A recent study revealed that people who are genetically pre-disposed to putting on weight need more exercise to reduce obesity.
The study conducted by researchers from the Vanderbilt University Medical Centre in Nashville followed 3,124 middle-aged European-descendant participants, aged between 36 and 62, for five years. The participants owned a step-counting Fitbit device and were walking an average of 8,326 steps per day at the start of the trial.
The findings of the study showed that people with genetic obesity risk would need to walk 26 percent more a day than those with an average risk.
“I think it is intuitive that individuals who have a higher genetic risk of obesity might need to have more physical activity to reduce that risk, but what is new and important from this study is that we were able to put a number on the amount of activity needed to reduce the risk,” said lead author Evan Brittain, of Vanderbilt University.
The people at the highest genetic risk should walk 11,020 steps per day, whereas the people at the lowest genetic should walk 5,080 steps a day.
The findings further indicate that generally people should walk 10,000 steps a day to avoid obesity altogether.
“Your genetics are not your destiny with regard to obesity risk,” Brittain said.
However, the researchers noted that the study has some limitations as only people who owned a FitBit device were involved in the study and their dietary routine was not assessed.
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