High-Calorie Diet, Not Lack of Exercise, Driving Global Obesity Rise: Study

New Delhi: A new study has found that rising global obesity is more strongly linked to increased calorie consumption than to declining physical activity levels.

While it’s long been believed that reduced physical activity due to industrialisation is the main contributor to obesity, researchers from Duke University in the US suggest otherwise. Their study shows that people in wealthier nations are expending just as much — or even more — daily energy compared to those in less developed regions.

“It’s clear that changes in diet, not reduced activity, are the main cause of obesity,” said Professor Herman Pontzer, lead researcher and professor in the Department of Evolutionary Anthropology at Duke University.

Published recently in the journal PNAS, the study examined data from over 4,200 adults aged 18 to 60 across 34 different populations on six continents. Researchers looked at daily energy expenditure, body mass index (BMI), and body fat percentages.

Although the study observed a slight decline in size-adjusted total energy expenditure with economic development, it found that this accounted for only a small portion of the increase in body fat seen in wealthier societies.

“This suggests that dietary changes are the main driver behind rising body fat levels as countries become more economically developed,” explained Amanda McGrosky, lead author of the study and postdoctoral researcher at Duke at the time. She is now an assistant professor of biology at Elon University in the US.

Importantly, the study does not downplay the importance of physical activity.

Instead, the researchers emphasise that both diet and exercise are crucial to maintaining health and managing weight. “Diet and physical activity should be viewed as essential and complementary, rather than interchangeable,” the study concluded.

The team’s next phase of research will focus on identifying the specific dietary factors in developed countries that contribute most to the obesity epidemic.

With inputs from IANS