A new study pinpoints the reason behind America's rising obesity rates, and surprisingly it isn't lack of exercise, rather the from the effects of overeating. The research used a novel approach to come to the conclusion that overeating is more to blame than inactivity for all those extra pounds. And with estimates suggesting nearly two thirds of Americans are overweight or obese, finding out what's fueling this epidemic is important and perhaps the first step toward getting things under control.
The work was just presented at the 17th European Congress on Obesity (ECO 2009) held in Amsterdam, Netherlands and applied a unique approach to see which contributed more to obesity - overeating or physical inactivity.
The team started by testing 1,399 adults and 963 children to find out how many calories they burned under normal, real life situations.
They also calculated how much the adults needed to eat to keep their weight stable, and how much the kids needed to eat so they maintained normal growth patterns.
Next they looked at data from a national survey (known as NHANES) that kept records on the weight of Americans from the 1970s to the early 2000s, to look at real weight gain during that time.
Finally, national food supply data was used to analyze how much the participants ate during that same thirty-year period.
They then used the data on calorie intake vs. calories burned to come up with an estimate of expected weight gain over the period based solely on food intake.
The thinking was that if the predicted weight gain based on what Americans ate was the same as the actual weight gain, overeating alone could be to blame for the weight increase. For kids the predicted and actual weight gain was nearly 9 pounds. This meant overeating was to blame for the added weight.
"For adults, we predicted that they would be 10.8 kg (23.8 pounds) heavier, but in fact they were 8.6 kg (20 pounds) heavier," says researcher Boyd Swinburn director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Obesity Prevention at Deakin University in Australia. "That suggests that excess food intake still explains the weight gain, but that there may have been increases in physical activity over the 30 years that have blunted what would otherwise have been a higher weight gain."
To get back to the weight levels that were common in the 1970s, American's today would need to cut 350 calories a day for children and 500 calories a day for adults from our present intake.
These days it's so much easier to eat those added calories - thanks to fast foods, processed and prepared meals, ever increasing portion sizes, too many bad fats and too few good ones, not to mention an impressive and always expanding selection of calorie laden drinks like smoothies, coffees, energy drinks and vitamin waters.
If you'd rather be active to drop the extra weight you're carrying, experts have guidelines for activity that will help you succeed.
Increase activity to about 150 minutes a day for children, 110 minutes per day for adults to see similar results from these efforts.
If you haven't been active in a while, you need to check with your doctor first to be sure exercise is safe for you. Once you get the go-ahead, be sure to start slow and build your endurance over time.
Based on this latest research, look for public health authorities in the U.S. and other countries to shift the emphasis in the battle against the effects of overeating and obesity to encourage calorie cutting over upping your activity level, though ideally both are key to losing weight and staying healthy.
The work was just presented at the 17th European Congress on Obesity (ECO 2009) held in Amsterdam, Netherlands and applied a unique approach to see which contributed more to obesity - overeating or physical inactivity.
The team started by testing 1,399 adults and 963 children to find out how many calories they burned under normal, real life situations.
They also calculated how much the adults needed to eat to keep their weight stable, and how much the kids needed to eat so they maintained normal growth patterns.
Next they looked at data from a national survey (known as NHANES) that kept records on the weight of Americans from the 1970s to the early 2000s, to look at real weight gain during that time.
Finally, national food supply data was used to analyze how much the participants ate during that same thirty-year period.
They then used the data on calorie intake vs. calories burned to come up with an estimate of expected weight gain over the period based solely on food intake.
The thinking was that if the predicted weight gain based on what Americans ate was the same as the actual weight gain, overeating alone could be to blame for the weight increase. For kids the predicted and actual weight gain was nearly 9 pounds. This meant overeating was to blame for the added weight.
"For adults, we predicted that they would be 10.8 kg (23.8 pounds) heavier, but in fact they were 8.6 kg (20 pounds) heavier," says researcher Boyd Swinburn director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Obesity Prevention at Deakin University in Australia. "That suggests that excess food intake still explains the weight gain, but that there may have been increases in physical activity over the 30 years that have blunted what would otherwise have been a higher weight gain."
To get back to the weight levels that were common in the 1970s, American's today would need to cut 350 calories a day for children and 500 calories a day for adults from our present intake.
These days it's so much easier to eat those added calories - thanks to fast foods, processed and prepared meals, ever increasing portion sizes, too many bad fats and too few good ones, not to mention an impressive and always expanding selection of calorie laden drinks like smoothies, coffees, energy drinks and vitamin waters.
If you'd rather be active to drop the extra weight you're carrying, experts have guidelines for activity that will help you succeed.
Increase activity to about 150 minutes a day for children, 110 minutes per day for adults to see similar results from these efforts.
If you haven't been active in a while, you need to check with your doctor first to be sure exercise is safe for you. Once you get the go-ahead, be sure to start slow and build your endurance over time.
Based on this latest research, look for public health authorities in the U.S. and other countries to shift the emphasis in the battle against the effects of overeating and obesity to encourage calorie cutting over upping your activity level, though ideally both are key to losing weight and staying healthy.
Next just head on over to the Daily Health Bulletin for more information the effects of overeating and getting and staying healthy, plus get 5 free fantastic health reports.
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