It's all in the details!

I just finished reading an article in TIME magazine titled: "Teen Obesity: Lack of Exercise May Not Be to Blame" by Alice Park that discusses findings from a new study by researchers at the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The findings point to the fact that the prevalence of obesity in U.S. teens may not be due to decreased levels of physical activity.

These findings could easily lead to a belief that physical activity has nothing to do with weight management and could be used as an excuse to not incorporate physical activity and exercise into daily routines. This may not be the best perspective to put into the minds of your students.

The TIME article includes a great response to the findings from Dr. Janet Walberg Rankin, a professor in the department of Human Nutrition, Foods, and Exercise at Virginia Tech. "We need to have a dual approach to weight involving both diet and activity." She goes on to advise that, "people should take the new data with a grain of salt...The data is too general to assume that exercise doesn't count."

What can we take away from these findings? Physical activity levels for American and Canadian teens are still very low and even if the lack of physical activity can't explain the rise in obesity, we should still be advocates of it. The best approach to maintaining a healthy weight is to eat a balanced diet and get 60 minutes of physical activity at least 3 times a week.

A Response to the TIME Magazine Article: "Why Exercise Won't Make You Thin"

Photo courtesy of www.time.com

This summer, TIME magazine published a controversial cover story titled "Why Exercise Won't Make You Thin" by John Cloud. Within the article, Cloud argues that exercise doesn't actually help you lose weight, but actually makes it harder. He believes that while exercise burns calories, which you need to do to lose weight, it also stimulates hunger and causes us to eat more, which negates the weight-loss benefits of exercise. He goes on to state that "pushing people to exercise more may actually be contributing to our obesity problem."

It might be a good exercise to read this article with your students and see their initial reactions. Some may agree with Cloud and use it as an excuse to stop exercising. Others may disagree with him completely. There have been strong reactions to this article both pro and con in the health and physical fitness community. The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) included a response to the article in the September/October 2009 edition of Fitness Business Canada.

Within the article, it states that Dr. Timothy Church, M.D., Ph. D., and ACSM member, who was one of the experts consulted for Cloud's story, believes that his research and opinions were selectively reported by Cloud. According to Church, the article should have mentioned the key concept that "weight management is most successful when careful attention is given to both physical activity and proper nutrition. Exercise and diet go together."

Discussing the article with your students is a good way to ensure they are making informed decisions about their health and physical fitness routines. It also illustrates the mixed messages our culture sends us in regards to our health and how important it is to take the information we hear and read about in the media with a "grain of salt."