7 in 10 Singaporeans not doing enough daily exercise: survey

Daily exercise is still not a big part of Singaporeans' hectic lifestyle.

A survey commissioned by milk company Anlene ahead of World Osteoporosis Day on Saturday found that up to 7 in 10 Singaporeans are still not getting their recommended daily exercise.

It found that 40 per cent of people exercise less than once a week.

37 per cent exercised one to three times within a week.

One person who knows a lot about exercise and being healthy is 28-year-old mountaineer Jane Lee. The Singaporean, who is the first Southeast Asian woman to scale the Seven Summits — the highest peaks in all seven continents — said she's not surprised at the survey results.

"Exercise tends to take a backseat compared to our more pressing responsibilities," she told Yahoo! Singapore.

"What Singaporeans can do about it is see exercise not so much as optional… but more like a personal responsibility. I think for me that's how I view exercise — I see it as a lifestyle routine rather than a chore."

This mindset change will go a long way in incorporating exercise into one's lifestyle, she said.

Her advice? Find small pockets of spare time to squeeze exercise in, such as waking half an hour earlier before work to jog, or taking a half an hour spin class during lunch.

The survey also revealed that over half of all Singaporeans want to be fitter and more active than their parents when they reach 50 — a finding Lee commended as a "good starting point".

Apart from exercise, Lee added that besides exercise, what people ate also contributed to a healthy lifestyle.

"Your body only performs based on what you put in with," she said.