Owning a dog will get you off your duff.
That's the conclusion of a Canadian study that finds dog
ownership nearly doubles the amount of time spent healthily
walking.
"There's this extra dog obligation that helps get
people up and out for their exercise," study co-author
Shane Brown, a physical education instructor and researcher
at the University of Victoria, said in a prepared statement.
As reported in the February issue of the American
Journal of Preventive Medicine, the study of 351 adults
in Victoria, B.C., found that dog owners walked an average
of 300 minutes a week compared to 168 minutes for those
without a dog.
Interestingly, other than walking, the dog owners in
this study actually got less overall exercise than people
without dogs. This suggests that when dog owners go for
walks, they do it partly because they choose to be active
with their pets, Brown said.
"There's a lot of common sense around the idea that
if people have dogs in an urban setting, they're going
to walk a lot," Sylvia Moore, director of the division
of medical education and public health at the University
of Wyoming, said in a prepared statement.
Community infrastructure -- such as dog-walking parks
-- may help determine how active urban dog owners will
be, Moore and Brown noted.
Despite the findings, Brown said he's certainly not recommending
people get a dog just to help them get exercise.
"We're definitely not saying, 'Everyone go out and
get a dog.' We are saying that for those of us who have
dogs, or those who are thinking of getting a dog, this
is an added benefit," Brown said.
