According to a recent government report, it looks as though more Americans are getting the recommended regular exercise; however, there has been no change to obesity rates as of yet.

The survey was led by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and found that 34.7% of those who participated in the study reported to have engaged in regular exercise in 2009. This is great news, as it is up from 31.9% in 2008. However, I want to know: did the survey respondents have a clear understanding of what is meant by “regular” exercise? That could have a huge impact on the survey’s findings.

What is “regular” exercise? Health professionals recommend that an individual get at least one hour of moderate exercise to control their weight and to prevent diseases such as heart disease, diabetes and cancer.

The CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics also released statistics regarding the overall health of Americans in 2009. According to the findings, the number of obese people over the age of 20 has gone up to 28% in 2009 from 19.4% in 1997. This is a huge jump in just a little over a decade. Furthermore, the number of individuals over the age of 18 who have diabetes is up to 9% in 2009 from just 5% in 1997.

It was also discovered that Americans believe they were in worse health in 2009 than in 2008. In 2008, 68.5% of study participants reported being in excellent or very good health; in 2009, that number decreased to 66%. Despite the obesity epidemic, only 2.4% of survey respondents said they were in poor health.

What does this mean? Seems to me that it will take a long time for the increased regular physical activity to have an impact on the rate of obesity. So keep on keeping on, exercisers!