Which comes first, obesity or lack of exercise

A new study of schoolchildren in Plymouth has challenged the traditional view that inactivity in kids brings about obesity, showing it is actually getting fatter that makes kids inactive. It argues that improving Nutrition, rather than more and more physical activity, is the best way to beat childhood obesity .
The research, by the EarlyBird Diabetes Study, found that strategies for dealing with obesity should concentrate more on what kids eat than on the amount of exercise they get. While admitting the association between physical activity and body fat, and that exercise is good for children, the report question the value of exercise as a means of tackling obesity.
The researchers studied a group of more than 200 city school children over an 11-year period, regularly monitoring body fat and exercise, but found no sign that undertaking more physical activity had any effect on weight, although they did find that children who put on weight did relatively less exercise.
The results showed that 10 per cent more body fat in seven-year-olds to four minutes less moderate or vigorous exercise each day. Terry Wilki, lead author of the study, said “says this may not sound a lot, but it adds up over time.
“Moderate and physical activity only occupies in boys a little less than an hour a day and in girls about 45 minutes. So it’s a not insubstantial amount of activity that is gained by having the lower body mass . And that of course is energy expenditure day in day out, week in week out, month in month out so the balance is changed substantially.”