Do We Need To Exercise More Than Our Elder Generations Ever Did?

As if hovering around to find signal and a Wi-Fi connection wasn’t tasking enough, a new study shows that we might need to work out more. Some of us don’t exercise at all – unless you consider eating and sleeping one, in which case we are athletes – but those of us who do, have a big bubble buster ahead.

According to a recent study conducted by the team at York University, Toronto, Canada, older people had it easier. Unlike people born between during the 80s and 90s, they could eat more and exercise less, and still avoid obesity. This could be due to the fact that our body weight is impacted by our changing lifestyle and environment.

Activity Survey

The research analyzed dietary data of nearly 36,400 US adults collected by the US National Health and Nutrition Survey between 1971 and 2008. The available physical activity frequency data, of 14,419 adults in the 1988 to 2006 period was also used.

“We observe that for a given amount of self-reported food intake, people will be about 10% heavier in 2008 than in 1971,” lead researcher Ruth Brown from York University noted.

The researchers also found that for a given amount of physical activity level, people were about 5% heavier in 2006 than in 1988. “These changes may in part explain why we have seen the dramatic rise in obesity,” Brown noted.

Other Culprits

“However, it also indicates there may be other specific changes contributing to the rise in obesity beyond just diet and exercise,” said Jennifer Kuk from York University in Toronto, Canada.

Our body weight is impacted by our lifestyle and environment, such as medication use, environmental pollutants, genetics, timing of food intake, stress, gut bacteria and even nighttime light exposure, Kuk explained. “Ultimately, maintaining a healthy body weight is now more challenging than ever,” Kuk added.

The findings will be featured in the upcoming issue of the journal Obesity Research & Clinical Practice.