A simple equation governs weight control and body composition

Reported by Susan Aldridge, PhD, medical journalist

Diet alone or diet and exercise can be equally effective in reducing body weight, so long as they produce the same calorie deficit.
In all the debate on the relative merits of low fat, low carb and high fiber diets, it is easy to lose sight of a simple message - it is the calories that count when it comes to weight control. This message is now underlined by a new study from Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The researchers have been comparing the impact of diet alone and diet and exercise upon weight and body composition.

A group of 35 overweight adults was assigned to either normal diet (to maintain weight), calorie-reduced diet alone, or calorie-reduced diet plus exercise. The researchers calculated the action plans so that the diet alone reduced calories by 25 per cent. In the diet plus exercise group, the diet reduced calorie intake by 12.5 per cent while the exercise was planned to expend 12.5 per cent more calories. The important point was that the two action groups achieved the same overall calorie deficit - but by different methods.

After six months, those in the calorie-restricted diet group and those in the diet and exercise group had both lost ten per cent of their body weight, 24 per cent of their fat mass and 27 per cent of their abdominal fat. However, the distribution of fat in the body - the overall body composition - had not altered with either approach. The researchers believe your body composition may be genetically programmed and cannot easily change. Nor can exercise 'spot reduce' certain areas, like the hips, as is commonly believed. For weight control, diet alone or diet plus exercise will therefore give results - but exercise gives added health benefits.

Source
Journal of Clinical Epidemiology & Metabolism online 2nd January 2007 (print March)

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