Rising Obesity May Not Be Related to Less Physical Activity
This study suggests that participants in this study, have an increase in obesity rates despite vigorous physical activity. As usual, this should be no surprise. Obesity, like so many other chronic diseases, is a multifactorial problem. It needs a global approach for prevention as well as treatment. Exercise is a key management tool for a healthier life, but does not negate the bad effects of other unhealthy lifestyle choices. Diet plays a major factor in the determination of insulin resistance, leptin resistance and weight management.
Prev Med 2001;32:57-65 There is a trend toward increasing overweight in the US military that is similar to the pattern among the general population. US military personnel were chosen for study in order to investigate better the association between physical activity and overweight, “given that most US adults are employed in sedentary occupations and engage in very little leisure-time physical activity,” note Dr. Robert M. Bray and Dr. Christine H. Lindquist, from research Triangle Institute in North Carolina. Drs. Bray and Lindquist sought to “explore changes in the prevalence of overweight from 1995 to 1998 and the relationship between trends in physical activity and overweight during this period.” To that end, they studied data on more than 33,000 service members. The investigators defined overweight as body mass index of at least 25 and classified subjects as physically active if they reported at least 3 days per week of vigorous activity. According to their report, there was a significant increase in overweight over the 3-year study period for both men and women. Fifty percent of subjects were classified as overweight in 1995, compared with 54% in 1998. The researchers report that around 67% of the subjects engaged in regular, vigorous activity. “The results of this study suggest that the rise in overweight among the military is not explained by a decrease in physical activity,” Dr. Bray and Dr. Lindquist conclude, indicating that “other factors, such as dietary intake, may be influential.”