Why America Is Obese: We’re Not Exercising Enough, Study Says

[onehandle]

Source: Philadelphia Magazine

A new study by Stanford University School of Medicine suggests that America’s obesity epidemic might be more influenced by a lack of exercise than excess calorie consumption, the LA Times reports. The research shows that while obesity has risen in the past 22 years, the amount of time we spend exercising has taken a major dive.

In 2010, 52 percent of women and 43 percent of men reported doing no exercise in their free time, up from 19 percent and 11 percent in 1998. But here’s the kicker: The number of calories we consume has remained the same.

The researchers examined data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey pinpoint trends in obesity, caloric intake, and physical activity over the past two decades. And while they expected a decline in time spent exercising, they, too, were surprised by how large the drop was.

“We suspected there was a trend in that direction, but not that magnitude,” Dr. Uri Ladabaum, the lead author of the study, told the Times.

Read more: http://www.phillymag.com/be-well-philly/2014/07/10/obesity-study-overeating-exercising

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The Future:

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[theaocp]

1. For me and mine, this is bullshit.

I exercised in many different ways and got no results. I cut back on what I was eating and I lost 25 pounds. My friends and family are now doing the same and experiencing the same results. Exercise is great and makes the body work better. However you want to not be obese? Stop eating so many calories. QED.

[murielm99]

2. I think it has to be a combination of both.

I exercise and watch my calorie intake. That is the only thing that works for me.

I see all kinds of overweight people coming out of our local convenience store/gas station, and out of the fast food places. There are young women with their children. Many of them are about forty pounds overweight, and their kids look too heavy, in many cases. They are loaded down with pizza, doughnuts, fries, burgers, pop. I seldom eat any of that.

Yes, people need to exercise. But my eyes tell me that our diet is killing us.

[NeoConsSuck]

115. I agree about the combination of both

especially as one gets older. In my teens and twenties, I could eat whatever I wanted (and I did) and was considered thin. In my thirties, the weight started coming on.

I'm in my sixties now, and have gotten rid of the simple carbs and junk food. Now I eat mostly salads and lean proteins, and exercise twice daily. And do a *lot* of bike riding in the spring/summer months. I have very little fat now. But for me, I don't think it could happen if it was only exercise or only diet. It has to be both.

[thesquanderer]

5. Yes. Exercise is great for many things, but exercise alone will not reduce your weight.

You may be burning more calories, but your body will want to eat more to make up for it. So with or without exercise, you have to make a conscious decision to not eat whenever/whatever you want to eat in order to lose weight.

http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1914974,00.html

[closeupready]

27. Personally, vigorous exercise suppresses my appetite.

I get, on average, 1 hour of intense exercise every day, and the only thing I crave after that is typically a glass of water. I'll eat lightly after that.

It's what works for me.

[nolabels]

64. Vigorous exercise makes me hungry and tired

Perhaps you are not working out as hard as you think you are

Of course 1.5 to 2+ hrs seems like a normal work out to me

Really though i never worry about the weight part when i am feel physically fit. My heredity dictates it at any rate, both parents sides have had circulatory issues and disease histories. Keeping the Blood Pressure below 120/80 is almost kind of a religion with me.

[closeupready]

71. It's all cardio, and my muscle tone has become pretty remarkable for

someone in their late 40's, lol. (Humbly noted, of course, lol.)

On the eating side, I stick to the tried-and-true method of eliminating simple carbs from my diet (flour, sugar, white rice, potatoes). One day a week I let go, but only that one day.

Anyway, I agree with others that there is no one-size-fits-all approach. Cheers.

[nolabels]

78. The muscle tone of the heart when it wants rest.

Getting into a predictable routine where the body expects it's rest in the form of sleep is sometimes a challenge in today's world. But another leg in the predictable routine is that spirit thing. If body doesn't clue the mind (the spirit) in that it needs to rest it sometimes can mess a lot of things up (does for me least). I can work around the clock on a job and not get tired. My father was the same way, a hard worker but he was from a time when exercise wasn't something people did as normal routine. He would often only sleep three or four hours a night, often working two jobs. He made it to 66 yrs. To this day my mom, at 85, can sleep ten to twelve but probably goes nine or so. Of course she never did the exercise thing either and annoys me with her diet of all kinds i think she shouldn't be eating.

Short to the story, I look at getting physically tired out (exhausted in a fair spurt) and sleeping well as going hand in hand (for me).
Yes i know diet is important but as you say one size doesn't fit all especially with food. One thing i think might be overlooked by some people is that without some good sleep things might not go that well, at any rate.

Sleep Less, Eat More?
Study: Sleep Deprivation Linked to Eating More Calories
(snip)
March 14, 2012 -- Being sleep deprived may make you eat more than usual, according to a new study.

When researchers compared people allowed to sleep as much as they wished with those who slept just two-thirds of their normal time, they found that sleep deprivation was linked to eating more calories.

"When people were sleep deprived, they ate an extra 549 calories per day," says researcher Andrew Calvin, MD, MPH, a fellow in cardiovascular disease and assistant professor of medicine at Mayo Clinic, Rochester.

Over a week's time, that could add up to a pound of weight gain. However, Calvin says, "we don't know how long this effect lasts." His study lasted eight days
(snip)
http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/news/20120314/sleep-less-eat-more

[closeupready]

79. Yes, another side benefit of vigorous exercise is ... you sleep better.

Sounder. Less insomnia. And feeling refreshed when you do wake up.

A friend of mine asked me recently, doesn't working out at night leave you wound up, unable to sleep? Just the opposite, I told him - it helps me sleep.

[nolabels]

80. Heck yea !!!

Kind of restless last night at 3 AM, but got some of that good stuff in just after that

[cali]

72. well, I certainly exercise vigorously

and exercise definitely is a big part of weight control for me- along with a reasonable diet. Exercise suppresses my appetite as well.

