The quantity and quality of physical activity among those trying to lose weight

Background: Regular exercise to elicit caloric expenditure is an important component for achieving weight loss. The Healthy People 2000 objectives rec ommend regular sustained physical activity lasting 30 minutes, five days pe r week (Objective 1.3) particularly for weight loss. Moreover, this recomme ndation has been restated for weight loss and overall health benefits in th e Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/American College of Sports Med icine (CDC/ACSM) statement and Surgeon General's Report (SGR) on Physical A ctivity and Health. Thus, we sought to identify the relative quality and qu antity of physical activity among people trying to lose weight. Design: Cross-sectional self-reported data from the West Virginia Behaviora l Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) were used. The BRFSS is a state-b ased telephone survey of adults that uses a multistage cluster design based on the Waksberg method of random-digit dialing. Data from 2769 men and 449 0 women were obtained from the 1992, 1994, and 1996 surveys. Results: Half (49.6%) of individuals trying to lose weight did not engage i n any physical activity. Further, only 15% of respondents trying to lose we ight reported exercising regularly. Nevertheless, those trying to lose weig ht were more likely (OR [odds ratio] = 1.3; 95% CI [confidence interval], 1 .14, 1.51, p < 0.001) to exercise regularly than those not trying to lose w eight. In particular, women trying to lose weight were significantly more l ikely (OR = 1.45; 95% CI, 1.22,1.74, p < 0.001) to exercise regularly than women not trying to lose weight. Conversely, men trying to lose weight were no more likely to exercise regularly (p =.23) than men not trying to lose weight. Among respondents who were using exercise for weight loss, only 14. 7% were expending greater than or equal to 1000 kcal/week and 18.2% were ex pending greater than or equal to 500 kcal/week. Weekly expenditure rates of greater than or equal to 1000 kcal/week were more likely to occur among me n (17%) than women (13.8%), in younger age groups, and among those with hig her educational attainment. Conclusion: These data suggest that while certain individuals trying to los e weight are more likely to engage in regular physical activity, most perso ns trying to lose weight have not adopted regular physical activity as part of their weight loss practice. These results suggest that public health ef forts to effectively integrate physical activity into weight control practi ces of West Virginians have been minimally successful.