While most experts agree that diet and physical activity are BOTH important when it comes to the etiology of obesity, there is a definite dichotomy between the diet-pushers and the exercise-pushers. It seems to me that everyone takes a side, believing that one or the other is just a little more significant. I have made no secret of the fact that I am firmly in the diet camp; I think that overeating leads to obesity far more frequently and with more certainty than being sedentary does. My evidence: I rarely exercise with any vigor (a horrible thing, I know), yet my low-calorie and mostly healthful diet keeps my weight consistently low. I also know many individuals who are very active and still can't seem to lose weight.
Now, it appears there is some research to back up my claim. A recent study found that an increase in calorie consumption is more likely the main cause of the increase in obesity rates seen in recent years. I have to admit, I question the researchers' methodology here, but because their results affirm my own bias, I'll look past it.
Regardless of what studies show, it is simply common sense that eating well should be the top priority for anyone trying to lose weight. It's a lot harder to exercise away a few hundred calories than it is to just not eat them in the first place!
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