[NeoConsSuck]

116. There is a poster in my gym:

"You can't exercise away a bad diet"

[Skittles]

33. if you exercise, you don't have to cut as many calories

yup

[sir pball]

49. And for me, it's the exact opposite.

I've always eaten like utter crap and cheerfully admit it; a few years ago I was pushing 190. Then my best friend got a job at a sports store as a Running Specialist, which is basically a semi-pro racing job to learn and sell shoes. We've been competitive since 8th grade track and I'll be damned if he's going to beat me now so I enthusiastically jumped back in as well. Cut to present - I'm 157 as of this morning, running an average of 42.6 miles a week (thanks RunKeeper), have a sub-1:30 half marathon and a 6:18 seed pace...and I literally cannot shovel enough burgers, pizza, wings and beer down my gullet to be satisfied. No hidden worries either, my cholesterol is under 120, blood pressure's great and my pulse is so laconic I have to explain it when I give blood. I may be eating the worst I ever have, but I've never been fitter. "Some runners treat their bodies as temples, I treat mine like a fast-moving dumpster."

All jokes aside, weight loss is an extremely personalized situation and there is no one-size-fits-all approach. If the diet aspect works for you, go!

[treestar]

50. This is very true

I exercised and still do, but only lost weight due to a diet - food cutback. Exercising alone did nothing. Absolutely nothing. It is amazing that I can exercise each day and lose zero weight.

[SheilaT]

57. I agree.

Most of us simply eat too much.

[Strelnikov_]

67. Agree. Exercise is important, but the numbers are stark

One hour of the kind of exercise they talk about will only burn 400 calories . . .

. . . a mocha latte whatever at Starbucks.

It takes both, exercise and diet.

Today we live in a world where finding time to exercise is a premium, in a land awash in cheap, fast, high calorie food options . . . the perfect storm.

[MillennialDem]

114. It's better to be overweight and exercise than to be normal weight and not exercise though.

[Xithras]

4. For most people, weight gain is a math problem.

Consume more calories than you burn, and you'll put on weight. Burn more calories than you consume, and you'll lose weight. While a small portion of the population suffers from disorders that impact this simple bit of math, it's accurate for the overwhelming majority of the population.

[No Vested Interest]

8. You are correct, of course. But what part

do meds play in weight gain/slower metabolism, etc.?

When I asked my doc if some meds could be cut back because of possible contribution to weight gain , she said," Your meds are doing exactly what they are meant to do for you", which is, I guess, keep semi-healthy/alive.

It's a dilemma.

[gcomeau]

29. Meds cannot alter the laws of physics.

No matter what meds you're on, if you consistently consume fewer calories than you burn you will lose weight. There can be isolated periods and stretches where people can point at things like retaining water or something that cause a blip in the trend, but you can't keep that up in the long term (You can't just convert your body to pure water after all)

[winter is coming]

84. Body metabolism has nothing to do with physics. There *are* meds that can really fuck you up.

Prednisone is a classic example.

[gcomeau]

85. Changes nothing. Metabolism can't defy physics either.

Slower metabolism just means you burn it off slower. The relationship of Sustained Intake Rate < Sustained Burn Rate = Weight Loss holds true under all conditions.

If low metabolism gives you a low burn rate, lower your consumption rate or work harder to up your burn rate or ideally both.


There is no magic "my body creates mass or energy from nothing making it impossible to lose weight" excuse. Nobody is walking around living in a perpetual energy machine.

[Scout]

90. ""my body creates mass or energy from nothing making it impossible to lose weight""

no one is saying that except YOU.

what has been said is that certain people's bodies do not produce hormones correctly, so that part of the calories consumed are NOT MADE AVAILABLE to the body to burn for energy.

[gcomeau]

95. Uh-huh...

Which, I repeat, does not alter the fundamental physical reality that if you consume less than you burn off you will still lose weight.

[Scout]

97. which, i repeat, does not alter the fundamental physical reality that if your hormones

don't function properly, you will not have the opportunity to burn off all of the calories you consume, and will not necessarily lose weight no matter how much you consume.

[gcomeau]

101. You are in error.

It is PHYSICALLY IMPOSSIBLE not to be able to lose weight just because of hormones. The act of moving your body around requires the consumption of energy. If you *consistently* consume less energy than that requires then the math only works one way. You can't create the shortfall in energy from nothing, so your body burns mass to generate it. Period.

There has never been and will never be a "Cancels out the Law of Conservation of Mass/Energy" hormone.

[hedgehog]

93. Calories in, calories out, perhaps, but some medications ( prednisone is notorious!)

ratchet the appetite up to incredible levels. It's very difficult to control what you eat when you are ravenous.

[gcomeau]

96. Not disputing that.

Wasn't making any comment on level of difficulty of dieting or what extraneous factors influence that difficulty. Just on the underlying fundamental physical reality governing In < Out = weight loss.

[Scout]

98. so let's see....

i'm working out, cardio and weight training. i am burning more than i consume, but i am building muscle which weighs more than fat ... I gain weight!

i may lose pounds of fat, but if i gain muscle, my weight increases anyway. :snort:

[gcomeau]

99. Please refer to original statement.

Which stressed that the In<Out relationship must be sustained. Converting fat to muscle is a short term deviation, just as "retaining water" is. Neither can prevail in the long term as long as the In<Out balance is maintained. Weight will be lost.

[raccoon]

108. Antidepressants cause weight gain in many people as well. nt

[GliderGuider]

32. While that may be thermodynamically accurate, it's not the whole story by any means.

For most people, underlying disorders of fat metabolism (like insulin resistance) play a larger role in terms of how their body responds to the food they eat. This has been known for decades now, but acceptance by the medical/pharmaceutical/agribusiness community is slow.

