People urged to do at least 150 minutes of aerobic exercise a week to lose weight
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Review of 116 clinical trials finds less than 30 minutes a day, five days a week only results in minor reductions. People who want to lose meaningful amounts of weight through exercise may need to devote more than two-and-a-half hours a week to aerobic training such as running, walking or cycling, researchers say.
The finding emerged from a review of 116 published clinical trials that explored the impact of physical exercise on weight loss, waist size and body fat. In total, the trials reported data for nearly 7,000 adults who were overweight or obese, meaning their body mass index (BMI) was more than 25.
Analysis of the trials’ results showed that body weight, waist size and body fat all decreased as people did more aerobic exercise each week, but training for less than 30 minutes a day, five days a week resulted in only minor reductions, the researchers found.
“At least 150 minutes per week of aerobic exercise at moderate intensity is required to achieve important weight loss,” said Dr Ahmad Jayedi, an epidemiologist at Imperial College London, and first author on the study published in the medical journal Jama Network Open. For people who were overweight or obese, losing 5% of body weight in three months is regarded as clinically important, Jayedi said.
The NHS says all adults should do some type of physical activity every day. People aged 19 to 64 are urged to do at least two-and-a-half hours of moderate exercise, or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise, each week to keep fit and reduce the risk of conditions such as heart attack and stroke. The latest study suggests the same level of aerobic exercise is the minimum needed to achieve meaningful weight loss for people with a BMI of more than 25.
