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| |  Current Exercise Recommendations Not Sufficient for Obese Women CHICAGO -- July 28, 2008 -- In addition to limiting calories, overweight and obese women may need to exercise 55 minutes a day for 5 days per week to sustain a weight loss of 10% over 2 years, according to a study in the July 28 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine. "Among obese adults, long-term weight loss and prevention of weight regain have been less than desired," the authors wrote. "Therefore, there is a need for more effective interventions." Current recommendations prescribe 30 minutes of moderate physical activity on most days of the week. However, a growing consensus suggests that more exercise may be needed to enhance long-term weight loss. To calculate the amount of exercise needed, John M. Jakicic, PhD, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and colleagues enrolled 201 overweight and obese women in a weight-loss intervention between 1999 and 2003. All women were told to eat between 1,200 and 1,500 calories per day. They were then assigned to 1 of 4 groups based on physical activity amount (burning 1,000 vs 2,000 calories per week) and intensity (moderate vs vigorous). Group meetings focusing on strategies for modifying eating and exercise habits, as well telephone calls with the intervention team, were conducted over the 2-year period. After 6 months, women in all 4 groups had lost an average of 8% to 10% of their initial body weight. However, most were not able to sustain this weight loss. After 2 years, the women's weight was an average of 5% lower than their initial weight, with no difference between groups. The 24.6% of individuals who did maintain a loss of 10% or more over 2 years reported performing more physical activity (an average of 1,835 calories per week, or 275 minutes per week over the baseline level of activity) compared with those who lost less weight. Individuals who maintained weight loss also completed more telephone calls with the intervention team, engaged in more eating behaviors recommended for weight control, and had a lower intake of dietary fat. "This clarifies the amount of physical activity that should be targeted for achieving and sustaining this magnitude of weight loss but also demonstrates the difficulty of sustaining this level of physical activity," the authors wrote. "Research is needed to improve long-term compliance with this targeted level of physical activity." SOURCE: Journal of the American Medical Association
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