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A new study suggests that obese women get just one hour of vigorous exercise a year, while obese men don't do much better at fewer than four hours. The findings startled the researchers, whose main focus was finding better ways to measure how much exercise people get. "They're living their lives from one chair to another," said Edward Archer, a research fellow with the Nutrition Obesity Research Center at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. "We didn't realize we were that sedentary. There are some people who are vigorously active, but it's offset by the huge number of individuals who are inactive."
Ouch! I could see per week, or even in extreme cases per month, but per year?! So much for 'it's my genes' excuse. We're all busy, but physical activity is important enough to make time for.
I'm overweight, yet, I ran and lifted weights for an hour and a half today alone. Two of the other three women using the treadmills and elipticals at the same time I was were overweight, as well. Guess we're just "above average."
But, yes, a HUGE number of people live largely sedentary lifestyles.
That is scary; however I can believe it now that I've moved to one of the fattest states in the country. I know several obese people. The men get a little more exercise because they are more likely to mow lawns, shovel snow and take out the trash and do "men's" work. But that is still just a few minutes per week when you think about it.
It's BOTH activity and diet, IMO. I'm 56 and post-meno female and I weigh what I did 40 years ago, by choice. I have a physically active job, I exercise because I enjoy it, I watch what I eat...trust me it would be easy for me to become a middle-aged fat woman, but I chose not to.
[quote=boxus;33578482]I am surprised even by one hour, probably happens in January for the New Year's resolution, which quickly gets abandoned.
Anyway, the obesity problem has to do with diet, not exercise.[/QUOTE]
No chance. It is definitely both. A person does not become obese without overeating and being lazy. A person who constantly exercises but eats a lot will not become obese.
No, it is diet. A person could never even get off the sofa and still not be obese. A lot of the world's population never exercise, yet do not have obesity issues.
Seldom are people running olympic style rigorous routines to consume thousands of calories a day, even running, people are consuming around 150 calories per mile. Most of the population does not ever exercise enough to lose weight without diet being the main factor.
Exercise for most people does not consume many calories, not enough to offset a horrible diet.
No, it is diet. A person could never even get off the sofa and still not be obese. A lot of the world's population never exercise, yet do not have obesity issues.
Seldom are people running olympic style rigorous routines to consume thousands of calories a day, even running, people are consuming around 150 calories per mile. Most of the population does not ever exercise enough to lose weight without diet being the main factor.
Exercise for most people does not consume many calories, not enough to offset a horrible diet.
I disagree with this statement.
Do you have a cite (at least one authoritative, peer reviewed statement, study or article) that backs up your claim?
"There was some encouraging news in the results as well: thanks to greater awareness about the importance of physical activity in improving health, about 31% of adults do report engaging in vigorous exercise three or more days a week."
However, the article does not deal with obesity issues, rather issues related to the lack of activity.
Then here is this:
"35% of adults aged 20 and over were overweight in 2008, and 11% were obese."
So if only 31% of adults are exercising, yet only 35% are overweight, obviously there are people who do not exercise and are not overweight (that would be my entire family, thin as a rail and never stepped foot in a gym, let alone any outdoor activity, except for me, I love the gym).
I admit, my first post was based of off personal experience and anecdotal evidence. I have lived and traveled all over the world, and the poorer the country, the less formal exercising you see and a more stationary population except for walking to and from the bazaar and bus stop, yet amazingly thin compared to say the US, where there is a gym on every block and people out running in parks and such, yet has one of the most obese populations in the world. I lived in Russia, and many women (and men) are thin, yet they do not exercise at all.
One thing many of these places, especially poorer areas have in common is the lack of an American/Western diet. They eat small amounts, mostly veggies, few meat products, hardly any sweets at all. The overall common theme is just the lack of total calories consumed a day.
Also, anyone involved in fitness knows how many calories exercise consumes, it is not much. Despite the hype around exercise for weight loss, a correction in diet is the major factor in a person's body fat percent. This has been gone over again and again on this forum. Even in the military, which I was part of for 12 years, have issues with overweight people; obviously these people need more than just exercise to control their weight as we had mandatory exercising three days a week.
Trust me on this -- if I take in 6,000 calories a day, and exercise for two hours a day......at the end of a year, I'll be obese.
My brother is on a very strict diet. He measures his foods, etc, and has an incredibly clean diet. He hasn't exercised meaningfully in nearly 6 years, but has lost 20 pounds over those same 6 years. Why? Due to the fact that he consumes slightly less in calories than he expends.
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. Thank god, Because I usually do only 3.4 hours a week. 
But that is still just a few minutes per week when you think about it.
