Young men list fun and recreation as their top reasons for exercise, followed by stress reduction.
Young women, on the other hand, say they exercise first for weight control, followed by fitness and health. In both groups, persons who exercise regularly are more likely to seek a healthy diet, the researchers concluded. Findings from the study will be published in the upcoming issue of the International Journal of Sport Nutrition. The study is one of the first major efforts to look at both diet and exercise across a broad spectrum of young adults - not just college students. The researchers hoped to find out whether young men and women who exercised had different dietary habits than those who didn't.