Title: The Impact of Stress: 2011
Headings: The Impact of Stress
The Impact of Stress
Stress Continues to Be a Burden
What’s Causing Stress in America
Stress Management Strategies Rooted in Sedentary Activities
The Emotional and Physical Toll of Stress
Finding Time for a Healthy Lifestyle

Content: There’s some indication that Americans are beginning to exercise more. The number reporting that they exercise “a few times a week” rose from 36 percent in 2010 to 41 percent in 2011; however, many continue to report barriers to being more physically active, particularly a lack of time. Lack of motivation seems to be a key part of why people are not exercising more frequently (41 percent), but both work and personal obligations might also be at play, with one-third (33 percent) of respondents exercising once a week or less saying they are too busy to exercise more often. Half (51 percent) of adults with families report that it takes a great amount or some effort to get their families to exercise. Finding Time for a Healthy Lifestyle
Clearly, there’s still room for improvement when it comes to making changes to improve one’s health. Americans continue to rank key behaviors such as exercise and eating a healthy diet as less important than other activities. Eating well and exercising (54 percent each) are ranked at the bottom in terms of importance when compared with other aspects of well-being, including good family relationships (76 percent), managing stress (61 percent), getting enough sleep (60 percent), good friendships (60 percent) and doing well in career or studies (59 percent). These actions are also rated lowest for achievement; only 27 percent of Americans believe they are doing a very good/excellent job at performing them.