New study says women gain weight after less housework

NEW YORK (WABC) -- Housework. Nobody wants to do it and in this day and age people have more options to at least do less of it.

Now, a new study finds housework has an upside. There is a health benefit to it and by studying the lives of today's career woman, doctors discovered it. But the implications could rub people the wrong way.

Most women found the study ridiculous.

"I could do tons of housework and I'm not losing any weight because of it," said Sandi Bettan.

But researchers at the University of South Carolina only looked only at time spent on cleaning, cooking, and laundry focusing only on women between the ages of 19 and 64.

On average the time spent on housework went down from 25.7 hours/week in 1965 to 13.3 hours/week in 2010.

That number is even lower 6.7 hours a week for working women.

"The woman is not doing what she did before she's working harder but she's working at the office," said Kathleen Warner.

Meanwhile, the time spent on computers or watching tv more than doubled. The study also suggests that technology has made household tasks easier.

"I just think there are so many other factors as far as the change of women's lives they're going to work they're not able to prepare nutritious meals, they're stressed," said Dr. Suzanne Michael.

The researchers aren't necessarily telling us we need to do more housework but they are saying we need to be more physically active in general

One solution is have your husband do the housework while you hit the gym. Or if you do the housework, take some advice from Gloria Hammond

"I just dance move it around shake it around," she said.

She demonstrates how you can vacuum and burn some calories at the same time.

Her husband told me he's the one doing the vacuuming, this topic is definitely creating debate.

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