Exercise ‘not key to obesity fight’
BBC News | Health | April 23 2015
Physical activity has little role in tackling obesity – and instead public health messages should squarely focus on unhealthy eating, doctors say.
In an editorial in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, three international experts said it was time to “bust the myth” about exercise.
They said while activity was a key part of staving off diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and dementia, its impact on obesity was minimal.
Instead excess sugar and carbs were key.
The experts, including London cardiologist Dr Aseem Malhotra, blamed the food industry for encouraging the belief that exercise could counteract the impact of unhealthy eating.
They even likened their tactics as “chillingly similar” to those of Big Tobacco on smoking and said celebratory endorsements of sugary drinks and the association of junk food and sport must end.
