Although President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said earlier this year that those who do not exercise need to overcome their laziness, results of a recent Gallup poll for the Sports Affairs Council (SAC) show that most people lack time to exercise.
Of those surveyed, 52.1 percent said that they do not have time to exercise, 24.6 percent said they are too tired and 18.3 percent cited laziness for not exercising.
The results for youngsters between 13 and 17 years of age, showed 46 percent saying laziness was the main reason they did not exercise. A third of respondents aged 18 to 24 also blamed laziness for not exercising.
The survey found 30.4 percent of people exercising regularly this year, up from 27.8 percent last year, the first time the number has exceeded 30 percent for six years.
The percentage of respondents who exercise regularly increased to 82 percent from 80.8 percent last year.
Regular exercise was defined as working out at least three days per week for more than 30 minutes per session. During exercise, participants’ heart rate must exceed 130 beats per minute.
Women accounted for 24.8 percent of those exercising regularly.
The poll results also showed that 73.8 percent exercise for health reasons, down from 76.3 percent last year. Wanting to maintain their figures was cited by 17.3 percent, about the same as last year.
More people exercise for fun, up from 11.3 percent to 12.5 percent, with walking, jogging, basketball, cycling, hiking and swimming the most cited sports.
The poll showed that 38.3 percent of respondents watch basketball, up from 24.8 percent. Those watching baseball fell from 43.8 percent to 38.7 percent.
Analysts attributed basketball’s increased popularity to Jeremy Lin (林書豪), the first Taiwanese-American to break into the NBA.
The poll quizzed 35,505 respondents aged 13 or above between June 13 and Aug. 30.
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