Exercise 'not key to obesity fight'

[galdur]

By Nick Triggle
Health correspondent
23 April 2015

Physical activity has little role in tackling obesity - and instead public health messages should squarely focus on unhealthy eating, doctors say.
In an editorial in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, three international experts said it was time to "bust the myth" about exercise.
They said while activity was a key part of staving off diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and dementia, its impact on obesity was minimal.
Instead excess sugar and carbohydrates were key.

The experts, including London cardiologist Dr Aseem Malhotra, blamed the food industry for encouraging the belief that exercise could counteract the impact of unhealthy eating.
An obese person does not need to do one iota of exercise to lose weight, they just need to eat less

They even likened their tactics as "chillingly similar" to those of Big Tobacco on smoking and said celebrity endorsements of sugary drinks and the association of junk food and sport must end.
They said there was evidence that up to 40% of those within a normal weight range will still harbour harmful metabolic abnormalities typically associated with obesity.

But despite this public health messaging had "unhelpfully" focused on maintaining a healthy weight through calorie counting when it was the source of calories that mattered most - research has shown that diabetes increases 11-fold for every 150 additional sugar calories consumed compared to fat calories.
And they pointed to evidence from the Lancet global burden of disease programme which shows that unhealthy eating was linked to more ill health than physical activity, alcohol and smoking combined.

'Unscientific'

Dr Malhotra said: "An obese person does not need to do one iota of exercise to lose weight, they just need to eat less. My biggest concern is that the messaging that is coming to the public suggests you can eat what you like as long as you exercise.
"That is unscientific and wrong. You cannot outrun a bad diet."

But others said it was risky to play down the role of exercise. Prof Mark Baker, of the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence, which recommends "well-balanced diets combined with physical activity", said it would be "idiotic" to rule out the importance of physical activity.
Ian Wright, director general at Food and Drink Federation, said: "The benefits of physical activity aren't food industry hype or conspiracy, as suggested. A healthy lifestyle will include both a balanced diet and exercise."
He said the industry was encouraging a balanced diet by voluntarily providing clear on-pack nutrition information and offering products with extra nutrients and less salt, sugar and fat.
"This article appears to undermine the origins of the evidence-based government public health advice, which must surely be confusing for consumers," he said.

http://www.bbc.com/news/health-32417699

[gentlemand]

I really hope one day they'll finally come up with definitive answers re weight loss and nutrition, or just shut up completely.

Once upon a time I had a very manual job that required heavy lifting for multiple hours per day. It may sound absolutely insane, but I lost a very substantial amount of weight. To stop this I upped my calorific intake to near body building levels. I still couldn't stop the weight loss.

These days I sit in a chair most of the time and slightly overeat. Whaddya know, I'm a fatty.

[darkangel11]

It all depends on how much calories you burn each day. If you were running 10 km each day and ate burgers with fries after the workout you still wouldn't become fat.

[BADecker]

Exercise makes you hungry. Then you eat more.   

[Chef Ramsay]

The OP is right about normal weighted people eating healthy and then they wouldn't become overweight or worse. Tho, someone who is obese needs plenty of exercise to go along w/ a better diet to slim down. Many have to have that gastric bypass surgery to shrink their stomachs which allows the patient to feel fuller, faster and thus not overeating anymore.

[Mr. Burns]

Exercise makes you hungry. Then you eat more.    

Nah only Seroquel does (100mg)

[panju1]

Exercise not key to fight obesity.

Exercise is very important, but can't be the effective without diet control. The article doesn't say exercise is unimportant. The learning should be -  You cannot outrun a bad diet

[Foxpup]

I really hope one day they'll finally come up with definitive answers re weight loss and nutrition, or just shut up completely.

We have a definitive answer. It's "eat less and exercise more". But this answer is unpopular as it requires effort on the part of the obese person, hence why nobody will shut up about specific things that are "bad for you" (sugar, fat, cholesterol, whatever) as though merely swapping these for different things (which are invariably equally bad) will help. Then they wonder why it doesn't.

[ObscureBean]

And what if I were to say that even diet has very little to do with obesity?  What if I were to say that whether someone is fat or not is determined by that person's particular configuration within society and that that person has very little say in it? It's akin to elements of nature falling into their respective natural states because of the pressure from everything else around them, like when you fill up a complex shaped glass bottle and the water naturally fits into every nook and cranny.

[Aggressor66]

From what I've heard, maintaining a healthy lifestyle is a three legged stool.
One leg represents exercise, one a good diet, and the final one being will power.
If anyone of them is neglected, then there's an imbalance.

[HasherHub]

This is a load of crap... When I went to college in NYC I lost about 20 pounds just from having to walk around everywhere. When I went I was 205 lbs when I came back I was 185. I ate completely horribly the entire time I was there; burger king, mcdonalds, cafeteria food, pizza, fries, an excessive amount of soda. In fact I eat worse than I did at home and still lost weight. The key walk a minimum of 1 mile a day.

