Sedentary Lifestyle Not To Blame For Obesity

Overweight and obesity are caused by one thing and one thing only, more Calories in than out.

Physical activity is a terribly inefficient way to lose weight.

But whether you believe the story or not, consider this:

For how long have we been told that "lifestyle" is why we are getting fat?

Now they are not so sure of even this "truth."

"Obesity researchers have discovered we burn the same calories on physical activities as we have done over the last 20 years.

They found that there has been no reduction in the energy we expend on day to day activities, suggesting increased food intake may be the more important factor in obesity.

Over the past 20 to 30 years there has been an enormous increase in the prevalence of obesity throughout the Western world...

Consensus over the past few years has been that an increased sedentary lifestyle has been a major contributory factor.

This view is consistent with perceived lifestyle trends such as increased car ownership; children being driven, rather than walking, to school, and the boom in television channels and computer gaming.

But now researchers from the Universities of Aberdeen and Maastricht in the Netherlands have discovered that there has been no reduction in the level of energy we are using in our daily lives over the past 20 years.

They have also found that comparisons of energy expended by people in both the USA and Europe differ little from those in pre-industrial societies in the Third World...

The researchers made their findings based on data gathered in studies from Europe, North America and the developing world using a sophisticated isotope based technique called the doubly-labelled water method which permits direct measures of an individuals energy demands as they go about their daily business.

The study is the largest collection of data using this method and the results that are revealed provide a striking contrast to popular conceptions about what has caused the obesity epidemic.

Professor Michael Goran, Professor of Preventive Medicine and Director of the Childhood Obesity Research Center at the University of Southern California who is an international expert in the study of obesity, added: 'This is an important study that puts into question a commonly held belief that the surge in obesity over the last few decades can be simply explained by a more sedentary lifestyle.'"

Clearly.