According to a new study, ‘moving more, more often’ can aid long-term weight loss. Published in the Obesity Journal, the study found that moving more rather than structured exercise can keep the weight off. Titled ‘Intervening on Exercise and Day-long Movement for Weight-loss Maintenance in Older Adults’, the study — published by Wake Forest University, North Carolina — followed 183 men and women aged 65 to 85 as they took on a six-month dietary weight loss and physical activity regimen, with check-ins every six months through a maintenance phase at 18 months.
The study picked participants classified as having obesity based on their body mass index, and was offered the same dietary intervention but was divided into three groups for activity coaching:
- Weight loss plus structured exercise, such as treadmill workouts.
- Weight loss plus what researchers call the SitLess intervention, which encourages people to accumulate activity throughout the day by doing things they enjoy, such as walking the dog or gardening.
- Weight loss, structured exercise, and SitLess combined.
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While the group that focused on weight loss plus SitLess regained the least, at about 5 pounds (2.4kg), the group that followed the weight loss plus exercise-only regimen regained the most, at more than 11 pounds (5.2kg). Males and females from Forsyth County, North Carolina, and surrounding areas were recruited for the study through local advertisements. Recruitment occurred in six waves between 2016 and January 2019, and the final follow-up was completed in September 2020. Participants recruited in the first four waves of this study completed procedures prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, whereas the final two waves participated during the COVID-19 quarantine orders. The analysis presented pertains to participants who completed study procedures prior to the COVID-19 quarantine orders.