The thermodynamic explanation has the seductive advantage of being simple, but it's by no means sufficient to form the basis for dietary advice, at least not on its own. You can find out more by reading Taubes.

[Feron]

46. Weight is much more complex than calories in/calories out.

Genetics, hormones, and bacteria are three areas in which researchers have discovered play a role in obesity. It's quite possible there are other factors at work as well.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/01/magazine/tara-parker-pope-fat-trap.html?pagewanted=all

http://www.drsharma.ca/why-the-energy-balance-equation-results-in-flawed-approaches-to-obesity-prevention-and-management.html

Yes people are more sedentary, but we are also eating food that has been adulterated to be addictive.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/24/magazine/the-extraordinary-science-of-junk-food.html?pagewanted=all

Not to mention that that there is a loophole which allows food additives to bypass FDA testing:

http://blog.fooducate.com/2014/04/12/if-the-fda-doesnt-know-whats-in-our-food-how-can-we/

[No Vested Interest]

6. I plead guilty. nt

[LittleGirl]

7. B.S. report

I've proven that you can lose 30 lbs with diet alone. no exercise more than walking. I don't eat that frankenfood anymore either. I eat meat and veggies and no gluten, dairy, soy or sugar.

[onehandle]

9. They aren't saying that lack of exercise is the only reason. And walking is exercise.

That is, walking for 20 minutes or more a few times a week.

Walking to the fridge doesn't count.

The headline is poorly written.

[NickB79]

11. Anecdote does not equal data

Your one experience is not a refutation to this study. It is anecdotal evidence that is immaterial to it. Given the scope of it, it's almost certain there were people with your same experience IN the study, yet they still didn't skew the study significantly.

In the same way that a person may smoke for decades and not get cancer, that doesn't disprove the link between smoking and cancer. It just means you are in the minority in the way your body functions.

[L0oniX]

17. Most people are not disciplined enough to diet and stay away from bad foods.

What I hear is "it's ok if I have one a week" ...and then there are a bunch of those "one a week" things. Then there is the general attempt to make being over weight normal. "Well I am not obese". Of course anyone who is normal weight is not allowed to make any suggestions. Basic life fact ...without discipline there isn't much anyone can do.

[marions ghost]

23. Frankenfood is right!

--never mind exercise if people eat all that crap food. That nasty "food substance." It will never produce good health.

I'm with you on following that unadulterated food diet.

One of the most difficult items to avoid is soy. Soy oil is a component of so many foods even mayo and salad dressing. And all soy in the US is GMO unless it says organic. Americans are consuming far too much of this processed soy.

[LittleGirl]

24. If you don't buy processed food

you don't have to worry about consuming soy. It's everywhere though and not recommended for women because it's a hormone blocker. Check your shampoo, conditioner, hand soap etc.

[marions ghost]

25. Not so good for men either in the quantities its found in our food:

High Estrogen Counts

According to the Mayo Clinic, there are concerns regarding soy having estrogen-like effects on the bodies of people. According to Cornell University, soy contains phytoestrogens that are a group of chemicals that can act like the hormone estrogen. Soy's phytoestrogens can mimic estrogen and have the same effect on the body that estrogen would, according to Cornell University. These estrogen issues in men can lead to lowered testosterone levels, men losing hair and developing feminine related issues. Beasley adds that soy's estrogen spikes have shown to have potential to retard growth and brain development in young boys.

[LittleGirl]

28. man boobs

Yep.

[marions ghost]

30. Right

....................!

[GliderGuider]

35. I'm down 50 lb. in a year just from quitting starches, sugars, dairy and alcohol.

My exercise amounts to a half hour of walking a day. I eat more calories on my current diet than I did as a vegetarian, and the weight is melting off. Also gone is the edema, the GERD, the high blood pressure (from 155/110 to 115/65), and the high cholesterol. My inflammatory markers like CRP are now normal. All thanks to not attacking my body with glucose (aka complex and simple carbohydrates), gluten and lactose.

I now eat a meat and fat based diet with plenty of fish, green vegetables, nuts, and berries. My health turned around within weeks of the shift, with no additional exercise. I have no cravings and I'm never hungry. My body is simply functioning as it was designed to do. I guess I'm lucky I was born with a meat tooth instead of a sweet tooth...

Studies like the one in the OP are the only thing that raise my blood pressure these days.

[DesertRat]

37. Congrats!

I lost 50 lb. in a year in 2012 and have kept it off through diet and lots of exercise. Maintaining the weight has been harder for me than losing it.

[LittleGirl]

45. Good job

You really do have to be in tune to your body and remove the inflammatory foods your body reacts to. Way to go!

[joshcryer]

53. That 30 minutes of walking is a huge thing though.

Cutting out the glucose no doubt helps as well, but that walking, it's the biggest thing anyone can do in their life:

[workinclasszero]

63. Yes! Cut carbs and watch the weight fall off!

I've been LC for 2 and a half months now and lost 26lbs so far...NO exercise involved at all!

Not that its bad, when I lose another 25 I want to start exercising but it wont be to lose weight!

Cutting carbs also kills your appetite. Its not so hard to lose weight when you don't feel like your starving all the time.

[Adrahil]

119. I LOVE carbs....

.... noodles and rice. I could eat nothing but them. BUT, at my last physical, the doc said I was borderline type 2 diabetes. They put me on some preventative meds, but frankly, I knew what I had to do.

I still eat rice and noodles. After all, I love 'em, but I eat a lot less of them. Heck, I eat less in general. Cutting the carbs did reduce my appetite for sure. In 6 weeks, I'shed about 20 pounds with no additional exercise (I've always tried to do regular light-moderate exercise).

