Exercise alone isn’t always Enough

Photo courtesy of CamponeZ

Exercise will not cut the risk of heart disease in those who are overweight unless they also slim down, according to a study of thousands of U.S. women published in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

"Even high quantities of physical activity are unlikely to fully reverse the risk of coronary heart disease in overweight and obese women without concurrent weight loss," Dr. Amy Weinstein and colleagues at Boston's Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center reported.

The study including nearly 39,000 women began in 1992 and traced a number of health issues. N ormal weight was defined as a BMI of <25, overweight BMI 25 to <30, and obese BMI 30.

The researchers said 34% of the women in the study were physically active based on government guidelines, 31% were overweight and 18% were obese.

At the end of the study, 948 women were diagnosed with heart disease. Active women with normal weight had the lowest risk of developing heart problems while there was a slightly higher risk for those with normal weight who were not active.

The risk was next highest for active women who were either overweight or obese, and highest for similar women who were inactive.

This study concludes with guidelines recommending 30 minutes of moderate activity daily to reduce chronic disease. Furthermore, this study suggests that more than 30 minutes of physical activity daily further reduces this risk. High quantities of physical activity are unlikely to fully reverse the risk of Chronic Health Disease in overweight and obese women without concurrent weight loss.

This study contradicts the theory that you can be simultaneously overweight and fit.

As we start to discuss some of these issues we can directly tie them into our goal setting and the best ways to achieve them for ourselves, here at Iowa Avenue.

Because, after all, it’s about a healthy lifestyle!

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