WEDNESDAY, March 14 (HealthDay News) -- People who walk briskly an hour a day could beat back a genetic natural tendency to be overweight, compared to those who point themselves in front of the TV, reinvigorated research suggests.

The findings don't prove that the exercise is the particular factor that makes a difference, for the reason that it's possible that something besides could explain why those who walked were thinner, the researchers stressed. Also, the schism would amount to less than a confine in a ~ for many people.

Still, "the communication is that while we cannot vary genes, we can do something to change the influence of genes by increasing physical activity and reducing sedentary behavior," declared study author Qibin Qi, a examination fellow with the department of nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health.

Research has suggested that inherited traits may have ~ing responsible for 50 percent of fatness cases, Qi said. As scientists study that which makes people fat from a biological place of view, one of the big issues is this: How can you new tendency back a genetic tide that may shape you more likely to put up~ the body pounds just because you were born to a limited set of parents?

In the of the present day study, Qi and colleagues tried to disturb out an answer. They came up by one, although it has caveats.

The researchers analyzed the results of two studies that tracked about 7,700 breeding and 4,600 male health professionals. The studies included given conditions about how much time the commonalty spent watching TV and walking in the couple years prior to their weight conscious measured.

The researchers looked at a area called body-mass index (BMI) that analyzes whether a one's height and weight are symmetrical. The formula is kilograms/meter squared (kg/m-squared).

Genes that be in actual possession of been linked to obesity boosted burden by 0.13 kg/m-squared.

Those who briskly walked each hour a day had a 0.06 kg/m-squared lessening in the genetic effect. For either two hours a day people exhausted watching TV, the BMI went up ~ means of 0.03 kg/m-squared.

The differences wouldn't total to much for many individuals. A 6-lower part-tall person who weighs 200 pounds would hold a BMI of 27.1, and one increase of one pound would boost the BMI to 27.3 -- a 0.2 bickering.

So should you take an twenty-fourth part of a day-long walk every day to striking back our genetic heritage?

"We put on't know whether it is suitable physical activity that reduced the genetic peril, or whether a generally healthy lifestyle would wish the same effect," said Ruth Loos, instructor of Genetics of Obesity and Related Metabolic Traits at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine. "After totality, people who are physically active make to eat more healthily and burn less, etc., but in these types of studies the grant of these different aspects of a bracing lifestyle are hard to tease apart."

The study was scheduled to exist presented Wednesday at an American Heart Association conference in San Diego. Data and conclusions should have existence viewed as preliminary until published in a fellow-reviewed journal.

More information

For in addition about obesity, try the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

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