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  • Original Article
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The effects of changing exercise levels on weight and age-related weight gain

International Journal of Obesity volume 30, pages 543–551 (2006)Cite this article

Abstract

Objective:

To determine prospectively whether physical activity can prevent age-related weight gain and whether changing levels of activity affect body weight.

Design/subjects:

The study consisted of 8080 male and 4871 female runners who completed two questionnaires an average (±standard deviation (s.d.)) of 3.20±2.30 and 2.59±2.17 years apart, respectively, as part of the National Runners’ Health Study.

Results:

Changes in running distance were inversely related to changes in men's and women's body mass indices (BMIs) (slope±standard error (s.e.): −0.015±0.001 and −0.009±0.001 kg/m2 per Δkm/week, respectively), waist circumferences (−0.030±0.002 and −0.022±0.005 cm per Δkm/week, respectively) and percent changes in body weight (−0.062±0.003 and −0.041±0.003% per Δkm/week, respectively, all P<0.0001). The regression slopes were significantly steeper (more negative) in men than women for ΔBMI and Δ%body weight (P<0.0001). A longer history of running diminished the impact of changing running distance on men's weights. When adjusted for Δkm/week, years of aging in men and years of aging in women were associated with increases of 0.066±0.005 and 0.056±0.006 kg/m2 in BMI, respectively, increases of 0.294±0.019 and 0.279±0.028% in Δ%body weight, respectively, and increases of 0.203±0.016 and 0.271±0.033 cm in waist circumference, respectively (all P<0.0001). These regression slopes suggest that vigorous exercise may need to increase 4.4 km/week annually in men and 6.2 km/week annually in women to compensate for the expected gain in weight associated with aging (2.7 and 3.9 km/week annually when correct for the attenuation due to measurement error).

Conclusions:

Age-related weight gain occurs even among the most active individuals when exercise is constant. Theoretically, vigorous exercise must increase significantly with age to compensate for the expected gain in weight associated with aging.

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Acknowledgements

Dr Williams was responsible for obtaining funding, overseeing the study implementation, statistical analyses and manuscript preparation. Dr Wood contributed to the design and in manuscript preparation. This work was supported in part by Grants HL-45652, HL-072110 and DK066738 from the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, and was conducted at the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory (Department of Energy DE-AC03-76SF00098 to the University of California).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Life Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, Donner Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, USA

    P T Williams

  2. Stanford Center for Research in Disease Prevention, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA

    P D Wood

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Correspondence to P T Williams.

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Williams, P., Wood, P. The effects of changing exercise levels on weight and age-related weight gain. Int J Obes 30, 543–551 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0803172

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