Burning Calories with Housework

The decline in physical activity has resulted in an obesity pandemic. Rather than moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, it appears that activities that are not counted as exercise play a more basic role in preventing obesity. Examples of these movements include walking, climbing stairs, laughing, cleaning and standing. These activities involve energy expenditure beyond basal metabolic activity, and they also cause thermogenesis.

When the basal metabolic rate is constant and physical activity changes, fat storage is affected first. Even when two different people have similar body sizes, differences in fat accumulation have been seen. A change in physical activity has led to a reduction in weight gain, however similar individuals were to each other.

Recently, rather than sport, physical activity has started to increase in housework, transport and work activities. Inactivity in the workplace has led people to think about being more active at work and in their free time. These changes have allowed people to expend an extra energy of up to 2,000 kcal.

Looking at steps such as washing dishes and clothes by hand, walking to work and climbing stairs: gardening burns about 100-150 kcal per hour, while cleaning and looking after the home over an evening burns 500-600 kcal. For one hour, standing, ironing and cooking use 50-100 kcal, and cleaning, grocery shopping and tidying cupboards use 100-200 kcal. While watching television, this figure is 9 kcal.

Source: Pedro A. Villablanca, Jorge R. Alegria, Farouk Mookadam, David R. Holmes, R. Scott Wright, James A. Levine, Nonexercise Activity Thermogenesis in Obesity Management, Mayo Clinic Proceedings, Volume 90, Issue 4, 2015, Pages 509-519

This article is for general information only; please consult your doctor and dietitian about your own situation.