New York  - More than three-fourths of women who participated in an international survey said they have little interest in sports and fitness training, according to the New York City-based marketing research institute that conducted the survey.

Nearly half of the women who participated in the survey said they knew physical activity was important to their health, but less than one-quarter said they neither worked out often nor took part in a sport.

Most of the women in the survey set aside concerns about fitness because they considered working out a bothersome task. The survey, conducted by GfK Roper Worldwide for the sports outfitter Reebok, collected data from 15,000 women between the ages of 14 and 50 in five European countries, Japan, China and the United States.

Thirty-four per cent of the survey participants said they did some kind of physical activity which averaged to a little more than twice a week. The survey also showed that the number of sporting activities declined as women aged. (dpa)