More confirmation regarding exercise and weightloss

[CronicBadger]

ABC News has the following story:
Exercise doesn't stop obesity, US report finds it's all about diet

Key points:
"Anyone pounding the pavement or sweating it out in the gym in the hope of shedding extra kilos may find they are wasting their time.
...
Health experts say the key to reversing obesity trends has everything to do with food.
...
Professor Bruce Neal, from the George Institute for Global Health at Sydney University, says the problem is the same in Australia.
...
"The reason people are eating badly is not because they have suddenly become sloths and gluttons, it's because they live in an environment where it is incredibly hard to eat well," he said.
"Vast amounts of food, fundamentally unhealthy, really large, really energy dense."
He says food is now responsible for most chronic diseases.
..."

[Blitz]

The trouble with news reports like this is they don't give the entire picture of what the study actually says. Don't let the facts get in the way of a good headline. There hasn't been a news story that I've been involved in that actually got the story 100% right.

"We've seen physical activity go up, but obesity continue to rise. What this basically says is that the cause is diet,"
This seems a rational deduction but closer examination shows this logic is faulty. Some variables that aren't covered by the story may be...
We may exercise more...but we eat far more than we use to as a society.
We may exercise more...but most people's work has reduced in activity and exertion because of technology.

The report states that exercise reduces death, heart disease and diabetes...but how? I suggest by increasing fitness (ie reducing obesity).

"The reason people are eating badly is not because they have suddenly become sloths and gluttons, it's because they live in an environment where it is incredibly hard to eat well,"
The line of argument here and in following statements tend to minimise personal responsiblity. Society structure may not help but in the end nobody but us is shovelling it down our throats. We may not start out as sloths and gluttons but we certainly end up that way by our own choices.

"Getting fit is important but to change the obesity, we've got to change what we eat,"
The truth is not a either/or situation. We need both to change obesity. We may have eaten more to get obese but we need both to cease being obese.

"And we have to make changes to the food supply - that's working with the food companies. They are very powerful, but we need to be persuasive to change it." Professor Neal says the food industry needs tighter regulation.
Here is the agenda of the news item's press release. These kinds of stories are usually about one of two things; to increase funding or empire building.

Kim