Alicorn has implied that she isn’t completely sedentary or bedridden—she goes out walking, and sometimes gets seriously out of breath. Is there any reason to think that more exercise will be good for her?
Not exercising is a problem for anybody regardless of whether they have a breathing problem or not. It raises your chances of obesity, which later on can lead to lots of nasty consequences, and I think sedentary people show an increase in certain chronic diseases (heart disease for sure, type 2 diabetes possibly but I don’t remember for sure) regardless of weight. In that sense, more exercise would be good for Alicorn.
That being said, I think it’s misleading to say it would directly fix her mystery respiratory problem. (Even if it turns out to be asthma...exercise doesn’t cure asthma and can even trigger it for certain people). It might improve the symptoms in the long run. It might not. There might be another way to improve the situation enough that she can exercise.
I’m half convinced. However, I keep reading that inactivity is unhealthy regardless of whether it is fattening. Therefore fat people have good reason to try to resist the tendency to inactivity induced in them by their fatness.
So: why are fat people inactive? My only tentative guess is that it is difficult for them to move their bodies, and they respond to the difficulty by moving less. This suggests the following possible remedy: strength training. With stronger muscles, your body feels like less of a burden, and so you are more likely to move around.
So: why are fat people inactive? My only tentative guess is that it is difficult for them to move their bodies, and they respond to the difficulty by moving less.
Very plausible. Also, fear and embarrassment could be factors. Several of my heavier friends have told me that they don’t like to go to the gym because they feel self-conscious surrounded by fitter people. This is probably also true of, for example, jogging in public; they are afraid of people watching them and judging them (“Look at that fat guy/girl trying to run!”).
Yes, this was the basis for a Jerry Seinfeld comedy routine: “We need to have a pre-gym, a gym-before-the-gym. A place where you can get yourself fit enough to be comfortable going to the regular gym.” (And this actually isn’t far from the reason for the success of the franchise Curves.)
I was strongly voted up a while back for making the above point and then suggesting we have the analog website for LessWrong—a place where people can learn and discuss this stuff without being intimindated by those who know more.
The study (which needs significant followup to create usable results) could have a number of interpretations, including:
*conclusions not fully supported by the data
*obesity leads to less enjoyment of motion
*obesity leads to fewer social opportunities to engage in sports
*low socio-economic status leads to obesity and to inactivity (due to insufficient access to parks, to parents who force you out of the house, etc).
*People don’t record their activity levels every day, so their estimates are colored more by measurable factors (body weight) than by unmeasurable ones (how much they actually moved).
Valid point. I’ve read that for sedentary people, starting an exercise regime is a poor way to lose weight. I still think it’s an excellent way not to gain weight in the first place...children who active, who remain active as teenagers and young adults (and don’t grossly overeat) probably won’t put on the weight in the first place. I did an energy-expenditure study that showed I burn nearly 3000 calories a day, mainly because I can maintain an ‘intense’ level of exercise for an hour or more, whereas someone who is unfit and overweight already probably can’t and so wouldn’t burn nearly as many calories. Muscle mass also burns more calories at rest than fat tissue, so that someone at a high level of fitness can eat more even on days when they don’t exercise.
The moral of the story: I’m going to put my kids in one physical activity after another (like my parents did with my siblings and myself) until they find one they can stick with, and I’m going to try to keep it a part of family life. After all, it takes far less willpower to maintain a lifelong habit than to start a new regime once you start putting on weight.
Not exercising is a problem for anybody regardless of whether they have a breathing problem or not. It raises your chances of obesity, which later on can lead to lots of nasty consequences, and I think sedentary people show an increase in certain chronic diseases (heart disease for sure, type 2 diabetes possibly but I don’t remember for sure) regardless of weight. In that sense, more exercise would be good for Alicorn.
That being said, I think it’s misleading to say it would directly fix her mystery respiratory problem. (Even if it turns out to be asthma...exercise doesn’t cure asthma and can even trigger it for certain people). It might improve the symptoms in the long run. It might not. There might be another way to improve the situation enough that she can exercise.
Recent studies have suggested that obesity causes lack of exercise, rather than the other way around, and that’s why we see the correlation.
Got a cite? (Not that I disbelieve you, I find it highly plausible—I’m just curious.)
here is an abstract for a longitudinal study that suggested childhood obesity leads to lack of exercise and not the reverse.
I feel certain I’ve seen reference to a more recent study involving adults, but I haven’t turned it up yet.
I’m half convinced. However, I keep reading that inactivity is unhealthy regardless of whether it is fattening. Therefore fat people have good reason to try to resist the tendency to inactivity induced in them by their fatness.
So: why are fat people inactive? My only tentative guess is that it is difficult for them to move their bodies, and they respond to the difficulty by moving less. This suggests the following possible remedy: strength training. With stronger muscles, your body feels like less of a burden, and so you are more likely to move around.
Very plausible. Also, fear and embarrassment could be factors. Several of my heavier friends have told me that they don’t like to go to the gym because they feel self-conscious surrounded by fitter people. This is probably also true of, for example, jogging in public; they are afraid of people watching them and judging them (“Look at that fat guy/girl trying to run!”).
Yes, this was the basis for a Jerry Seinfeld comedy routine: “We need to have a pre-gym, a gym-before-the-gym. A place where you can get yourself fit enough to be comfortable going to the regular gym.” (And this actually isn’t far from the reason for the success of the franchise Curves.)
I was strongly voted up a while back for making the above point and then suggesting we have the analog website for LessWrong—a place where people can learn and discuss this stuff without being intimindated by those who know more.
If only the users of Curves graduated to regular gyms more frequently...
The study (which needs significant followup to create usable results) could have a number of interpretations, including:
*conclusions not fully supported by the data
*obesity leads to less enjoyment of motion
*obesity leads to fewer social opportunities to engage in sports
*low socio-economic status leads to obesity and to inactivity (due to insufficient access to parks, to parents who force you out of the house, etc).
*People don’t record their activity levels every day, so their estimates are colored more by measurable factors (body weight) than by unmeasurable ones (how much they actually moved).
I’d hesitate to read too much into this study.
Interesting. Thanks for the heads-up. I will research that now.
Whereas I dropped 13kg very quickly not by more exercise, but by a change in diet.
The whole area is a minefield of YMMV …
Valid point. I’ve read that for sedentary people, starting an exercise regime is a poor way to lose weight. I still think it’s an excellent way not to gain weight in the first place...children who active, who remain active as teenagers and young adults (and don’t grossly overeat) probably won’t put on the weight in the first place. I did an energy-expenditure study that showed I burn nearly 3000 calories a day, mainly because I can maintain an ‘intense’ level of exercise for an hour or more, whereas someone who is unfit and overweight already probably can’t and so wouldn’t burn nearly as many calories. Muscle mass also burns more calories at rest than fat tissue, so that someone at a high level of fitness can eat more even on days when they don’t exercise.
The moral of the story: I’m going to put my kids in one physical activity after another (like my parents did with my siblings and myself) until they find one they can stick with, and I’m going to try to keep it a part of family life. After all, it takes far less willpower to maintain a lifelong habit than to start a new regime once you start putting on weight.