A new meta-analysis published in Obesity Review says physical activity or exercise doesn’t work to help overweight or obese kids lose weight.
We lose weight in the kitchen and tone it in the gym.
The truth is that we lose weight in the kitchen and tone it in the gym. The amount of exercise it takes to lose weight is a lot. Only Olympians like Michael Phelps, who practice a lot can burn weight from exercise. That’s why these guys have to eat a lot during training and competition seasons.
Average folks like us do not do enough in a day to lose any significant of weight from physical activity.
The meta-analysis didn’t only show that exercise doesn’t work. Worse of all, it also showed that the interventions we have today (exercise programs etc) have “no effect on the total physical activity of overweight and obese children, neither directly post-intervention nor at long-term follow-up. Separate analyses by typology of intervention (with or without physical fitness, behavioral or environmental components) showed similar results (no effect). In conclusion, there is no evidence that currently available interventions are able to increase physical activity among overweight or obese children. This questions the contribution of physical activity to the treatment of overweight and obesity in children in the studied interventions and calls for other treatment strategies.”
If we want to get overweight and obese children to lose weight, we need to focus on lifestyle interventions that are geared towards impacting what, when, and how these kids eat.
To read the article, click here.
