Exercise has NO impact on weight gain

Isn’t is an established fact that increased physical activity prevents weight gain and is a critical component of any weight-loss program?

I read a lot about overweight and obesity and I can tell you that almost every weight-loss book, magazine article, program (e.g., Weight Watchers, Nutrisystem), media report, and news article recommends exercise as essential for losing weight.

This advice really is universal. Everyone “knows” that, to lose weight, you just need to increase your physical activity and eat healthier.

As a result of this assumed truth, there has been a massive effort to find ways to get kids to exercise more (e.g., requiring gym class, building side walks, creating bike paths, constructing recreational facilities, installing treadmills in schools — and even preschools).

But, there’s one problem with this emphasis on exercise for weight-loss — IT DOESN’T WORK.

Let me share the results of just one recent study.

In November 2006, the British Medical Journal published the results of a study performed in Glasgow, Scotland. 545 children in their preschool year were split into two groups. One group had no intervention and the other were required to participate in an enhanced physical activity program (3 thirty- minute sessions a week over 24 weeks, home based health education aimed at increasing physical activity through play and reducing sedentary behavior).

The results? At six-months and twelve-months follow-up, the researchers found that physical activity did NOT reduce body mass index in these young children.

Although most people might be surprised by this result, these researchers were not. Here is how they began their paper:

“Systematic reviews have reported a dearth of evidence from randomised controlled trials on interventions aimed at preventing obesity in children. Most intervention studies were short term, underpowered, and had other weaknesses such as failure toinclude a control group. More recent interventions have usually been unsuccessful. Only a single long term randomised controlled trial found benefits to the interventions.”

So, if there’s little data supporting the use of exercise for weight loss, why is exercise such a common recommendation?

Well, I think it’s because it sounds like such logical advice — to lose weight, just burn off more calories by exercising.

It might sound logical to exercise in order to lose weight. But, here’s the reality — it doesn’t work.

Allen Oelschlaeger
Author of The Straight Scoop About Childhood Obesity