I go back for another set of labs soon. I'm hoping to see some improvement.

[tridim]

75. Atkins was right!

I do eat full fat dairy though. It's health food, at least for me.

The key is to limit sugar and carbs as you pointed out.

[JackRiddler]

105. I drink plenty alcohol, thank you.

Lost 50 lbs in 3 years by cutting consumption of sugary crap, reducing portions, and running a-plenty.

There is doubtless no one way, but the lack of exercise among Americans is even more obvious than the crap they eat.

[lexx21]

110. Here is a link that you might want to look at re: the ketogenic diet.

This is talking about the diet that Dr. Eric Westman (of Duke Hospital) is promoting....

http://livinlavidalowcarb.com/blog/dr-eric-westman-boosts-ketogenic-diet-in-january-2014-womans-world/21649

It's about putting yourself into ketosis by elimination of carbs from your diet. It's sort of an updated/advanced version of the Atkins diet.

[GliderGuider]

111. That's exactly what I'm doing.

Basically I'm following a ketogenic version of Paleo.

My reference books are Westman's update of Atkins, Volek and Phinney's "Art and Science of Low Carb", both of Gary Taubes' books and Nora Gedgaudas' "Primal Body, Primal Mind".

IMO Taubes' "Good Calories, Bad Calories" is the best of the bunch for the metabolic science, Volek and Phinney is the best at linking the science and the diet, and Gedgaudas for the paleo aspects, though I'm not as convinced by her alternative medicine positions.

[maindawg]

10. When I was young....

I could burn it off anytime. I could run like a deer. I could eat 4000 calories a day and party like crazy then just run it off. Those were the days man.
Now I must eat like a normal human being. It took years to figure that out. But if I could do it , so can the University of Medicine.
You must not consume mass quantities of empty carbohydrates. You must eat only complex carbs.
I still drink beer, have sugar in my tea and eat dairy.If I have to eliminate anything else, its goodbye dairy.

[NickB79]

12. I was the same way when I was a farm kid

Now that I'm pushing 35, I'm trying to proactively manage my food intake before my metabolism finally realizes I'm not a kid anymore. Lots of vegetables, way less soda and chips, leaner cuts of meat (and less of it), etc.

Having a 4-yr old child that never stops moving helps too I'm looking at a 2 mile bike ride this evening, just as we've done almost every day since I bought her a bike this spring. She bikes, I jog next to her.

[hollowdweller]

14. I think the key word is "free time"

I think people have less free time now. Also commute longer.

Where I work everybody has a weight problem just about.

We set in cubicles all day and really getting up and saying anything to anybody is discouraged.

I see women come in here young, with perfect bodies and within 2 years of the setting all day regime gain 50 lbs.

The computer is not a good thing for weight.

[DesertRat]

38. You're right about that. n/t

[ErikJ]

15. Junk food sin-tax needed.

Last edited Thu Jul 10, 2014, 06:52 PM - Edit history (1)

And it is even worse that you can buy soft drinks, cookies and candy bars with food stamps. I know a girl on food stamps who blows her stamps in 2 weeks by buying sugarry caffeine Monster Rock drinks.

But the greedy junk food giants will NEVER allow congress changing ANYTHING. Sooo....

I heard that after age 30 you lose 5% of your muscle mass every year which is a big reason people start packing on the pounds then.

So I do pushups and pull ups every even #'ed morning and sit-ups the odd days. Then in eves a 7 floor flight of stairs and 2 dog walks a day. But I also eat very little junk food too so I'm still my ideal Body Mass Index wt.

[former9thward]

20. No, aerobic exercise should be mandated in schools.

Including colleges. It is not. And we see the result. We have always had forms of "junk food" for our entire history. But we have not had a generation so hopelessly out of shape as we do now.

[Dreamer Tatum]

34. Horseshit.

Gas costs twice what it did a few years ago and people have hardly stopped driving.

[ErikJ]

36. Gotta get to work--dont have to eat candy and cookies

Sin-taxes have a 2 fold purpose. To cut down on abuse of said object like cigfs and alcohol. And to raise revenue for treating the abusers of said substance. The junk-food tax could be used to offset treatment of the many chronic diseases it causes.
ANd if it werent for gas taxes we wouldnt have ROADS!!

[littlemissmartypants]

16. Underlying medical conditions ...

Sylvia c/o her waistline and less that a year after trying to diet down she had passed away from insidious ovarian cancer. She was a bright light to many and is deeply missed.

http://www.quinnmcgowen.com/new_view.php?id=1972979

[Spider Jerusalem]

18. Things that correspond with the rise in obesity:

cable television, remote controls, video game consoles, the Internet. People have more entertainment options that keep them sedentary than they did 30 and 40 years ago.

[GliderGuider]

39. Other things that correspond with the rise in obesity

Last edited Thu Jul 10, 2014, 08:53 PM - Edit history (1)

» The rising consumption of high-starch, high-sugar, low-fat, manufactured "foods".
» Urbanization that forces people to depend on stores that sell those manufactured foods.
» Rising poverty (aka the shrinking middle class) that forces more people to depend on cheaper but health-damaging starches as their main source of calories.

There is a huge problem with epidemiological studies. They can't distinguish cause from effect when a correlation is found. That shortcoming makes it very easy to assign erroneous causality to factors that have a moral component. In this case, the factor that has been erroneously identified is exercise. In many or perhaps even most cases, the lack exercise is not the cause, but instead is the effect. The cause of low physical activity is much more likely to be energy-starved muscles.

[Spider Jerusalem]

43. Much more sedentary lifestyles play a larger part.

Since the rise in obesity is happening in every developed country including ones where cheap high-starch, high-sugar foods like you find in the USA aren't common. (Look at obesity rates in Europe for instance.)

