Health: Time as a Resource for Health

The most common reason people say they don’t exercise or eat healthy food is lack of time. The author reframes time as a resource needed for health—like money—but not every hour is equal. There are misconceptions that there is plenty of time for health; the problem is poor choices or laziness, driving a commonly held view that instead of watching TV everyone should just get off their couches. The author presents notions of usability of time, asking if free time is available in a decent chunk, can it be used safely and by whom? As well as summarising evidence on time and health links, the author explores six potential pathways: a health hazard; as a barrier for healthy behaviours; as a trade-off with family care or work; as an element of social weathering; a mechanism of social exclusion and finally as a keystone connecting social power to health inequality.