HHS HealthBeat (July 31, 2007)

Staying fit and trim

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

We don’t have to pile on pounds as we add years. Regular exercise can help to keep the gains down.

Paul Williams of the U.S. Energy Department’s Berkeley Lab found that in runners. His study in the journal Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise was supported by the National Institutes of Health.

After seven years, middle-aged runners who did 15 miles a week or less gained no more than about a pound and a half a year. And runners who put on more miles gained less.

Williams says exercise works, and works best regularly:

“Start young and never stop.  It’s a lot easier not to get fat than to try to lose weight. Just ask all the dieters who try to lose weight, and their lack of success in keeping it off’”   (9 seconds)

Learn more at hhs.gov.

Last revised: July, 31 2007