buns the more i thought about it. i dont recall the cdc contacting me to ask if i was lazy or not. where do they get their numbers? does anyone recall taking part in this survey? i’m thinking this is a bunch of hooey. but i don’t take back a thing i said previously. DO stuff with your kids.

  33. art on February 28th, 2011 5:56 am

    i like the way you think! that is exactly what i am talking about…maybe this high price of oil will be a blessing in disguise. maybe people will start walking and riding bicycles (in town, cant stand to think about people riding out on our country roads) but you get the idea. spend more time at home with the family instead of out there on the streets. play some backyard games for a change instead of everybody going their separate ways. remember badminton? croquet? encourage your kids in sports and then show up to coach and attend their games.

  34. Buddy on February 28th, 2011 5:38 am

    That’s it! I’ve had it with these people making surveys showing us in a bad light.I’m going to start a protest over this! As soon as I take a nap.

  35. stacy seale(town of century) on February 28th, 2011 4:50 am

    what a joke,just something else to make the south look bad.my question is how many people did the talk to,how did they get their #’s.thanks for stereo typeing BIG BROTHER

  36. dad on February 28th, 2011 4:39 am

    No surprise here. Most want an easy out. Overweight? Take a pill, get surgery. High blood pressure? Take a pill. High cholesterol? Another pill. Few are willing to do the hard work.

  37. Name (required) on February 28th, 2011 12:44 am

    THis one is really just too easy William….

    … of maybe we are just too lazy to take it. :)

    Seriously,

    Maybe with the evil oil companies overpricing gasoline,
    we can get the government to build more walking paths
    along the roads so we can get more exercise.