How important is activity for weight maintenance?
Until fairly recently, many nutritionists and doctors considered that diet was the major key to maintaining, or regaining, appropriate body weight; if activity had a role to play, it was thought to be only a minor one. It was also thought that for activity to be of much benefit it would have to be very vigorous (e.g., running) rather than moderately vigorous (e.g., brisk walking). This is no longer the situationnutritionists are increasingly coming to accept that the observed decrease in activity is almost certainly a major contributor to the rise in obesity. It is now generally believed that both diet and activity levels are vitally important in maintaining (or regaining) appropriate body weight. But the belief is that exercise (i.e., structured, planned physical activity), while important, is not the only way in which activity might help protect against obesity. Rather movementincidental physical activity that we do almost unconsciously through the dayis now believed to be very impor
