Worldwide, obesity is a challenging condition to control because it results from interactions between a person’s genetics and lifestyle.
Doctors often recommend exercise, but it is not clear which kinds are best for curbing weight gain in individuals whose genetics make them more likely to become obese.
In a recent study from National Taiwan University, researchers found that six common exercises can help prevent weight gain even in people with ‘obesity genes’.
The six exercises include jogging, mountain climbing, walking, power walking, certain types of dancing, and long yoga practices.
The study is published in PLOS Genetics. The lead author is Wan-Yu Lin of National Taiwan University.
The team examined 18,424 Han Chinese adults, aged 30 to 70 years to find out the interactions between a person’s genetics and their exercise routines.
They looked specifically at five measures of obesity, such as body mass index (BMI), body fat percentage and waist-to-hip ratio.
They found certain types of exercise that are especially effective at combatting genetic effects that contribute to obesity.
Regular jogging was the best type of exercise for managing obesity, according to the five measures.
Moreover, mountain climbing, walking, power walking, certain types of dancing, and long yoga practices also reduce BMI in individuals predisposed to obesity.
Surprisingly, cycling, stretching exercises, swimming, and Dance Dance Revolution did not counteract the genetic effects on obesity.
The findings show that when it comes to obesity, genetics is not destiny, and the effects can be lessened by several kinds of regular exercise.
The new study also considers four other measures of obesity that are more closely linked to metabolic problems.
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