Nutrition and Exercise

Why is Nutrition and Exercise Important?

Nutrition plays an irrefutably important role when it comes to obesity. Consumption of fatty foods, and by extension fast foods, tend to increase an individual's risk of obesity over time due to their high caloric density and sugar content. If a poor diet is maintained for prolonged periods of time obesity can occur as a result. As noted by the National Health Service (NHS), unhealthy habits such as eating large amounts of processed foods, drinking too much alcohol or sugary drinks, eating out a lot, comfort eating, and consuming excessively large portions of food can all lead to obesity ("Causes: Obesity," 2019).

When overconsumption of fatty foods is combined with insufficient levels of physical activity, much of the surplus energy is stored in the body as fat. Nowadays, majority of people don't get enough PA in large part due to the demands of modern life. Many jobs often require sitting down at a desk for extended periods of time, limiting PA and our over-reliance on cars means that we don't walk or cycle to most places anymore. Our PA has also been limited by modern pastimes, "many people tend to watch TV, browse the internet or play computer games, and rarely take regular exercise"("Causes: Obesity", 2019).

Fast Food Consumption and Obesity

Overconsumption of fast food is a big problem when it comes to obesity because fast food is high in solid fats and has little nutritional value compared to fresh produce found in grocery stores. Frequent consumption of fast food can lead to unhealthy eating habits at home as highlighted by Poti, Duffey, and Popkin, 2014. According to this study on children, fast food consumption is associated with "higher intake of sugar-sweetened beverages, french fries, and lower intake of milk, fruit, and vegetables"(Poti et al., 2014). Consequently, children who were high consumers of fast food ate less healthily outside the restaurant and were "2.2 times as likely to consume a Western dietary pattern compared with nonconsumers"(Poti et al., 2014).
This consumption of a "Western diet" has been linked to a higher prevalence of being obese or overweight. Studies have also consistently found that fast food consumption is associated with higher total energy intake and lower dietary quality (Poti et al., 2014).

Role of Physical Activity and Diet in Weight Management

Though obesity can be caused due to insufficient levels of physical activity combined with improper diet, the solution to lose weight or maintain a healthy body weight can be as simple as becoming more physically active and exercising more. As demonstrated by Wiklund, 2016, "maintaining a high level of PA mitigates weight gain significantly, particularly in women" and "A series of reviews clearly indicate that exercise induces weight loss and that the weight loss is even greater when coupled with energy restriction (calorie deficit)"(Wiklund, 2016).

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As can be seen, physical activity  is a crucial component in controlling weight and therefore the risk of obesity/overweight. In a society where sedentary behavior has increasingly become more common, our energy expenditure has lowered and as a result, excessive energy intake is more common. For this reason it is important to maintain long-term, adequate levels of PA and exercise as well as a proper diet in order to prevent the weight gain that stems from excessive energy intake and insufficient energy expenditure.