Obesity Epidemic Fuelled By Decrease In Workplace Physical Activity

Wrong.

Decrease in physical activity in many occupations over the last 50 years, and not just a change in calorie consumption, has contributed significantly to the obesity epidemic in the United States, according to a new study published this week in the journal PLoS ONE.

The study was the work of scientists from the Pennington Biomedical Research Center, part of the Louisiana State University System in Baton Rouge, and colleagues from other research centers.

Lead researcher Dr Timothy Church, who holds a John S. McIlhenny Endowed Chair at Pennington Biomedical, told the press that:

"Yesterday's jobs have been replaced by sitting or sedentary activity."

"In the last fifty years, we estimate that daily occupation-related energy expenditure has decreased by more than 100 calories (sic) per day, and this reduction accounts for a significant portion of the increase in mean US body weights for women and men," he explained.

Using data from the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES) and the Bureau of Labor Statistics to calculate mean body weight and job-related energy expenditure, Church and colleagues estimated that only 20% of jobs in US private industry today demand a moderate level of physical effort, compared with 50% in the early 1960s.

They also estimated that compared with 50 years ago, today's average American burns 100 fewer job-related calories (sic) a day.

It is overeating those "100 fewer job-related Calories a day" that causes overweight/obesity.