Sex Burns A Surprisingly Low Number Of Calories

One fact from a study out this week in the New England Journal of Medicine about obesity myths, caught our eye.

The researchers claim in the article that the average sex session only burns about 21 calories, much less than the hundreds that many woman's magazines claim.

From the paper:

This level of expenditure is similar to that achieved by walking at a moderate pace (approximately 2.5 miles [4 km] per hour). Given that the average bout of sexual activity lasts about 6 minutes,19 a man in his early-to mid- 30s might expend approximately 21 kcal during sexual intercourse. Of course, he would have spent roughly one third that amount of energy just watching television, so the incremental benefit of one bout of sexual activity with respect to energy expended is plausibly on the order of 14 kcal.

The study also pointed out multiple other myths about obesity and dieting, but many are saying that the researchers are biased because of the lengthy conflict of interest section detailing the many kickbacks from food industry and pharmaceutical companies. Though I don't think the bias is at work in this case, since the amount of calories are burned during sex has little to do with those interests.