Exercise and Health Article Critique

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Weight Loss

Learning Disabilities and Juvenile Delinquency

Popular vs. scientific press: Weight loss studies

The popular media often sensationalizes the cautious findings of scientific research, in an effort to catch the casual reader's attention at all costs -- even if the cost is the truth. This can be seen in the CNN piece "Exercise lengthens your life -- even if you're overweight," a title designed to communicate an unequivocally positive message in an America where the majority of the population is overweight or obese. CNN reports the findings of a recent scientific journal article in which researchers suggest that moderate exercise can add years to a person's life, regardless of weight status. Although the CNN article does not directly misstate the findings of the original journal article on which it was based, it neglects to mention some of the caution of the studies' authors regarding an excessive BMI.

The actual findings of the article do suggest that some form of exercise is better than no exercise at all. Specifically, it was found that physical exercise in the form of 75 min/wk was associated with a gain of 1.8 years of a subject's lifespan vs. no exercise at all.

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However, higher levels of activity were associated with greater gains -- with a gain of 4.5 years for 450+ min/wk (Moore et al. 2012: 1). The positive benefits of exercise were reflected in increased longevity for all participants, regardless of BMI group.

In the CNN piece, one of the senior authors of the study is quoted as saying: "if you are active, the results suggest that you ... have more of a benefit than someone who is not heavy but not active" (Hagan 2010). However, strictly speaking, that is an incomplete summary and was not what the researchers actually discovered. The benefits are potentially greater for someone who is thin and physically active and the title of the CNN article misleadingly suggests that moderate exercise for an overweight person is 'enough' to reap the full health benefits. In the actual text of the article….....

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