60 Minutes/Vanity Fair Poll
April 9-13, 2014
Fitness

Which comes closest to your view about electing an overweight President of the United
States? 1. It sends the wrong message about health and well-being to the country and
the rest of the world. 2. It’s risky because they are the commander in chief and their
health may be at risk., 3. It sends the right message that someone could be elected
president regardless of their appearance. 4. The weight of a president has
nothing to do with getting the job done.
American’s would embrace a fat president.
Most Americans would be nonplussed about having an overweight President of the United
States: 64% think the weight of a president has nothing to do with getting the job done, and
another 15% think of it as a helpful attribute because it sends the right message that someone
could be elected president regardless of their appearance.
Some Americans, however, aren’t so positive. 10% think it sends the wrong message about
health and well-being to the country and the rest of the world, and 9% think it’s risky because it
would mean the commander-in-chief’s health may be at risk.
How Do You Feel About Having an Overweight President?
It has nothing to do with getting the job done
64%
It sends the right message that appearance doesn’t matter
15
It sends the wrong message about health and well-being
10
It’s risky because the Commander-in-Chief’s health could be at risk
9

Which one of the following fitness trends do you think is a fad that is NOT likely to last?
P90X may be too extreme to last.
What is the latest fitness trend that is the most doomed to disappear? Americans pick P90X as
their top choice of fads to disappear (25%) – the extreme 90 day home fitness course. Coming
in second is the Latin-music-inspired Zumba (21%), followed by stationary-bike-sensation
SoulCycle (15%). Only 8% think CrossFit is the most likely to go away, while another 8% think
the thousand-year-old tradition of Yoga has finally run its course. 24% don’t have an opinion.
P90X
Zumba
SoulCycle
Yoga
Cross Fit
Don’t know
Total
25%
21
15
8
8
24
Which Fitness Trend Won’t Last?
Exercise regularly
Exercise 1/wk or less
25%
24%
20
22
16
13
8
9
8
7
23
25
1

If there is no risk to a player’s health, should steroids be regulated and allowed in
professional sports, or not?
Even if they were safe, Americans would reject performance enhancing drugs in professional
sports.
One of the main critiques of steroid use in sports is that it is unsafe for the athletes, but even if
that were not the case, the vast majority of Americans still would not want them in professional
sports. 84% of Americans say that even if there were no risk to a player’s health, steroid use
should not be allowed in professional sports, while just 15% think steroids should be regulated
and allowed.
Americans in all demographic groups oppose allowing steroids in professional sports, though
men (19%) are slightly more receptive to having steroids in sports than women (11%) are.
If Steroids Were Safe, Should They Be Allowed in Pro Sports?
Total
Men
Women
Yes
15%
19%
11%
No
84
80
87

When you’re on vacation, do you...Almost always work out, intend to work out but rarely
do, or take a vacation from working out?
Most Americans don’t work out when on vacation.
In spite of the fancy exercise rooms in luxury hotels that might indicate otherwise, most
Americans don’t work out when they go on vacation. Just 20% say they always work out, while
another 23% admit they intend to work out, but rarely do. 44% say they take a vacation from
working out when they go on vacation, and that they neither intend to nor actually do work out,
while 12% volunteer that they either never work out anyway or that they never go on vacation.
Americans who exercise regularly are more likely to take those habits with them on vacation.
28% of Americans who exercise at least a few days a week say they always work out on
vacation, compared to just 4% of those who exercise once a week or less.
How Often Do You Work Out When on Vacation?
Total
Exercise regularly
Exercise 1/wk or less
Always
20%
28%
4%
Intend to, but rarely do
23
22
25
Don’t work out on vacation
44
41
50
Never work out/go on vacation (vol.)
12
8
20
2

If you could have plastic surgery without anyone ever knowing, which one of the
following would you change?
Americans would rather change their stomach than anything else about their body.
If they could have plastic surgery without anyone ever knowing, more Americans would choose
to “contour” their bellies over other popular plastic surgery targets. 31% say they would choose
a “tummy tuck” - far ahead of nose jobs (9%), or work on their chins (8%), breasts (6%), eyes
(6%), or thighs (5%). The most popular choice, however, is to do nothing. Even if no one else
would know, 33% say they would stay just as nature made them and not have plastic surgery
done on any part of their body.
Having work done on the stomach is the most popular body location for both men and women,
though women (35%) are more likely than men (28%) to want such work done, while men (42%)
are more likely than women (25%) to avoid plastic surgery altogether. Americans who don’t
exercise regularly are also more likely to consider reducing their belly size by alternative means:
37% of those who exercise once a week or less would have plastic surgery on their stomachs,
compared to 29% of those who exercise at least a few times a week.
Stomach
Nose
Chin
Breasts
Eyes
Thighs
None