[MADem]

55. Remote controls~!

Back in the fifties and sixties, they had 'em...they were called CHILDREN!

"Go change the channel to 5!"

"Turn up the volume...no, not that much!!"

Move the rabbit ears more towards the window--there, that's it...now stand there!!!"

[former9thward]

19. In other news water is wet.

I mean really, how much money was spent for such an obvious result?

[GliderGuider]

21. Somebody really needs to read Gary Taubes' landmark book "Good Calories, Bad Calories".

Instead of reduced activity leading to obesity, it is at least as likely that rising obesity (due to misregulated lipid metabolism because of repeated starch/sugar-induced insulin spikes) leads to lower physical activity. This is because the resulting insulin resistance preferentially affects muscle tissue while leaving adipose tissue more or less alone. The result is that our fat cells soak up the glucose in our blood stream and turn it into fat, while our muscles starve because of their relative inability to access glucose in the blood stream. Energy-starved muscles lead to lower activity levels.

The remedy in such a situation is to shift one's diet so that most calories come from fats rather than starches and sugars. The condition clears quite rapidly (in weeks to at most a few months) when one does that.

This study is a crock of shit.

[Psephos]

22. Or the condensed version, "Why We Get Fat And What To Do About It."

You are absolutely right, GG.

The answers from gold-plated research are out there, and have been for some time.

[workinclasszero]

65. Gary Taubes' landmark book "Good Calories, Bad Calories" and

go to youtube and watch Dr Robert Lustig's lecture entitled Sugar: The Bitter Truth

The obesity and type 2 diabetes explosion started at the exact same time they decided that fat in the diet was evil and should be replaced with "wholesome whole wheat grains(sugar), fruits(sugar), cereals(sugar), pasta(sugar) and rice(sugar).

For hundreds of thousands of years, if not a million of two our ancestors had no access to the huge and unrelenting amount of sugar we consume today and it is killing us!

All they had their entire life was possibly some fruit and maybe a touch of honey once in a great while. But the fruit was in season not all year round.

The SAD is a horrible experiment gone terribly wrong. Sure keeps the $$$ rolling in to the food, medical and drug business though!

[nolabels]

66. That's why there are so many fat vegans

[Lydia Leftcoast]

86. I don't know how many there are, but I have known fat vegans

probably because they fill up on refined carbs instead of on fruits and vegetables.

[Z_California]

73. Big Food loves these headlines

LA Times: "Obesity: We're not overeating, we're under-exercising, study suggests "

Philadelphia: "Why America Is Obese: We’re Not Exercising Enough, Study Says"

Medical News Today: "Rise in obesity 'due to decline in exercise, not over-eating'"

So....don't worry about the fact that our food supply is shit. You all are just lazy fucks.

This is exactly what they pay for when they fund these "studies". Epidemiological studies, improperly concluding causation and interpreted however the study sponsor wants the data interpreted, is what led the FDA and AHA to recommend a high carb diet to begin with way back when. After the subsequent obesity/diabetes/heart disease epidemic ensued all we hear is that people are fat because they're lazy and can't control themselves. Like everything else in this country, money talks and ignorance reigns.

Big Banks, Big Food, Big Oil, Big Pharma, the NRA, and the Chamber of Commerce run this country through propaganda and bribes.

[dkhbrit]

106. Lustig

Is an idiot. Pay no attention. He has his own personal agenda and the science does not support what he says.

It's been said several times on here and correctly so - balance the calories you consume with the calories you expend. Blaming food is just plain silly. Yes, there is processed food and you can eat it in moderation and be healthy. Why should we tax cookies or chips just because some people don't know how to moderate how much of these things they eat?

This constant wailing about how it's sugar, or it's soda, or it's fat. All bollocks. And dangerous too. If you're overweight, for the vast majority of people it's your fault, not the food industry, not anyone else. Time for people to be accountable for themselves.

[tridim]

26. Partially, but it's really WAY too much sugar and carbs.

[ForgoTheConsequence]

41. Certainly part of it.

Although I eat about 3000 calories a day, and 40% of that is carbs. If you work it off you can be a little more liberal with your diet.

[Skittles]

31. people will claim they don't have time

but they always seem to find time to watch TV and surf

[ForgoTheConsequence]

40. Yep. If you have time to post online.

You have time to exercise.

[onecent]

42. I have 16 grandchildren

and I can say this. The ones in sports....the grandchildren that play outside and don't have their thumbs up their Iphone....are, so far, normal weight or less.

The ones who have a cell phone, a computer - and/or a car -- also have a rusty old bike in the garage and no desire to DO A GOD DAMN THING. they think they are entitled to everything and anything --- about the time they get their driver's license....parenting is OVER.

Our apathetic parents --- who feel guilty that their little ones don't have a stay at home parent let them make all their OWN CHOICES from the time they are 8 months. They give them everything, TEACH THEM NOTHING, and don't care what they watch or listen too....as long as the kids are happy.

I am 69 years old and I was brought up in the era where you "respected" your elders...esp your relatives and parents...and especially people who had a huge part in your life...doctors, dentists, sitters, teachers, clergymen or women, coaches...etc

I was also taught (even though I didn't like it) to do my chores...and got 25 cents a week and thought that was great. Lived on my bicycle, left in the morning for the public beach in a small town in No. Indiana and came home at dark thirty and played flashlight tag with the relatives and neighbor kids while the parents played euchre.

The kids today have NO MORALS, no ETHICS, no RESPONSIBILITIES, no RESPECT FOR ANYTHING OR ANYONE and don't want to get a job and want to live at home ... and will live at home for years to come.

