A study published in December of 2013 in the Mayo Clinic Proceedings that was done at the University of South Carolina tracked changes in exercise in housewives from 1965 to 2010. They studied more than 50,000 diary days over this 45 year interval and discovered that women with kids under the age of 5 spent 25% more time engaged in leisure activities such as watching TV or working on their computer as opposed to cooking, cleaning, and doing laundry. The decline amounted to expending 225 less calories per day, which amounted to 1.2 increased pounds per month and 15 pounds per year!
This character and tone of this study might make one think that chauvenist pigs were somehow involved...smile. While it may well be true that women spend less time "doing their chores," it also seems a bit pejoritive to "invade womens' privacy by singling out how they spend their time. Maybe we're just a bit sensitive about the topic...smile.
Nonetheless, the study is interesting...