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Women Need More Exercise to Keep the Weight Off

With 65% or more of the adults in the United States tipping the scales at the overweight (or beyond) point, losing excess weight and keeping it off is a mission most of us wish we could accomplish.  It’s common knowledge that healthy food choices and regular exercise are critical steps to take when following a weight-loss regimen but a newly released study from the University of Pittsburgh suggests we might need more exercise than once recommended.

The University of Pittsburgh study, led by John M. Jakicic, PhD, developed a weight loss intervention program that he evaluated from 1999 to 2003.  The study involved 201 women who were either overweight or obese and wanted to lose 10% of their body weight.  Each woman was enrolled in the study for a two-year period.

The women’s diets were limited to 1,200 to 1,500 calories a day and each woman was assigned to be a part of one of four groups identified in the study.  The groups varied according to calories burned during physical activity each week (1,000 versus 2,000 calories a week) and exercise intensity (moderate or vigorous).  In addition to diet and exercise, the women could make telephone calls to the intervention team as desired.

After just six months, the women in each group had lost an average of 8% to 10% of their body weight at the beginning of the study.  Unfortunately, most of the women gained some of the weight back again.  At the end of the two-year study period, the women had maintained an average weight loss of only 5% of their initial weight and neither group was more successful than the others.

In spite of poor overall performance, about 25% of the study’s participants were able to lose 10% of their initial weight and not regain it during the study period.  These particular women, not segregated to either one of the four specific study groups, had increased their weekly caloric expenditures to an average of 1,835 calories per week, or about 275 minutes per week of exercise.

Current recommendations usually specify 30 minutes of exercise five days a week, or a total of 150 minutes of exercise for the week.  When the women in the study exercised 275 minutes, or 55 minutes five days a week, they were able to maintain their weight loss.

These same women also took greater advantage of the option to call the intervention team and they were more aggressive in their dietary choices, choosing to reduce dietary fat and modifying other aspects of their diets with more vigor than the study participants who did not maintain 10% weight loss.

Jakicic suggests more research is needed to explore this level of physical activity and the ability of study participants to comply with it over a lengthy period of time.  He states in the report describing the study that eating behaviors and communications with the intervention team also proved invaluable for long-term weight loss.

The July 28 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine carries full details of the Jakicic study.

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