EXERCISE IN THE TREATMENT OF OBESITY - EFFECTS OF 4 INTERVENTIONS ON BODY-COMPOSITION, RESTING ENERGY-EXPENDITURE, APPETITE, AND MOOD

This study investigated changes in body composition, resting energy ex penditure (REE), appetite, and mood in 128 obese women who were random ly assigned to 1 of 4 treatment conditions: diet alone, diet plus aero bic training, diet plus strength training, or diet combined with aerob ic and strength training (i.e., combined training). All women received the same 48-week group behavioral program and were prescribed the sam e diet. Exercising participants were provided 3 supervised exercise se ssions per week for the first 28 weeks and 2 sessions weekly thereafte r. Participants across the 4 conditions achieved a mean weight loss of 16.5 +/- 6.8 kg at Week 24, which decreased to 15.1 +/- 8.4 kg at Wee k 48. There were no significant differences among conditions at any ti me in changes in weight or body composition. Women who received aerobi c training displayed significantly smaller reductions in REE at Week 2 4 than did those who received strength training. There were no other s ignificant differences among conditions at any time on this variable o r in changes in appetite and mood.