Whether housework can strengthen the body has been studied abroad as early as the 1990s, and there are two different views at present. British and American researchers believe that housework can replace physical exercise. Experts from Harvard University and Stanford University made a special study on the relationship between housework and health, and listed the energy consumption table of housework. Sweeping the floor 15 minutes consumes about 60 calories (1 calorie = 4 182 joules); Hand washing clothes 1 hour consumes about 190 calories; Ironing clothes for 45 minutes consumes about 180 calories; Cleaning the glass window for 30 minutes consumes about 150 calories; Vacuum for 30 minutes with a vacuum cleaner, which consumes about 120 calories; Washing dishes and chopsticks, 15 minutes consumes about 45 calories; It takes 10 minutes to wrap things, which consumes about 30 calories. If you can consume 2000 calories per week through dribs and drabs of housework, the possibility of death due to cardiovascular diseases will be 75% lower than that of people who don't do housework, and the life expectancy can be extended by 5 years, reaching 10 years old.

Another view is that "vacuuming and washing can clean the room, but not the fat."

The University of Bristol in the United Kingdom conducted a study on "What activities can keep women's reasonable weight and healthy heart". The researchers investigated and analyzed more than 2,300 women aged 60 to 79 in five towns in Britain/Kloc-0. The results show that the most common physical activity of these women is housework, and only 1/5 women meet the standard of physical activity recommended by experts. Professor Abram, who is in charge of this research, believes that the health benefits of housework should not be overestimated. She said: "Doing housework is usually slow and not getting enough calories." Professor Abram believes that in order to stay healthy, we must insist on physical exercise. At least five times a week for 30 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise, or three times for 20 minutes of high-intensity exercise, and it is most beneficial to your health to keep walking.

It should be pointed out that housework is also a kind of physical activity, which also consumes energy, but the energy consumption of housework is not large, and it may not be able to lose weight if there is energy consumption. But for the elderly, doing housework can keep them active every day. Housework may not completely replace fitness exercise, but instead of outsourcing housework to hourly workers, it is better to do it yourself and exercise by yourself when you have time.

Another reason why housework cannot be equated with exercise is that exercise makes people feel happy, while housework is often boring, monotonous and heavy, which will make people feel worse. If you want housework to achieve the effect of exercise and fitness, you need to design it and do it happily. It is also a good way to play some relaxing music when doing housework. In this way, the average daily 1 hour housework can also play a certain role in fitness.