Fat people biologically avoid exercises, research reveals
Feb 07, 2005
OBESE people are simply unable to get off their backsides, a team of American scientists who attached electrodes to people’s underwear to arrive at their unorthodox findings, says.
OBESE people are simply unable to get off their backsides, a team of American scientists who attached electrodes to people’s underwear to arrive at their unorthodox findings, says.
Researchers who studied every tiny movement of a group of volunteers, down to the smallest tap of a toe, found that overweight individuals sit around more than those who are lean.
What is more, they cannot help it. Some people seem biologically driven to avoid movement while others cannot keep still.
The findings emerged from a study in which volunteers wore special hi-tech underwear fitted with electronic sensors.
Scientists at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, discovered that everyday activity that might include walking, shopping, tidying the bedroom, or just restlessly fidgeting, made a far greater difference to weight than was thought.
The study, focused on ‘non-exercise activity thermogenesis’, or ‘NEAT’, energy used up by non-exercise activities. May Clinic endocrinologist Dr James Levine said: “Our patients have told us they have low metabolism and we never understood what thy meant. Now we do.
“The answer is they have low Neat. They have a biological need to sit more. A person can expend calories either by going to the gym, or through everyday activities. Our study shows the calories that people burn in their everyday activities are far more important in obesity than we previously imagined.â€
They believe the effect is strong it can give a ‘neat’ way of tackling the obesity epidemic.
“This is entirely doable. The kind of activity we are talking about does not require unusual training regimens or gear. Unlike running a marathon, Neat is within the reach of everyone,†said Dr Levine.
Twenty volunteers who lived and worked in Rochester took part in the study. All were self-confessed ‘couch potatoes’ who said they led sedentary lifestyles, but 10 were lean and 10 mildly obese. The undergarments incorporated technology used in fighter jet cockpits.
Sensors were embedded in the underwear, designed for both men and women, which allowed monitoring of body postures and movements every half a second, 24 hours a day for 10 days.
Fresh undergarments were issued each morning at the hospital where the participants ate all their meals. “This study appears slightly bizarre as it gives us a window into people’s energetics,†said Dr Levine.
“But because of it, we have a window into people’s activity like never before.†The findings, in the journal Science, showed that on average, lean individuals stood about two hours longer each day than obese individuals.
In a second phase of the study, the researchers overfed the lean volunteers by 1,000 calories a day to make them gain weight. The obese participants were forced to diet by being denied the same number of calories.
Even after losing weight, it was found the naturally obese group sat more and moved less. The naturally lean volunteers did not change their habits either. They continued to stand, walk and fidget more than the obese participants. The study found that some people were born to be more active than others.
Dr Levine said: “It reflects a brain chemical difference as the study shows that even when obese people lose weight, they remain seated the same number of minutes per day.
“They don’t stand or walk more. And conversely, when lean people artificially gain weight, they don’t sit more. So the Neat appears to be fixed. But as physicians, we can use this data to help our obese patients overcome low Neat by guiding the treatment of obesity toward a focus on energy as well as food. We can encourage Neat-seeking behaviours.†A total of 150 million lines of data were downloaded from the undergarments.
Both men and women wore bottoms similar to tight-fitting bicycle shorts. Tops resembled sports bras for women and undershirts for men.
dpa
Researchers who studied every tiny movement of a group of volunteers, down to the smallest tap of a toe, found that overweight individuals sit around more than those who are lean.
What is more, they cannot help it. Some people seem biologically driven to avoid movement while others cannot keep still.
The findings emerged from a study in which volunteers wore special hi-tech underwear fitted with electronic sensors.
Scientists at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, discovered that everyday activity that might include walking, shopping, tidying the bedroom, or just restlessly fidgeting, made a far greater difference to weight than was thought.
The study, focused on ‘non-exercise activity thermogenesis’, or ‘NEAT’, energy used up by non-exercise activities. May Clinic endocrinologist Dr James Levine said: “Our patients have told us they have low metabolism and we never understood what thy meant. Now we do.
“The answer is they have low Neat. They have a biological need to sit more. A person can expend calories either by going to the gym, or through everyday activities. Our study shows the calories that people burn in their everyday activities are far more important in obesity than we previously imagined.â€
They believe the effect is strong it can give a ‘neat’ way of tackling the obesity epidemic.
“This is entirely doable. The kind of activity we are talking about does not require unusual training regimens or gear. Unlike running a marathon, Neat is within the reach of everyone,†said Dr Levine.
Twenty volunteers who lived and worked in Rochester took part in the study. All were self-confessed ‘couch potatoes’ who said they led sedentary lifestyles, but 10 were lean and 10 mildly obese. The undergarments incorporated technology used in fighter jet cockpits.
Sensors were embedded in the underwear, designed for both men and women, which allowed monitoring of body postures and movements every half a second, 24 hours a day for 10 days.
Fresh undergarments were issued each morning at the hospital where the participants ate all their meals. “This study appears slightly bizarre as it gives us a window into people’s energetics,†said Dr Levine.
“But because of it, we have a window into people’s activity like never before.†The findings, in the journal Science, showed that on average, lean individuals stood about two hours longer each day than obese individuals.
In a second phase of the study, the researchers overfed the lean volunteers by 1,000 calories a day to make them gain weight. The obese participants were forced to diet by being denied the same number of calories.
Even after losing weight, it was found the naturally obese group sat more and moved less. The naturally lean volunteers did not change their habits either. They continued to stand, walk and fidget more than the obese participants. The study found that some people were born to be more active than others.
Dr Levine said: “It reflects a brain chemical difference as the study shows that even when obese people lose weight, they remain seated the same number of minutes per day.
“They don’t stand or walk more. And conversely, when lean people artificially gain weight, they don’t sit more. So the Neat appears to be fixed. But as physicians, we can use this data to help our obese patients overcome low Neat by guiding the treatment of obesity toward a focus on energy as well as food. We can encourage Neat-seeking behaviours.†A total of 150 million lines of data were downloaded from the undergarments.
Both men and women wore bottoms similar to tight-fitting bicycle shorts. Tops resembled sports bras for women and undershirts for men.
dpa