Supervisors info:
Αναστάσιος Φιλίππου, Αναπληρωτής Καθηγητής, Ιατρική Σχολή, ΕΚΠΑ
Μιχάλης Κουτσιλιέρης, Καθηγητής Ιατρική Σχολή, ΕΚΠΑ
Κωνσταντίνος Χρυσανθόπουλος, Ειδικό Εκπαιδευτικό Προσωπικό, Ιατρική Σχολή, ΕΚΠΑ
Summary:
The main purpose of this dissertation is to analyze the relationship between physical activity/exercise and obesity, and to investigate whether physical exercise can ultimately contribute to weight loss maintenance. In order to prepare this bibliographic review, a survey was conducted in reputable academic journals, surveys and articles retrieved through the online libraries of EKPA, PubMed, NCBI, Springer, APA and the World Health Organization. The key words used were physical activity, exercise, weight loss maintenance, weight regain, aerobic and anaerobic exercise, clinical treatment, diabetes and physical exercise, intensity of exercise, heart rate, perceived effort, Borg scale. Exclusion criteria were articles published in languages other than Greek and English, animal studies, studies incorporating individuals under medication that could affect the outcomes under investigation and studies that were conducted on individuals less than 18 years of age.
Based on the literature review and within the context of the above criteria, 9 original studies were found which had a sample that maintained a weight loss of more than 10% or 13.6 kg. Eight of these studies showed that exercise/physical activity plays an important role in maintaining the weight loss, while one study showed that the cessation of supervision resulted in the cessation of exercise, ultimately leading to regain the weight lost. The exercise intensity used in these studies was moderate to vigorous [78 ± 4% of maximum heart rate (HRmax) or ≥ 3 MET (MET: metabolic equivalent)], the type of exercise was aerobic in 7 of these studies, whereas 2 studies employed either resistance training at an intensity of 20% of 1 maximum repetition (1RM) and 70-80% of maximum heart rate, or 60–80% (1RM) and total calorie expenditure 400 calories per session. The exercise duration producing the best result was ≥ 250 minutes per week, while in one study the duration of exercise that led to the maintenance of 10% of the weight loss was 338 minutes per week, indicating that the ideal exercise duration for weight loss maintenance might be more than 300 min/week. However, more research is needed regarding this issue. According to the findings of the present study, physical exercise plays an important if not a necessary role in maintaining the initial weight loss.. Optimal results are observed when the duration of moderate intensity exercise is at least 250 minutes per week. In general, the relative studies show that people who are focused on their exercise program, follow dietary guidelines and have solid counseling support for this goal demonstrate the best results. Finally, it becomes apparent that long-term maintenance of weight loss is achieved by the person who performs the type of exercise he/she enjoys the most and can follow this for the rest of his/her life. After all, “ the journey of losing weight and maintaining it is a marathon, not a sprint..! ”.
Keywords:
Obesity, Weight loss, Weight maintenance, Physical exercise, Health
