A Comparative Evaluation of Effects of Diet, Exercise and a Combination of Diet and Exercise in Overweight and Obese Adults

Abstract

The prevalence of obesity has risen so rapidly in recent decades that the world health organization has declared it a global epidemic. Physical inactivity and dietary habits are key factors in the etiology of obesity and therefore, are important components in any obesity prevention and treatment strategy. Therefore this study was carried out to evaluate the efficacy and comparison of diet, exercise and diet with exercise modules on weight reduction in overweight and obese adults. This was an open, randomized, pre and post comparison, parallel allocation intervention trial. 60 overweight and obese subjects were selected and randomly assigned into three groups, 20 in each group. Group A was kept on diet module with an individualized diet plan provided to each subject, group B on exercise module and group C on combination of both for 8 weeks. Efficacy parameters were assessed before and after intervention in all the three groups. The outcome of interventions were analyzed using appropriate statistical methods. The overall effect of diet and diet plus exercise module was found significantly effective in reducing some parameters like body weight (p<0.001), body mass index (p<0.001), waist circumference (p<0.001), and skin-fold thickness (p=0.037, 0.004). However, no significant improvement was observed in waist-hip ratio. The exercise module was found to be significantly effective only in body weight reduction (p=0.008). Diet restriction alone as well as in combination with physical activity is quite effective in weight reduction than physical activity alone. However, physical activity appears to be a valuable means for sustaining the effects of dietary restrictions.

Keywords: Diet, Exercise, Overweight

Cite this Article

Atiya Khan, Malik Itrat. A Comparative Evaluation of Effects of Diet, Exercise and a Combination of Diet and Exercise in Overweight and Obese Adults. Journal of Ayush: Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy. 2016; 5(2): 39–45p.