If this post has ruffled any feathers...tuff....life today for us elders is painful to watch...and it is RUFFLING MY FEATHERS....to see America become a 3rd world country RIGHT BEFORE MY EYES. To see jobs disappear overseas and to see us eating food from China that NO ONE could possibly in their right mind think is safe. Hell, our animals aren't even safe from the crap we get from China.

[Skittles]

44. at the dentist office today

two young brothers (7 & 8 maybe) in the waiting room, READING A NEWSPAPER AND A MAGAZINE.....discussing what they were reading, very intelligently - it absolutely startled me because I realize I just don't see this kind of behavior anymore. I talked to them (their dad was in the chair) - turns out they have only limited time set to be on the phone / computer / games - hoo BOY did it ever show

[toby jo]

47. I live around a lot of Amish and their kids are amazing.

They are polite, focused, hard-working, and healthy. The fellow who put in a pole barn for me had a young man with him one day, the kid was only about 12. He was sincere, worked hard all day, loved my dogs, had a smile on his face, and WORKED. I cannot imagine one of our 12 year olds being that mature, not even close.

Now, I'm not Christian and I'm sure we can all rip into the Amish for their lack of diversity in ideas, but their children tell a whole different story. They play hard, too, the way kids should. There's lots of running around and laughter and joy. They're a walking advertisement for no tv, internet, video games, and for parental control.

And as for weight, I've yet to meet a fat Amish person.

[Psephos]

52. There is a lot of common sense revealed in your post.

Too bad that common sense is so uncommon these days.

Thank you for the post.

[Bluenorthwest]

70. How do their teenagers do? How many remain in the community? Do they 'shun' LGBT youth

or do they drive them away physically?

[toby jo]

89. I think it's hardest on the teens. They work hard, keep the boys busy.

They have their rumspringa, where they get to go off and party and play with the english, but I don't see any real practical advice coming at them. They'd have more legitimacy to me if they gave them a place to go and get their hs equivalency, a driver's license, and some kind of a halfway house where they can stay while they get a job and get a foothold in our world. At least the kids would have a standing chance. I think they may bend that way, eventually. They all have cell phones these days. It's still a 'go party with the english and see if you like that loose and unbiblical lifestyle choice' nonsense.

Truth is , I'd really like to see some of their lifestyle choices flourish. I don't know how they'll manage it all. The girls wear different colored potato sack dresses, now, pink, light green, blue, and sometimes a hanky instead of the bonnet. Of course they use drivers, but can't drive themselves. I've even considered putting together some kind of halfway house for them, but that's a lot to take on right now. They need to consider flexing past that shunning - that's cruelty and nothing else.

I don't know about the LGBT community. I imagine they just deny. The ones where it hurts to look at them is what gets to me - you can see the pain and depression in some of them, it really pisses me off.

But the kids are a thing of beauty.

[Roarybeans]

88. Your right

I have watched this too, I'm 66. The kids I know are still respectful though, mostly relatives, not general population. I agree that to be a senior in American is to feel unsafe.

[Arugula Latte]

92. Oh please ...

"The kids today have NO MORALS, no ETHICS, no RESPONSIBILITIES, no RESPECT FOR ANYTHING OR ANYONE and don't want to get a job and want to live at home ... and will live at home for years to come."

Do you hear yourself? You sound like the stereotypical older person of every single generation that has ever existed, complaining about "kids these days."

This younger generation is fantastic -- smart, liberal, tolerant, and less religious (which is a VERY good thing, in my opinion!). They have a hard road in terms of paying for college without amassing massive debt (good luck with that) and in terms of getting a job that pays survival wages, though.

Also, right now as I write this my teen son is working hard for a neighbor, doing very hard manual labor. He has a great work ethic.

[FailureToCommunicate]

48. "The number of calories we consume has remained the same" ? Bull feathers. 2 things go into

Last edited Fri Jul 11, 2014, 11:49 AM - Edit history (1)

weight (at least): Calorie INTAKE and Calorie OUTPUT. Any other variables, while interesting and worth study, are tangential.

?w=914





Is it rocket science?

[NickB79]

54. The comparison was from 1998 to 2010, in the US alone

So it's quite likely that the total amount of calories consumed HAS stayed the same, since not much has really changed in American foodstuffs in that short amount of time.

[joshcryer]

51. 2000 calories is too much for a 1/3rd sedentary society.

The problem is rather easily fixed with a bit changed nutrition guidelines.

[Warpy]

56. Oh, bullshit

They exercise more than we do, but Central Americans, especially Mexicans, are fatter than we are.

Something else is at work and it's high time the moralists shut the fuck up. Blaming people is not going to work. Instead of wasting money on bullshit studies, why not put that money toward tracking down the real cause?

[LeftyMom]

59. The average Mexican toddler drinks half a can of Coke a day.

In huge swaths of the country it's too dangerous to let kids spend time out of doors. We have the same problem in parts of the US, with similar results.

It's not exactly a medical mystery.

[JI7]

58. if one is obese it has to do with diet

[bananas]

60. pdf of the study

http://www.amjmed.com/pb/assets/raw/Health Advance/journals/ajm/AJM_Aug14_PR_Ladabaum.pdf

[riderinthestorm]

61. Even lab rats and lab chimpanzees are significantly heavier

http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/29373/title/Animals-are-getting-fatter--too/

These are animals whose diet and exercise has been strictly controlled for decades.

Something else is also at play here.

[workinclasszero]

62. Total BS!

80% of your weight is what you put into your mouth! And in America that will be a ton of carbs AKA sugar.

If its lack of exercise we are all doomed. Unless you run a marathon everyday to burn those excess carbs anyway lol

[bklyncowgirl]

68. It ain't brain surgery. If you want to lose weight eat less and exercise more.

The problem is that our modern society offers us endless temptation in the form of cheap food of the very worst sort and little reason or even opportunity to move our bodies.

