re: Exercise Trumps the 'Obesity Gene'

slack — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 20:45:02 GMT

A better analysis is to be found at junkfoodscience.blogspot.com by Sandy Szwarc: http://junkfoodscience.blogspot.com/2008/09/lessons-from-amish.html

The reality of
physical activity as having any significant correlation to obesity was
actually not supported in this study. The level of physical activity in
the two strata used by the authors was defined as the energy expended
at the 25th and 75th centiles of all of the Old Order Amish in this
study cohort:

For women, energy expenditure was 2,610 and 3,590 kcal/d at the 25th and 75th centiles, respectively, whereas for men energy expenditure was 3,130 and 3,990 kcal/d at
the same centiles. Thus, in this population, a mean activity level of
860 calories for women and 980 calories for men separates the high- and
low-activity strata, which differ in their phenotypic expression of the
at-risk FTO genotypes.

In other words, there was no correlation among the Amish with this gene variant and BMIs among the women working out as much as about 10 hours a day and among men 12 hours a day!* Only when they were physically active pretty much every waking hour of the day — 14 hours/day for women and 16 hours/day for men — was a correlation [albeit untenable] with a 2.1 units lower average BMI reported:

re: Exercise Trumps the 'Obesity Gene'

Sheila C — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 17:33:31 GMT

Great news for those struggling with obesity. Simple things like walking, gardening, housekeeping, puttering, it's all good.