Exercise or eat less? What keeps us healthier

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More than a billion people worldwide are obese. The causes are considered to be excessive calorie intake and too little exercise. But which is more important?

Many people are severely overweight. So many people worldwide are affected that experts even refer to it as a global epidemic. According to a study by researchers at Duke University (North Carolina, US), this is mainly due to excessive calorie intake. Lack of exercise plays a relatively minor role. But there are still uncertainties.

The team led by Amanda McGrosky and Amy Luke evaluated data on body mass index (BMI), body fat percentage, and energy expenditure from 4,213 people from 34 population groups on six continents. The team included very different groups with very different lifestyles, including hunters and gatherers, farmers, and people from industrialized countries.

Unsurprisingly, there was a correlation between living in economically developed countries and greater body mass, BMI, and body fat, but energy consumption was also higher in these groups. Thus, obesity in industrialized countries cannot be explained (solely) by the fact that people do not get enough exercise.

“This refutes the hypothesis that reduced physical activity contributes to an increase in obesity with economic development,” the team said. Instead, the results suggested “that food intake plays a far greater role in the increased incidence of obesity associated with economic development than reduced energy expenditure.”

According to the study, lack of exercise plays a much smaller role, while increased energy intake plays a role that is about ten times as important.

No, because “physical activity is perfect for overall health,” McGrosky told Science.org. “It just may not have the impact on total energy expenditure that has been assumed.” However, further research is needed, among other things, to clarify the suspicion that highly processed foods are to blame for the obesity epidemic.

Because the team did not have data on individual participants, no definitive statements could be made about dietary habits in more economically developed societies. However, it was observed that people from population groups that consume more high-calorie, highly processed foods on average had more body fat. Accordingly, there could be a connection. Foods under suspicion include sausage, sweets, and ready meals.

The new findings, as well as further research, are essential. This is because obesity is not only unhealthy but also one of the leading causes of death, according to the study. Severe obesity “causes over four million deaths annually and costs 140 million years of life.”