ABSTRACT
Several national surveys have shown that
overweight and obese people are likely to be
less active than normal weight individuals.34,35
This effect is stronger in women than men.
Similarly, a recent pan-European study
indicated a graded profile of increased time
spent watching television with increased BMI
group.36 In another study, using the doubly-
labelled water method, Schulz and Schoeller
found an association between percentage body
fat and nonbasal energy expenditure of
r 0.83 in females and r 0.55 in
males.37 While this evidence consistently
shows that fatter people are more likely to be
low in physical activity and higher in
sedentary pursuits such as TV watching, it
provides no indication of whether inactivity is
a result of being overweight perhaps because it
becomes less comfortable, or the cause of
overweight through its effect on positive
energy balance.
