The Relationship Between Obesity and Inactivity Isn't as Clear Cut as You Think

I found an interesting article from Science Daily talking about childhood obesity entitled, "Inactivity 'No Contributor' to Childhood Obesity Epidemic, New Report Suggests". For years, most of us have thought that inactivity has been a major factor in childhood obesity, and many groups, schools, governments and so on have taken to promote physical fitness as a way to fight the spread of childhood obesity. Well, according from a report from the EarlyBird Diabetes Study, the presumption that inactivity leads to obesity in children could be dead wrong.

In studying many children over several years, they found that obese children lost little weight with increased physical activity, and with more study came to a startling conclusion. Inactivity doesn't lead to childhood obesity, rather...the obesity leads to the inactivity. This finding can -- and should -- have a profound impact on how society deals with childhood obesity. Rather than focusing on activity levels, they should focus on other things. For example, they state that a much bigger factor in childhood obesity is the food they eat, not only what it is, but also how much. The study also shows that if the same sex parent is obese, then usually their child will be as well.

This opens up whole new areas of focus for agencies looking to fight childhood obesity. There are already programs to help with diet, but now more focus can be put upon them, as well as the diet and weight of prospective parents as well. This study is kind of fascinating, and makes me wonder if obese adults have the same issue with weight and inactivity. If so, then diet is just as important as exercise in one's weight loss regimen.