SIRC at the JCSMS - Day Three

Obesity Crisis

Day Three at the Joint Commission on Sports Medicine & Science discussed obesity, physical activity and nutrition.

Obesity is a major public health issue as it puts individuals at risk for many significant chronic diseases. The prevalence increases with the societal decline in energy expenditure (physical activity), coupled with a lack of decrease in caloric intake. The World Health Organization (WHO) puts physical inactivity as the fourth highest risk factor for mortality by country economic status (statistics). Obesity/overweight is number five … should we be treating physical inactivity before obesity/overweight?

“Let’s Move” initiative by First Lady Michelle Obama
Goals:

• To solve the challenge of childhood obesity within a generation so children born today can grow up at a healthy weight.
• Let’s Move Outside – get kids active so they see the physical activity they need not as a chore but as a fun way to explore the country
• To introduce healthier eating choices and habits, to increase awareness of caloric intake and decrease unhealthy eating opportunities for children in their environments (schools, homes, etc)

3 pillars: physical activity, sports and nutrition

Balancing Physical Activity and Diet (Energy Balance)
Larger portion sizes combined with more sedentary behavior is causing increasing tendency for obesity. Diets fail because the body compensates for the lower caloric intake by decreasing the resting energy expenditure, therefore decreasing the energy burn. Physical activity’s role is to engage resting energy expenditure and then increase the body’s ability to burn calories. However, the key here is that diet alone or physical activity alone will not lose weight effectively … the body will compensate. It is the combination of physical activity and diet that will help combat overweight.

For more information on physical activity, nutrition and obesity contact SIRC!