What Would You Change with Plastic Surgery if No One Found Out?
Total
Men
Women
Exercise regularly
Exercise 1/wk or less
31%
28%
35%
29%
37%
9
9
9
10
8
8
8
8
8
7
6
2
9
6
5
6
7
6
6
7
5
2
7
5
4
33
42
25
35
30
Would you be comfortable with nudity in a gym locker room, or would you not be
comfortable with that?
Nudity in the gym locker room? Men say “sure”, women say “no thanks”.
Most Americans say they are not comfortable with the idea of nudity in a gym locker room,
though a sizeable minority disagree. 55% say they are not comfortable, while 44% say they
are.
Who are most comfortable with nudity in a gym locker room? Men. 63% of men say they are
comfortable with nudity in the gym locker room, while women by an even larger margin of 71%
say they are not comfortable. And while 58% of Americans under thirty are comfortable with
nudity in the gym locker room, the same percentage of Americans 30 and over (58%) are not
comfortable.
What Would You Be Comfortable With Nudity in the Gym Locker Room?
Total
Men
Women
Age 18-29 Age 30+
Yes, comfortable
44%
63%
27%
58%
40%
No, not comfortable
55
36
71
41
58
3

If you were working out at the gym, do you think you would be more likely to hit on
someone, more likely to be hit on by someone else, or do you think neither would be
likely to happen?
Most Americans don’t think the gym is the place to further their love life.
At the gym, are you the one hitting on people, or are you the “hittee”? Most Americans say
neither. 77% say that neither scenario is likely for them personally, though among the rest,
Americans are more likely to get hit on (15%) than hit on someone (6%). Men (9%) are more
likely than women (3%) to hit on someone at the gym, though more men still say they are more
likely to get hit on (13%) than do the hitting on (9%).
At the Gym, Are You…?
Total
Men
More likely to hit on someone
6%
9%
More likely to get hit on
15
13
Neither is likely
77
75

Women
3%
17
79
Do you think it is possible or not possible to think the following two thoughts at the same
time: that person is really attractive and that person is really out of shape?
Attractiveness and fitness are not necessarily related.
If you’re not comfortable carrying on flirtations at the gym, have no fear. Americans do not
necessarily connect being attractive to being in shape. Three in four Americans say it is
possible to find someone really attractive and think they are really out of shape at the same
time.
Both men and women think this is possible, though women (77%) are slightly more likely than
men (70%) to think these two thoughts can coexist. And while gender matters little, exercise
matters less. 75% of Americans who exercise a few days a week agree with 72% of Americans
who exercise once a week or less that you can find someone both attractive and out of shape at
the same time.
Can You Be Attracted to Someone Out of Shape?
Total
Men
Women
Yes, possible
74%
70%
77%
No, not possible
24
28
20
4

Which would you rather do? Not exercise at all and live to be 80 years old or exercise
really hard every day and live to be 90 years old?
Most Americans think an extra ten years is worth exercising for.
Living into your nineties is something worth exercising for, according to most Americans. When
asked whether they’d rather not exercise at all and live to 80 or exercise really hard every day
and live to 90, two-thirds of Americans pick the latter (65%).
Americans who don’t exercise are happy with their choice however. 55% of Americans who
exercise once a week or less say they would be happy to not exercise at all and make it to 80.
Not exercise and live to 80
Exercise and live to 90

Which Would You Prefer?
Total
Exercise regularly
33%
21%
65
77
Exercise 1/wk or less
55%
42
When I see a trim person in Spandex drinking a juice cleanser, I mostly think: 1. Gosh, I
wish I had that discipline, 2. Please get out of my sight, you’re making me feel guilt, 3. I
don’t think much about it either way.
Fit people in spandex drinking juice cleansers don’t faze most Americans.
Though it may seem intimidating, most Americans aren’t impressed by a trim person in Spandex
drinking a juice cleanser. If they were to come upon such a sight, 11% might wish they had
more discipline themselves, while 3% would want the sight itself cleansed because it would
make them feel guilty. The vast majority, however - 85% - would not think much about it either
way.
When You See a Trim Person in Spandex Drinking
Juice Cleanser, What Do You Think?
Total
Men
Women
I wish I had that discipline
11%
11%
12%
You’re making me feel guilty
3
2
4
Don’t think about it much
85
86
84

