Exercise Young, Stay Slim

People will gain less weight by middle age if they exercise every day from a young age, according to a study.

People will gain less weight by middle age if they exercise every day from a young age, according to research conducted by Northwestern Medicine. The effects are more apparent in women than in men; women particularly benefit from high activity over 20 years, gaining an average of 13 pounds less than those with low activity; while men with high activity gain about 6 pounds less than their low-activity peers. The ‘high activity’ prescribed includes recreational sports like basketball , running, brisk walking and exercise classes.

“Everyone benefits from high activity, but I was surprised by the gender differences,” says lead author Arlene Hankinson, MD, an instructor in preventive medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. “It wasn’t that activity didn’t have an effect in men, but the effect was greater in women. Now women should be especially motivated.”

The study will soon be published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

About The Author

arindam