SAN DIEGO — Adults with high total daily energy expenditure are not protected from holiday weight gain, results from a large study demonstrated.
This is one of only a few studies that did not find evidence for the prevention of body weight gain via physical activity across the typical daily physical activity levels observed in the general population, Chad M. Cook said in an interview during a poster session at the meeting.
“We hypothesized that people who habitually burn more daily calories than predicted for their age, height, and body weight may be protected against holiday weight gain,” said Mr. Cook, who is a graduate student in nutritional sciences at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
“We found that's not true, at least in this particular population studied,” he added.
Mr. Cook and his associates analyzed body weight change during the 1999-2000 winter quarter in 443 men and women aged 40-69 years with doubly labeled water data who participated in the National Cancer Institute–sponsored Observing Protein and Energy Nutrition (OPEN) study. The original purpose of the OPEN study, completed in 2000, was to assess self-reported dietary measurement error by comparing results from self-reported dietary intake questionnaires with objective biomarkers: doubly labeled water and urinary nitrogen.
The researchers used doubly labeled water to measure total energy expenditure, and calculated residual total energy expenditure after adjusting for age, height, and body weight.
Over an average of 107 days, nearly three-quarters of study participants (73%) gained 0.1 kg or more, with 19% gaining 2 kg or more. Men gained more than women (an average of 1.1 kg vs. 0.7 kg).
Men with a baseline body mass index of 30 kg/m
Mr. Cook also reported that there were no correlations seen between increased body weight and total energy expenditure or between increased body weight and total energy expenditure after the researchers adjusted for age and body size. Residual total energy expenditure above or below the average for body size ranged from −877 to 1,813 calories per day, with a median of −36 calories per day.
The findings suggest that interventions targeting the winter holiday quarter to prevent excess body weight gain in older men and women should focus mainly on diet, although increased activity levels should be encouraged for health reasons, the researchers said.
The study was funded by the National Cancer Institute Intramural Research Program.
Mr. Cook said that he had no relevant financial conflicts.
Interventions to prevent holiday weight gain should focus on diet more than exercise, the researchers concluded.
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