Do you consider having sex to be a workout, or not?
Is sex a workout? The American Heart Association recommends 40 minutes of aerobic
exercise three to four times a week, and 53% of Americans think sex qualifies.
Men (56%) are slightly more likely than women (50%) to think sex qualifies as a workout.
But as Americans get older, they are less likely to think of sex as a workout. While 57% of
Americans under 65 think sex is a workout, this is true of just 32% of Americans 65 and older.
Yes
No
Total
53%
43
Is Sex a Workout?
Men
Women
Age 18-64
56%
50%
57%
42
45
40
Age 65+
32%
60
5
____________________________________________________________________________
This poll was conducted by telephone from April 9-13, 2014 among 1,015 adults nationwide. Data
collection was conducted on behalf of CBS News by Social Science Research Solutions of Media, PA.
Phone numbers were dialed from samples of both standard land-line and cell phones. The error due to
sampling for results based on the entire sample could be plus or minus 3 percentage points. The error for
other subgroups may be higher. Interviews were conducted in English and Spanish. This poll release
conforms to the Standards of Disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.
6
60 Minutes/Vanity Fair
Fitness
April 9-13, 2014
VF-01. Which comes closest to your view about electing an overweight President of the United States?
***************** TOTAL RESPONDENTS *****************
*** Gender ***
******* Exercise level *******
Total
Male
Female few days a week
1/wk or less
%
%
%
%
%
It sends the wrong message about health and
well-being to the country and the rest of the world
It’s risky because they are the commander in chief
and their health may be at risk
It sends the right message that someone could be
elected president regardless of their appearance
The weight of a president has nothing to do with
getting the job done
Don’t know/no answer
10
11
10
11
9
9
7
10
9
9
15
15
14
14
16
64
2
64
2
64
2
64
2
64
2
VF-02. Which one of the following fitness trends do you think is a fad that is NOT likely to last?
Cross Fit
Soul Cycle
P90X
Zumba
Yoga
Don’t know/no answer
8
15
25
21
8
24
8
14
24
22
9
24
7
17
26
19
7
24
8
16
25
20
8
23
7
13
24
22
9
25
VF-03. If there is no risk to a player’s health, should steroids be regulated and allowed in professional sports, or not?
Should
Should not
Don’t know/No answer
15
84
1
19
80
1
11
87
2
15
84
1
15
83
2
28
22
41
8
1
4
25
50
20
1
VF-04. When you’re on vacation, do you...Almost always work out, intend to work out
but rarely do, or take a vacation from working out?
Always work out
Intend to but rarely do
Take a vacation from working out
Never work out/Never go on vacation (vol.)
Don’t know/no answer
20
23
44
12
1
23
25
39
12
1
17
21
49
12
1
7
VF-05. If you could have plastic surgery without anyone ever knowing, which one of the following would you change?
Chin
Thighs
Breasts
Stomach
Nose
Eyes
None (vol.)
Don’t know/No answer
***************** TOTAL RESPONDENTS *****************
*** Gender ***
******* Exercise level *******
Total
Male
Female few days a week
1/wk or less
%
%
%
%
%
8
8
8
8
7
5
2
7
5
4
6
2
9
6
5
31
28
35
28
37
9
9
9
10
8
6
7
6
6
7
33
42
25
35
30
1
2
1
2
2
VF-06. If you were working out at the gym, do you think you would be more likely to hit on someone, more likely to be
hit on by someone else, or do you think neither would be likely to happen?
Hit on someone
Hit on by someone else
Neither is likely
Don’t know/No answer
6
15
77
2
9
13
75
4
3
17
79
1
7
16
75
2
5
13
80
2
VF-07. Would you be comfortable with nudity in a gym locker room, or would you not be comfortable with that?
Comfortable
Not comfortable
Don’t know/No answer
44
54
2
63
36
2
27
71
2
47
51
2
39
59
2
VF-08. Which would you rather do? Not exercise at all and live to be 80 years old or Exercise really hard every day and
live to be 90 years old?
Not exercise and live to be 80
Exercise really hard and live to be 90
Don’t know/No answer
33
65
3
29
69
3
36
61
3
21
77
2
55
42
3
VF-09. Do you think it is possible or not possible to think the following two thoughts at the same time: that person is
really attractive and that person is really out of shape?
Yes, possible
No, not possible
Don’t know/No answer
74
24
2
70
28
2
77
20
3
75
23
2
72
26
2
8
VF-10. When I see a trim person in Spandex drinking a juice cleanser, I mostly think:
Gosh, I wish I had that discipline
Get out of my sight, you’re making me feel guilty
I don’t think much about it either way
Don’t know/No answer
***************** TOTAL RESPONDENTS *****************
*** Gender ***
******* Exercise level *******
Total
Male
Female few days a week
1/wk or less
%
%
%
%
%
11
11
12
10
14
3
2
4
3
3
85
86
84
86
83
1
1
1
1
*
VF-11. Do you consider having sex to be a workout, or not?
Yes
No
Don’t know/no answer
Total respondents:
53
43
4
56
42
2
50
45
5
55
42
3
49
47
4
1,015
9