Herbal Health

One of the problems in designing physical activity for the overfat is the negative connotations of the term ‘exercise’. This is probably to do with the association of exercise with high intensity activity. A greater emphasis on low-moderate level activity, and a shift from the notion of exercise as ‘extra-curricular’ to lifestyle changes in activity patterns suggests that a term such as physical activity might be more appropriate. There are two forms of this that are relevant:

• ‘Planned’ physical activity, such as walking, swimming or some other form of aerobic activity carried out regularly, often as a part of recreation.

• ‘Incidental’ physical activity, such as walking up stairs instead of using an elevator, walking instead of driving, or even not using effort-saving devices such as cordless telephones or remote controls for television sets.

Planned physical activity is necessary to compensate for the decrease in daily energy use resulting from changes in work and daily living conditions in most modem societies. Weight-bearing activities such as walking are likely to be the most effective because of the greater energy use. However, in the first instance non-weight-bearing activities such as swimming, which are thought to be generally less effective in fat loss, may be more able to be carried out and therefore less de-motivational.

Incidental activity is designed to counter reductions in spontaneous physical activity that occur in technically advanced societies. It is this which may be of most importance, and may initially even be the only exercise prescription for obese, in contrast to overfat individuals, because of the discomforting and de-motivational aspects of more vigorous forms of activity. As body mass decreases and planned physical activity becomes more comfortable, different forms of planned activities can be introduced.

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Exact reasons for the increases in fatness in the community are not as clear as they might seem to the layperson. Research has Hailed to provide conclusive evidence on any single factor and the evidence on a range of different factors , is often equivocal. For example, there is little to suggest that total energy consumption is the main culprit. Although obese people generally do consume more calories than lean people, there is still a wide variation between people. Also, active people are known to be big eaters but aren’t necessarily fat. Athletes are the extreme example of this, but of course they are also highly active. As far as we can tell, people in most industrialised countries now consume around the same or less total energy intake as their grandparents, yet their grandparents didn’t seem to have the same battle with the bulge. While there are significant problems assessing total energy intake, all indications are that this has not increased sufficiently to account for the increases in obesity now being seen.

Change in the type of food that’s being eaten would seem to be the next obvious factor—fatty foods and fast foods in particular. Indeed, a correlation between fat consumption and obesity in some countries, like France, where the records have been available for years, would tend to support this. Since the turn of the century the percentage of fat in the diet has undoubtedly increased, but most of the increase has been in the last few decades. In countries like Australia, the UK and the US, the overall consumption of fat may have stabilised or even decreased. Sugar consumption doesn’t seem to be related, as countries with high sugar consumption (e.g. Cuba) have low average body fat levels. Those with a high sugar consumption within countries are also amongst the leanest in a community, possibly because sugar and fat are generally inversely correlated. Large increases in soft drink and fruit juice consumption have occurred in recent years, however the connection between this and the increase in obesity is speculative only. Increases in alcohol are a further possibility, but consumption of this has generally been going down in those countries where obesity is increasing and consumption levels in populations often correlates inversely with obesity levels. In fact there’s now little evidence to support the notion that alcohol per se is fattening.

Smoking rates are declining in most advanced countries, and it is known that the average smoker gains around 3kg over a 12-month period after quitting. Might this be a reason for increases in fatness at a community level? Several studies have shown that it may be a small contributor, but the increases in weight have been amongst smokers, ex-smokers and non-smokers, suggesting that it’s not just quitters who have been the gainers.

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