[Aggressor66]

If one's body size aligns with a 2,000 a calorie a day diet; for example, and they have been consuming 3,000 to 3,500 calories per day and become overweight they can drop to 1000 to 1,500 calories and begin losing weight.

I've watched people do this simply by eating one large meal of vegetables (with some rice) using spices (instead of fatty dressings and sauces), and eating a half a cup of popcorn with no-calorie/no-fat/no sugar seasoning throughout the day along with sparkling water, water, stevia flavored drinks, and diet soft drinks. They supplemented this with non-soy vegetable protein shakes and vitamins.

Voile` these sedentary people returned to a normal body weight. Mild exercise would have accelerated this process and produced a better muscle tone; however, the thing to remember about weight loss is that you don't want to do it too fast or you can end up with sagging skin. To mitigate that problem, lose weight more slowly and give your body time to adjust to what's happening. Which, of course, means if you're exercising you'll need to adjust your diet upwards accordingly so you don't lose weight too fast.

[erikalui]

This is a myth that exercise is enough to lose weight but you need to have a healthy diet as well. Too much exercise as well can have adverse effects ad a person cannot consume cheese, butter or junk food in excess if they are obese. A normal person can eat once a while and not daily.

I don't agree with this "celebrity endorsements of sugary drinks and the association of junk food and sport must end." Means people all are obese by watching these endorsements Huh! People have a brain that they need to use.

This article explains what one needs to eat while exercising: http://www.webmd.com/diet/what-eat-before-during-after-exercise

[maku]

Physical activity has little role in tackling obesity - and instead public health messages should squarely focus on unhealthy eating, doctors say.
In an editorial in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, three international experts said it was time to "bust the myth" about exercise.
They said while activity was a key part of staving off diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and dementia, its impact on obesity was minimal.
Instead excess sugar and carbohydrates were key.

I'd say it goes both ways - You need to eat less if you are doing little exercise but if you are using more energy you need to do more exercises. Its easier for some people to do more excises then to eat less, so in other words for many people its more effective to exercise then to follow strictly diets (and they are less likely to gain their lost weight thanks to maintaining their physical activity).

http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/82/1/222S.abstract

[NUFCrichard]

It all depends on how much calories you burn each day. If you were running 10 km each day and ate burgers with fries after the workout you still wouldn't become fat.

I think this is the reason they feel obliged to write headlines saying that exercise ifn't important in weight control.
If you run 10km you will burn around about 700kcal, that is not a large meal.  If you over-eat because you ran 10km then you will gain weight.

Too many people hink because they go swimming (actually more floating) or run a 5k, they can eat what they want and not be over-weight, that is rubbish though.

Also by the way, if 10km per day was supposed to be an extreme example of running, you don't run very much!

[NUFCrichard]

stevia flavored drinks, and diet soft drinks. They supplemented this with non-soy vegetable protein shakes and vitamins.

Just eat a normal healthy diet!  Stevia flavoured drinks? diet soft drinks? just drink water!
You don't need extra protein or vitamins, eat some fruit and veg and unless you are really really sporty, you don't need more protein either.

[fiN.]

By Nick Triggle
Health correspondent
23 April 2015

Physical activity has little role in tackling obesity - and instead public health messages should squarely focus on unhealthy eating, doctors say.

I disagree with this. It's both. People need to be educated about their food and diet but also the benefits of excercise. Excercise isn't just to lose weight but is good all around for your physical and mental health.

[sana54210]

Excercise alone is not enough for good health, you get the best result when you combine exercise, diet and a proper rest. Many people don't get the result they expect to the fact they lack in any one area,

Exercise + Diet + Rest = Optimal health

Want to look like him, start hitting the gym and the road.

[311]

This is a myth that exercise is enough to lose weight but you need to have a healthy diet as well. Too much exercise as well can have adverse effects ad a person cannot consume cheese, butter or junk food in excess if they are obese. A normal person can eat once a while and not daily.

There's no myth. The only way to lose weight or to remain healthy is eat less and exercise more. You can eat as much as you want as long as you burn it off though a poor diet will have other negative effects on your health in the long run.

[Lethn]

It's actually gotten utterly ridiculous that people will go to these lengths to protect the feelings of people rather than state scientific and medical facts that have been obvious from the beginning, when you exercise you lose fat, when you don't you gain fat, especially if you eat lots of unhealthy food. I'm all for a debate and I think that everything should be questioned, but when you have all the evidence right in front of you on a daily basis simply by living I do think that medical professionals should stop wasting their time even responding to these people, let people who actually have the time put these morons in their place.

In other words, if you're fat, stop trying to use the political system to make excuses for yourself, I must say I have a huge respect to anyone who's fat and doesn't pull this kind of bullshit and acknowledges that health problem they have are due to their weight, good on you, anyone else who tries to justify this behaviour can fuck off.

It's like trying to claim 1 + 1 = 3 guys, it really is that stupid.