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NUCCA News - More Steps, Less Bites Stop Weight Gain: Experts Thu Feb 6, 6:01 PM ET Add Health - Reuters to My Yahoo! NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The current US 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 Thursday.
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 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 31% of 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. |
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