The recently released physical activity guidelines for Americans advise that adults should do at least 150–300 minutes of moderate intensity aerobic physical activity per week. The scientific evidence clearly shows benefits of physical activity for a wide variety of health outcomes. However, are these guidelines also sufficient to prevent unhealthy weight gain?
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Access Nature and 54 other Nature Portfolio journals
Get Nature+, our best-value online-access subscription
$29.99 / 30 days
cancel any time
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 print issues and online access
$209.00 per year
only $17.42 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
References
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 2018 Physical Activity Guidelines Advisory Committee scientific report. health.gov https://health.gov/paguidelines/second-edition/report/pdf/PAG_Advisory_Committee_Report.pdf (2018).
Piercy, K. L. et al. The physical activity guidelines for Americans. JAMA 320, 2020–2028 (2018).
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Physical activity guidelines for Americans, 2nd edition. health.gov https://health.gov/paguidelines/second-edition/pdf/Physical_Activity_Guidelines_2nd_edition.pdf (2018).
Ekelund, U. et al. Does physical activity attenuate, or even eliminate the detrimental association between sitting time and all-cause mortality? A harmonised meta-analysis on data in more than one million men and women. Lancet 388, 1302–1310 (2016).
Lee, I. M. et al. Effect of physical inactivity on major non-communicable diseases worldwide: an analysis of burden of disease and life expectancy. Lancet 380, 219–229 (2012).
Staiano, A. E. et al. Sedentary time, physical activity and adiposity in a longitudinal cohort of nonobese young adults. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 108, 946–952 (2018).
Dugas, L. R. et al. Accelerometer-measured physical activity is not associated with 2-year weight change in African-origin adults from 5 diverse populations. PeerJ 5, e2902 (2017).
Ekelund, U. et al. Objectively measured sedentary time and physical activity and associations with body weight gain: does body weight determine a decline in moderate and vigorous intensity physical activity? Int. J. Obes. 41, 1769–1774 (2017).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing interests.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ekelund, U., Lee, IM. Will new physical activity guidelines prevent weight gain?. Nat Rev Endocrinol 15, 131–132 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41574-018-0153-7
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41574-018-0153-7