Study on Women in Sports Released

MOUNT PROSPECT, IL -- Among sports participants age 7 and older, females make up the majority in four of six activities surveyed in 2006 by the National Sporting Goods Association (NSGA), according to data in the NSGA Sports Participation reports released in June. Females make up 71 percent of those who do aerobic exercise, 60 percent of those who do exercise walking, 56 percent who work out at a health club and 51 percent who use exercise equipment.

Females rank slightly lower in more prominent exercise methods such as running/jogging (48 percent) and weightlifting (35 percent). Females do rank higher in sports such as cheerleading (94 percent), volleyball (56 percent), swimming (55 percent) and tennis (53 percent).

Walking drew the largest number of females (52.4 million), followed by swimming (28.6 million) and those who used exercise equipment (28 million).

The 20,000 U.S.-household survey was based on a two-part participation report. The study represented sports participants age 7 and older who do a sport more than once a year. For sports such as swimming, bicycling, running/jogging, and weightlifting, the definition of a sports participant is someone who participates in a sport six or more times a year.