No Sex Differences in Body Weight Response to Exercise
No Sex Differences in Body Weight Response to Exercise
There is a view that exercise is less effective for weight loss in women compared with men. This systematic review examines the evidence for sex-based differences in the effect of exercise on body weight. We hypothesize that, when energy expenditure is equivalent, there will be no evidence for sex differences in body weight response to exercise.
Exercise is recommended by many public health organizations as a method of weight control and improving health. There is now a wealth of evidence demonstrating the many health benefits of exercise, which are independent of weight loss. However, the efficacy of exercise to produce weight loss when not accompanied by a dietary intervention still is questioned. There also is a prevailing view that women lose less weight in response to exercise than men. The smaller amounts of weight allegedly lost reported for women usually are attributed to a stronger defense of body fat resulting in a stronger compensatory increase in energy intake (EI) to maintain energy balance. However, there are problems with interpreting the current literature for sex differences in exercise-induced weight loss. These problems mainly are caused by a number of common methodological issues and include poor/unknown exercise compliance, inaccurate/nonmeasurement of exercise-induced energy expenditure, differences in duration of study, and differences in participant characteristics. Furthermore, there are very few studies designed to include simultaneous assessment of energy expenditure, body composition, and EI. This creates a serious challenge for determining the impact of exercise on energy balance and for examining any sex-based differences in body weight response to exercise.
We have demonstrated on two separate occasions that when exercise energy expenditure (EE) is similar between men and women that there is no significant difference in body weight response to exercise. The 12-wk supervised aerobic exercise program produced significant reductions in body weight and body fat for both men and women. Therefore, the purpose of this systematic review was to examine the evidence for differences in weight loss in response to exercise between men and women. This review analyzed the literature to draw comparisons between short-, medium-, and long-term interventions, supervised and unsupervised exercise programs, and normal and overweight participants and also to examine the issue of exercise-induced energy expenditure and compensation. We hypothesize that when exercise-induced energy expenditure is similar; there is no effect of sex on body weight or any such related compensatory appetite response to exercise.
Abstract and Introduction
Abstract
There is a view that exercise is less effective for weight loss in women compared with men. This systematic review examines the evidence for sex-based differences in the effect of exercise on body weight. We hypothesize that, when energy expenditure is equivalent, there will be no evidence for sex differences in body weight response to exercise.
Introduction
Exercise is recommended by many public health organizations as a method of weight control and improving health. There is now a wealth of evidence demonstrating the many health benefits of exercise, which are independent of weight loss. However, the efficacy of exercise to produce weight loss when not accompanied by a dietary intervention still is questioned. There also is a prevailing view that women lose less weight in response to exercise than men. The smaller amounts of weight allegedly lost reported for women usually are attributed to a stronger defense of body fat resulting in a stronger compensatory increase in energy intake (EI) to maintain energy balance. However, there are problems with interpreting the current literature for sex differences in exercise-induced weight loss. These problems mainly are caused by a number of common methodological issues and include poor/unknown exercise compliance, inaccurate/nonmeasurement of exercise-induced energy expenditure, differences in duration of study, and differences in participant characteristics. Furthermore, there are very few studies designed to include simultaneous assessment of energy expenditure, body composition, and EI. This creates a serious challenge for determining the impact of exercise on energy balance and for examining any sex-based differences in body weight response to exercise.
We have demonstrated on two separate occasions that when exercise energy expenditure (EE) is similar between men and women that there is no significant difference in body weight response to exercise. The 12-wk supervised aerobic exercise program produced significant reductions in body weight and body fat for both men and women. Therefore, the purpose of this systematic review was to examine the evidence for differences in weight loss in response to exercise between men and women. This review analyzed the literature to draw comparisons between short-, medium-, and long-term interventions, supervised and unsupervised exercise programs, and normal and overweight participants and also to examine the issue of exercise-induced energy expenditure and compensation. We hypothesize that when exercise-induced energy expenditure is similar; there is no effect of sex on body weight or any such related compensatory appetite response to exercise.
Source...