Lack of sidewalks for walking or jogging. Lack of nearby parks and recreation facilities. Unaffordable health clubs. All except child care, the survey found, affect low-income people disproportionately. A shift in the labor market also is a factor.
More workers sit at a desk, fewer dig ditches or load furniture.
Most federal surveys of physical activity measure activity away from the job, during leisure. It would be a mistake, he said, for fitness campaigns to target only those groups with above-average prevalence of a sedentary lifestyle.