Walk to Ward Off Age-Related Weight Gain

(WebMD)  Walking as little as half an hour a day may keep the extra pounds from adding up as you get older.

A new study suggests that the more you walk, the less likely you'll gain weight as you age. Researchers followed nearly 5,000 men and women for 15 years and found that a half hour of walking per day reduced the usual weight gain per year by 1 pound among women who were the heaviest at the start of the study.

"Walking is of particular relevance because it is generally an affordable and accessible form of physical activity for most people," writes researcher Penny Gordon-Larsen of the School of Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and colleagues.

"If we can increase walking participation by Americans, the evidence is strong that we will improve not only weight control but overall public health."

The results appear in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Walking Prevents Age-Related Weight Gain


It's a fact of life for most Western societies that aging is accompanied by weight gain. Previous studies have suggested that this age-related weight gain may result from a decrease in physical activity as people get older.

Although walking has been shown to promote weight loss and prevent obesity, researchers say this is the first study to look at the long-term effects of walking on weight gain and weight control.

The study examined walking habits and weight gain over a period of 15 years among a group of 4,995 men and women aged 18-30.

The results showed that the average body weight and BMI (body mass index, a measure of weight in relation to height) increased over time, but physical activity and walking decreased.

However, men and women who walked more in the early to middle adult years gained less weight and were more likely to lose weight or maintain their weight than gain weight as they got older.

The anti-weight gain effect of walking was greatest among heavy women. For example, the half hour of walking per day was associated with about 15 fewer added pounds over the 15-year study period. Results were similar but slightly less significant in men.

In an editorial that accompanies the study, Miriam E. Nelson and Sara C. Folta of the John Hancock Center for Physical Activity and Nutrition at Tufts University say this is the first study to demonstrate that walking has a protective effect on long-term weight gain.

"It lays the groundwork for future studies, which will help answer how much walking or physical activity in total is needed to maintain body weight over time."

By Jennifer Warner
Reviewed by Louise Chang
©2005-2008 WebMD, LLC. All rights reserved

[amrt5016]

Why is this a news article?
Posted by rushman71

In the article, it is pointed out that this is the ''first study to demonstrate that walking has a protective effect on long-term weight gain.'' The need for data to support what might seem obvious but significant cannot be overestimated.

[barbaram99]

I am 54. I am 140lbs. I used to be 100 lbs. And for years could not go over 100 lbs, at 37 the periods stoped for good, But that when I gained. I try to walk and can''t that well. I have cp . I don''t eat alot. Walking is good. I try to.

[ludvig1-2009]

I lost 20 lbs. in 20 days after my doc told me to lose weight or get diabetes by doing 1000 calories of exercise a day and limiting my calorie intake to 2000 calories. Went from 260 to 220 eventually. For my present weight I need to walk 8.3 miles or ride a bike 17 miles, but if you do this expect to make the cops potential perpetrator picture album. I had my pic taken by those idiots, had a decoy car put in my path, been spied one walking laps around the park and had a bag labeled "Medical" dropped 5 ft. out in the street perfectly centered on my driveway while a senile volunteer hid a block down the street where he could keep an eye on the bag. I guess they thought I''d look in the bag, perhaps find Medical Marijuana, bring it in my house and then they could knock my door down like the Mayor in Maryland and shoot my basset hound in the back. I didn''t bite, drove off to the store and when I came back they picked it up. Idiots. Predjudiced incompetent goons, Acronymn (PIG).

[hypnotoad72]

In 2009, I started a pledge to lose my balloon belly. I''m 36. On the elliptical trainer for 16 minutes kept my knees in pain for 4 days. Since then I''ve done it 18 minutes every other day. Today I did two 18 minute sessions (one AM, one PM) and I am feeling pretty good.

I will aim for two 1 hr sessions as time goes by.

My diet is already pretty decent, but immobility from job and sedentary nature will mean more hurt at time goes by. And I wish to live a longer, prosperous life. To get fatter now would wreak REAL havoc on my knees and everywhere else.

And given I''ve seen 21 year olds and, heck, 8 year olds with guts LARGER than mine, they need to move more or eat better. No more MacCholesterol. Seriously; never mind the physical appearance issue. It WILL be more painful as life goes on.

[shanev137]

Another no-brainer.

[skinnyminny2]

Everyone knows this. Few bother to do it, it''s asking too much of them.

[redtrash]

Eating LSD or sniffing cocaine are both a great way to keep off those extra age related pounds!

[lonestartnow]

Well, we know walking is good for your weight and your heart, bones, muscles and mood. I''m co-founder of LoneStart Wellness, and we also know that walking alone isn''t enough to keep weight from adding up. Your diet (which includes dietary intake, portion size and good nutrition) plays a greater factor in weight loss than physical activity. But, do keep walking and stay active. For you walkers, did you know that for every pound of weight you lose, there''s about a 4 pound reduction in the load placed on the knee joint with each step. That''s more than 4,800 pounds per mile walked.Lose 10 pounds and your knees will be subjected to 48,000 less pounds of pressure per mile.

[displeased]

Why is this a news article?
Posted by rushman71

Perhaps because some people might care. Just because you know this information doesn''t mean all the other rednecks do.

[credibility2]

Not true - even an hour doesn''t help. Another bogus remedy. Walking isn''t the cure all for age-related weight gain and those who think people who are "fat" are lazy are disgusting.