Stunning stat: 33% of American women get the amount of weekly exercise outlined by federal guidelines, compared with 43% of men, according to a recent study of more than 400,000 people.

Why it matters: The gender gap in exercise starts in childhood, persists through adulthood, and has adverse effects on women's health as they age.

• Women live an average of six years longer than men, but they spend more of their lives grappling with conditions like diabetes, heart disease and depression, The New York Times reports.

By the numbers: One key factor keeping women from working out as much as men is the free time disparity.

• On average, women have 13% less free time than men, according to the Gender Equity Policy Institute. The disparity is especially stark among 35- to 44-year-olds. Within this age group, women have 23% less free time than men.
• The gap is largely due to women taking on more household and child care work than men. For example, in an average week, women spend 12.6 hours cooking, while men spend 5.7, the report finds.

"They make the time for themselves when there is no one else to be taken care of," Stephanie Roth-Goldberg, a therapist in New York, told The Times.

Silver lining: The same study that found that women get less exercise than men also found that women tend to get more out of workouts than men.

• Women who exercised had a 36% lower risk of a fatal heart attack or stroke than those who didn't. Men who exercised had a 14% lower risk than men who didn't.

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Flamingos walk at sunset in this photo captured by reader Linda Elie on Ecuador's Floreana Island.