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Steps, Less Bites Stop Weight Gain
Our current environment makes it easy to overeat and forgo
exercise, but a few small changes in diet and lifestyle
could go a long way, experts said.
These simple changes consist of walking a few extra minutes
throughout the day and putting down your fork after fewer
bites than usual at each meal, they suggest.
In Canada and the US, tasty food is now available in large,
affordable portions, note Dr. James O. Hill, of the University
of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver, and his colleagues.
At the same time, fewer people are expending energy throughout
their days, spending more time sitting in front of a television
or computer, they add.
In response, the rates of obesity and overweight have skyrocketed
in recent years, Hill and his team write in the February
7th issue of the journal Science. At least 30% of Canadian
and US adults are now obese, and if the current trend continues,
officials predict that rate will climb to almost 40% in
2008.
Although the government has encouraged people to adopt major
changes such as going on a diet or taking up regular exercise,
these recommendations do not seem to be stopping the trend
of expanding waistlines, Hill told Reuters Health.
"Whatever we're doing, it isn't working," he said.
"Because we're losing the battle on obesity."
As another approach, he and his colleagues say that subtle
changes in lifestyle may help people stop gaining weight
and, perhaps in the long-term, even shed pounds.
Specifically, Hill and his team propose that people try
adding 15 minutes of extra walking throughout their day
and taking a few less bites at every meal.
Smaller changes in lifestyle may be easier to make than
drastic changes, Hill said in an interview, and these relatively
simple recommendations are meant to enable people to keep
up the changes over the long term. "Almost sneaking
small behavior changes in so that you don't even know it,"
he said.
Fifteen extra minutes of walking is roughly 2,000 extra
steps, Hill said. The state of Colorado is now arming some
residents with step counters, which enable them to make
sure they get those extra steps throughout the day. The
next step, Hill said, is to see if this program keeps people
from adding pounds.
"Time will tell whether that program affects weight
gain," he said.
He stressed that the suggestions of extra steps and fewer
bites are meant to stop all people--thin, overweight, or
obese--from gaining weight. More long-term recommendations--such
as cutting portion sizes in the food industry--are needed
to help people lose weight, he noted. But until those changes
appear, Hill said, stopping further gains is a good first
step.
Small changes in lifestyle could also lead to larger changes
like adding even more steps to the day or cutting back on
fatty foods, Hill added.
"Starting people to make small changes can lead to
other small changes, which can lead to weight loss,"
he said.
In the same issue of the journal, which contains a special
section on obesity, researchers argue that overweight and
obese people face many obstacles when trying to lose weight.
Dr. Jeffrey M. Friedman of The Rockefeller University in
New York City notes that a person's genes play a significant
role in his or her weight, and research has shown that obesity
is just as inheritable as a person's height. The genes linked
to obesity are those involved in regulating the balance
between how many calories we take in and how many we burn,
he writes.
In another report, Dr. Xavier Pi-Sunyer of Columbia University
in New York City writes that it is very difficult to treat
obesity. Changes that would improve treatment involve spending
more time teaching doctors about obesity, allowing doctors
to spend more time with overweight patients, better drugs
and more research into the disease, he notes.
SOURCE: Science 2003;299:853-860.
Article Source: Reuters Health
Article Author: N/A
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