Are we deceived about the benefits of exercise?

Each summer silly season, when there is less serious news because so many people are on holiday, my mind marvels at how the media fill the vacuum. Here is a particularly bizarre research study which crossed my desk in August.

It found that, 'differences in obesity prevalence between populations result primarily from differences in energy intake rather than expenditure'. In other words, lack of exercise has little impact on obesity.

To reach this conclusion, academics from the US, UK and Tanzania studied a Tanzanian tribe of hunter-gatherers and found they used up the same amount of energy as people in the US and Europe.

Fortunately, the study does acknowledge the health benefits of exercise. And, since exercise is demanding, it would do no harm as well as much good if some people ate less.

Richard Hall is chairman of Zenith International

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