[onehandle]

69. Yep. But some have been brainwashed by the food industry that you don't have to exercise.

That 'diet' foods will do it all.

Nope. Takes a combination.

Sure, there are some that might be able to go Atkins and slim down, at least for a while.

But for most:

Eat less
Eat better
Exercise more

A brisk walk of 30 minutes, 3 or 4 times a week. Not a marathon.

[WhoWoodaKnew]

74. EXACTLY. Why can't people understand that simple concept.

But they'll spend billions looking for a shortcut.

[Puzzledtraveller]

77. The other "L" word.

Laziness. I know, I used to be, no more, never again.

[GliderGuider]

82. And one more "L" word: leptin. nt

[Puzzledtraveller]

76. Ive not taken the elevator at my work in 5 years

I work on the 9th floor. I submitted a "Take the Stairs" campaign to the personnel office and it was said that our health plans already offer tips on losing weight and getting in shape. I know not everyone can use the steps, but a lot of people can, and would benefit greatly from doing so. My plan touted the health benefits and the reduced energy demands also saving tax payers money. I work in a state building.

[BillfromIL]

81. Exercise is, has been, and always will be......

part of a healthy lifestyle.

I guess I am just another one of those "sample of 1" folks who can only consider my results anecdotal compared to a major university study. After 90+ lbs lost over the last couple of years with a day job consisting of 8-10+ hours/5 days a week parked in front of a computer, I can say with 100% certainty that the changes in my diet have had far greater positive impact on my health than any exercise program I ever tried.

You will NEVER out-exercise a bad diet. (wish I could take credit for that statement, but alas I found it somewhere on the web).

[GliderGuider]

83. "You will NEVER out-exercise a bad diet." Abso-freakin-lutely! nt

[bullwinkle428]

103. You may be able to out-exercise a bad diet for a little while (like when you're

in your 20s), but it WILL eventually catch up with you. A matter of when, not if. I sure experienced a wake-up call in my early 30s, and have made changes for the better ever since.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

87. My own experience is that lack of exercise can cause weight gain more than

adding exercise can keep it off.

When I moved to Minneapolis and began driving again (after ten years without a car), my weight began to creep up, and it is now more than I would like.

Unfortunately, the extra weight has given me joint problems, and I have lately realized that I will need to lose that weight before I can do anything but water exercise and other low-impact activities.

[Arugula Latte]

91. Exercise is important but now "they" are saying diet is 70-to-80 percent of the battle.

I notice in myself that, no matter how strenuously and consistently I work out, if I don't watch those couple hundred extra calories a day, I will gain weight.

[hedgehog]

94. I am very suspicious of any study saying this or that is "the cause" of obesity -

there really are too many variables to do a proper scientific study without spending a large fortune! Unless people are confined to eating at a dining hall where portions can be controlled (as in the Keys Starvation Experiment), it's hard to know exactly how many calories people are eating.

At the same time, sometimes a "scientific" study is based on anecdote rather than solid data. For example - my husband does a lot of heavy labor taking care of our house - I'm talking shoveling snow off the barn roof, clearing brush with hand tools, hauling storm windows up to a second story, etc. Yet, if you ask him, he says he doesn't exercise , because to him exercise is something you do in a gym. And in this particular study, how do the scientists know people are exercising less?

"In 2010, 52 percent of women and 43 percent of men reported doing no exercise in their free time,"

Yes, the data collected consists of people's self evaluations. Unless there were careful, detailed interviews involved, I'd have to say there is no solid basis for making any conclusions.

[Trillo]

100. Excercise is costly.

Last edited Thu Jul 17, 2014, 10:46 AM - Edit history (2)

Some folks eat more after excercising, meaning increased food bills. Clothing and shoes particlarly, wear out faster. There's more need to shower, so there's higher water bills, as well as various toiletry bills, including soap and shampoos. Laundry load is also increased, more towels and such need washing more frequently.

So, exercise, while it's generally a good thing, is mainly something for wealthier folks with excess free time and disposable income. Given the generalized contempt sometimes shown for poor and fat folks, this advice is insensitive to their economic realities. There is not one mention in the article of these increased expenses, and even the picture chosen is inside a gym, so let me add one more cost: gym membership. I hear cash registers ringing $KaChing$.

Edited on July 17 to add:

Poor folks are concerned with conservation of energy, while wealthier folks don't need to be so concerned. It is a way of life, one forced by circumstance.

There is a difference between affluent and poor people who are in energy balance over time. Generally, affluent people adjust energy and food intake to meet energy expenditures, while very poor people with food shortages adjust their activity to their energy intake (foregoing activities to conserve energy). Where food is plentiful, people may forego food or increase exercise to maintain balance (the jogger's syndrome); where food supply is deficient, they may forego activities to maintain balance.

http://books.google.com/books?id=diGLEXZEGh8C&pg=PA346

[Nihil]

107. So is consuming several thousand calories per day.

> Some folks eat more after excercising, meaning increased food bills.
> Clothing and shoes particlarly, wear out faster.
> There's more need to shower, so there's higher water bills,
> as well as various toiletry bills, including soap and shampoos.
> Laundry load is also increased, more towels and such need washing more frequently.
> So, exercise, while it's generally a good thing, is mainly something for wealthier folks
> with excess free time and disposable income.

Honestly, the list of crap excuses just gets longer and longer doesn't it?



Eat fewer calories + drink fewer calories + exercise more = reduced obesity.

Only doing one of the three doesn't help if the other two are missing.

Trying to make up more excuses for not bothering doesn't cut it.

