Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Letter to the Editor
  • Published:

Comment on letters by T Wilkin, and D Boniface and J Wardle concerning school-based physical activity

International Journal of Obesity volume 32, page 1191 (2008)Cite this article

The letters by Dr Wilkin1 and the reply by Drs Boniface and Wardle2 consider the issue of whether there is sufficient physical activity (PA) in the physical education classes studied by Wardle et al.3 to influence fat accretion of the growing youths. Dr Wilkin argues that the amount of PA involved in the physical education classes was unlikely to be sufficient to influence fat accretion in the subjects studied. No mention is made of the intensity of the PA, which may be another factor to consider.

If we think of fat accretion as exclusively a matter of energy balance, then the volume of PA (that is, total energy cost) would be the critical factor to consider on the energy expenditure side of the equation. However, recent research has found that vigorous PA is associated with lower adiposity, while moderate PA is not (for example, Stallmann-Jorgensen et al.4). What can account for this finding?

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Wilkin T . Reply to Wardle J et al. School-based physical activity and changes in adiposity. Int J Obes 2008; 32: 577.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Boniface D, Wardle J . Reply to T Wilkin. Int J Obes 2008; 32: 578.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Wardle J, Bredersen NH, Boniface D . School-based physical activity and changes in adiposity. Int J Obes 2007; 31: 1464–1468.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Stallmann-Jorgensen I, Gutin B, Hatfield-Laube J, Humphries M, Johnson M, Barbeau P . General and visceral adiposity in black and white adolescents and their relation with reported physical activity and diet. Int J Obes 2007; 31: 622–629.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Rosen C, Bouxsein M . Mechanisms of Disease: is osteoporosis the obesity of bone? Nat Clin Pract Rheumatol 2006; 2: 35–43.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Barbeau P, Johnson M, Howe C, Allison J, Davis CL, Gutin B et al. Ten months of exercise improves general and visceral adiposity, bone, and fitness in black girls. Obesity 2007; 15: 2077–2085.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Nutrition, University of North Carolina, Raleigh, NC, USA. E-mail: bernardgutin@yahoo.com,

    B Gutin

Authors
  1. B Gutin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Gutin, B. Comment on letters by T Wilkin, and D Boniface and J Wardle concerning school-based physical activity. Int J Obes 32, 1191 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/ijo.2008.75

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ijo.2008.75

Search

Advanced search

Quick links