Too Much Food, Not Lack Of Exercise Says Professor
Written by Jamie Stowe | Wednesday, 13 May 2009 | There is 1 comment
it was unrealistic to expect big increases in physical exercise to burn calories
The reason why there are so many obese individuals in America is not anything to do with a lack of physical activity but in fact directly related to overeating according to a new research project.
Professor Boyd Swinburn from Deakin University in Australia said there is no evidence whatsoever that less physical activity has been contributing to the obesity crisis in America. His research which was announced at a large international conference on the problem of obesity in Amsterdam made clear that the problem of obesity was directly related to extra energy intake and not because of a lack of burning off extra calories.
In order to arrive at these conclusions Professor Swinburn worked out what American people should weigh by working out their current food intake and then compared this to how heavy they actually were. He said that if the subjects were heavier than projected this would point to a lessening of physical activity. Professor Swinburn said that the results pointed to adults actually increasing their amount of physical activity rather than decreasing over the last few decades.
Professor Swinburn reckoned that the only way for children to get thinner was to cut back on their calories intake by around 350 calories daily and for adults to get thin it would require a calorie cut of about 500 daily.
Professor Swinburn also commented that it was unrealistic to expect big increases in physical exercise to burn off the extra calories and therefore the emphasis should be on encouraging reduced calorie intake rather than trying to get adults and children to get more physical activity.
America has a huge problem with portion size. A competitive free market in American restaurants has led to them competing on food quantity rather than on food quality. This has led to the perception that big is better when it comes to food and this has had a massive negative impact on the waistlines of the American people.
