Thread: Exercise over obesity

Runners world had this article on whether we should focus on increasing exercise rather than on reducing obesity- from my point of view, I love this idea. WHat do theres think? read below.....

a short summary of the YES and NO positions.
YES
*** Exercise alone produces better health outcomes than any drug or medical treatment ever invented. Even if weight doesn't change.
*** Only 5 percent of British and American citizens are meeting the exercise recommendations. There's a lot of room for improvement. "Physical inactivity is the only risk factor for chronic disease that has an adult population prevalence of 95 percent." Vs 67 percent or so for overweight and obesity.
*** Fitness is a better predictor of mortality and illness prevalence than fatness. Many "fat but fit" exercisers have health profiles as good as their fit but thinner colleagues.
*** If everyone achieved a moderate level of physical activity (exercise) mortality rates would fall 17 percent. If obesity were wiped out, mortality rates would fall 2-3 percent.
NO
*** "A strategy that targets physical inactivity but ignores the problem of obesity is unlikely to bring overall improvements in health." (No data cited.)
*** More exercise will have little impact on obesity, and taking our eyes off the obesity problem will result in poor treatment of societal segments that need the most help dealing with obesity.
*** If we focus on exercise, "it might reinforce the pervasive negative view that obesity cannot be prevented or managed."
*** Exercise proponents have had as bad a success rate as weight-loss proponents.


So, those are the basics of the debate. While I'm sure we all agree that the best approach combines smart eating with smart exercising, I like the way the British Medical Journal forced the groups into two competing corners. Sometimes this increases the clarity of the discussion.

Old thread I see, surprised it didn't get replies, it's interesting! I like the idea of being proactive and letting the chips fall where they may rather than the focus on losing weight. I know when I used to diet all I thought about was my next meal. I think exercise can lift the mood, bring on a good sort of tiredness and morph the appetite to crave good food. I want a new outlook on life, not to be trying to hide the fact that I think about food a lot. Denial doesn't help me, but being proactive does. I think an emphasis on exercise without fatbashing, just exercise for everyone would do us all the power of good. It's health that's important, not how much you lost this month.

Interesting points indeed I also agree that exercise and fitness are very important. Regardless being fat or thin, everyone should exercise to improve their health

thanks guys, I found that when I was training for the marathon, even if i went on a binge I knew I had to cop on soon cos the ultimate goal was so big. And it was great to be measuring success in miles not inches. I know that exercie alone doesn;t shift weight but running is now important to me, for my mind and sanity and those feel good chemicals are desperately needed these days!

Yes exactly, isn't it lovely to be measuring how much you've done, something that we are entirely responsible for? It's awful dieting and not losing the weight that week, but at least with exercise it's something you can do and it makes such a difference to my mood too. I cannot wait until the summer holidays, I'll be exercising again then, can't wait! Empower people, stop the fatbashing and have a "can do approach", I wish the policy makers would get that into their heads when discussing obesity.

i think both things need tackling. i've been 22st in my life and initially i lost size due to exercise and it twigged in my brain somewhere in the recesses, that if i could loose weight and size by exercise alone why not do a diet as well - double the chance of getting it off. it got me down to 14st.

i think hand in hand the advantages of diet and exercise outweigh just one or the other. sometimes diet has to come first if the person is particularly unfit, unwell or has an extreme bmi. when they're more mobile exercise is the next step. for regular large people both together is best.

the biggest step of all is doing something about it. you have to want to loose weight and exercise. many people don't as it's too much hassle.

I have started doing a lot more exercise this year and although I've lost very little weight through it it has made me feel a lot better and has shown in inches.

I'm really thinking about stepping up my exercise because even though I am losing weight, I am still unhappy with my body shape. I'm going to try and change my shape through exercise as well as losing the excess fat through diet.

when I look at marathon photos, I can see that m waist nipped in without losing much on the old chest! exercise def helps the silhouette!

Running Debate—Can You Be Fit and Fat at Runner's World