United States: physical activity is on the rise, but so is obesity…
In the United States, individuals practice more and more physical activities, in a very general way. And yet, this growing phenomenon does not help the country to reduce its obesity rate, which is particularly high (according to the FAO , the Food Organization of the United Nations , and data for the year 2008, obesity affects nearly one in three people).
It was yesterday, Wednesday, that the newspaper “Population Health Metrics” published information on the fact that nearly two-thirds of citizens, including the most precarious in terms of health, and both men and women, are have become increasingly active over the past ten years; which is a great thing.
This report indicates that women have made more progress than men in efforts to increase their physical activity. In California, for example, only 50.7% of women were getting enough physical activity weekly in 2001. In 2011, ten years later, that figure had risen to 59.2%. For men, this figure rose from 59.4% in 2001 to 61.3% in 2011, a lesser increase therefore.
But contrary to what one might think, these figures do not correspond to a decline in obesity in the country. This is the conclusion of the researchers from the University of Washington who are at the origin of this study: “ only increasing physical activity has a very minimal impact on the phenomena of obesity ”.
Also in California, the obesity rate increased between 2001 and 2009. The rate at the national level has also increased, although recent studies suggest that the level could stabilize or even decrease.
Christopher JL Murray, who conducted this research, provides extremely interesting details, he says himself: “There has been a lot of progress from a physical activity point of view. But we probably need to do better. There are ever more calories in our environment; and these are all calories that need to be eliminated through physical exertion .”
His conclusion is therefore clear: junk food, and our relationship with food, make it imperative to increase physical activity accordingly. Many experts in the health field agree that physical exercise helps fight obesity, but that the only lasting way to lose weight is to make lasting changes to your eating habits and your relation to food. The problem lies in the fact that our environment is changing, just like our eating habits and our lifestyles: the excess physical effort, in general, should be in line with our new lifestyles, which is not currently the case. Increasing your physical activity is therefore an excellent thing,during physical activity, in particular ).
Robert Lustig, a neuroendocrinologist has a very clear opinion, he says: ” No study, anywhere, in the world, proves that physical exercise involves weight loss “. He also says that less food reduces the desire to do physical exercise.
At the White House on Wednesday, Michelle OBAMA quoted this report, indicating that it is clear that eating habits that are lower in calories are the only real alternative to obesity. She also added “ it seems obvious, but we continue to resist the obvious ”.
The research was funded by the state of Washington.
Image taken from the study
We’ve extracted an image from the study so you can get an idea of how physical activity has changed in the United States.
This is a diagram where age is standardized, and which indicates, by region, the percentage of individuals (men and women are separated), who have a physical activity considered “ sufficient ”. The population is an adult population of age at least equal to 20. The data are for the year 2001, 2009 and 2011.
Stephen Paul is the lead author and founder of My Health Sponsor. Holder of a diploma in health and well-being coaching with more than 200 articles in the field of health, he makes it a point of honor to offer advice based on reliable information, based on scientific research, and verified by health professionals.