[onecent]

102. You don't have to purchase a gym membership.

You don't EVEN HAVE TO BREAK a sweat...but it would not hurt to bring recess back
for the younger children. At least a playground should be a safer place than the family front yard and street. All kids do today is watch TV and want want want....ipod, ipad, notebook, computer, cell phone...ear phones.... NO ONE even eats together anymore.

Technology is here to stay....and obesity I fear, is also here to stay!

[JackRiddler]

104. Shocker!

The quality of caloric intake (read, the shitty processed food actually consumed) is probably worse, too. For example, more people drinking corn-sugar water, fewer eating fruit.

[PeaceMonger12345]

112. Trends in CDC and useful websites to check out

The trends are disturbing.


http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/adult.html

•More than one-third of U.S. adults (34.9%) are obese. [Read abstract Journal of American Medicine (JAMA)External Web Site Icon]
•Obesity-related conditions include heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and certain types of cancer, some of the leading causes of preventable death. [Read guidelinesExternal Web Site Icon]
•The estimated annual medical cost of obesity in the U.S. was $147 billion in 2008 U.S. dollars; the medical costs for people who are obese were $1,429 higher than those of normal weight. [Read summaryExternal Web Site Icon]

Obesity affects some groups more than others
•Non-Hispanic blacks have the highest age-adjusted rates of obesity (47.8%) followed by Hispanics (42.5%), non-Hispanic whites (32.6%), and non-Hispanic Asians (10.8%)
•Obesity is higher among middle age adults, 40-59 years old (39.5%) than among younger adults, age 20-39 (30.3%) or adults over 60 or above (35.4%) adults.


A useful website perhaps for people to exercise at home:
www.fitnessblender.com



[link:www.fitnessblender.com|

[yurbud]

113. untrue! I've clicked on hundreds of links today. My fingers are practically sweaty

[echochamberlain]

117. Foreign perspective

One of the first impressions you have as a foreigner, arriving in the United States is a kind of baffled, almost amused incredulity about the staggering numbers of fat people waddling about. The portion sizes are ridiculous, and the culture allows for fatness, because true Baluga Whales don't really stand out.

[AngryOldDem]

118. You need to have both diet and exercise, and no mixed messages.

There is now all of a sudden a big health push where I work, which has a lot of morbidly and near-morbidly obese employees. (I think the true costs of health care here are now hitting home, and now, by God, SOMETHING HAS TO BE DONE!) Anyway, they're giving a break on health insurance to people who take an online health questionnaire (which I found incredibly intrusive, as did others); get a biometrics screen; and rack up 25,000 steps caluclated by a pedometer (which doesn't work, or so I've been told).

All sounds good, and so far it's been a positive and upbeat campaign to get people to take part. But then you go to the cafeterias, where most people are for breakfast and lunch. Almost everything on the menu there is fried. With huge portions. Which you can get extras of, if you pay extra. With high-cal options for dessert and other treats. Everytime I go down there I just shake my head. I would think that the cafeteria would be a prime place to promote healthy eating and healthy choices, but nope. So people continue to fill up on this crap, which creates a vicious cycle, confusion, and (for some) futility.

What I see coming is, if this "velvet glove" approach to fitness doesn't work, more heavy-handed tactics will be pulled out -- such as, lose the weight or lose your job. (There is already such a policy for people who signed a smoking-cessation contract. If they are found to still be smoking, termination is possible.) Of course the employer is not acting purely out of altruism here. But when you're just starting out on a huge lifestyle change -- as most of the participants are -- it doesn't help to get these kinds of mixed messages, and I think this dissonance may be setting a lot of people up for failure.

This has really bugged me since the rollout of this plan about a month ago.

[supernova]

120. It's mostly diet

exercise has its own benefits in better endurance, sleep, and stress management. But losing and maintaining a healthy weight is mostly about diet.

Many people who are overweight try everything, every diet under the sun and nothing works. You know why? Because they are eating a high carbohydrate diet. They still have bread, crackers, and pasta, and potatoes and rice. They forgo butter on their steamed veggies, they trim the skin from their dry as a bone chicken breasts. They eat five or more fruits a day. Because they think it's "healthy."

No, it isn't. If want to lose weight, cut the carbs, get rid of the sources of sugar in your diet, even fruit. Any carbohydrates, even complex ones, you eat eventually break down into sugar in your body. You become a sugar burner for fuel. Sugar does damage in the body over the long-term. It causes you to produce insulin, which in turn will cause you to keep storing any fat on your body instead of use it. Sugar is quickly used by the body as soon as you eat it, so you are not using any extra energy stores (fat) you are carrying. Sugar gives you a quick high, followed by a just a quick crash into mood changes and sleepiness. Hit me with carbs again! Ever wonder why there's the dictum to eat 3x/day? That's why.

You need to change your fuel source. Omit most of the carbs and turn up the fat. That's right F-A-T: Butter, Olive Oil, Coconut Oil. Leave the skin on meats and any fat that happens to be there. It's good for you. Eat your regular serving of protein, 2 cups salad greens or 1 - 1 1/2 C of cooked low glycemic veggies like broccoli, chard, brussels sprouts. Make up the rest of your calories from fat. Eating like this will give you 20 carbs or less a day. That will bypass completely the whole insulin cycle. Your blood sugar levels will lower and stay steady. You will feel more awake and energetic without the annoying afternoon blahs. You will start to use up the fat stores on your body and .. lose weight.



Science:

The Art And Science of Low Carbohydrate Living
Stephen D. Phinney (Author), Jeff S. Volek (Author)
http://amzn.to/UfBex3

New Atkins for a New You: The Ultimate Diet for Shedding Weight and Feeling Great
Eric Westman, MD; Stephen D. Phinney and Jeff S. Volek (Mar 2, 2010)
http://amzn.to/UflQAv