What’s Wrong with this Study, page 2

waistmeasureSo, yesterday I posted a challenge about the recent article that is being touted as a vindication of couch potatoes everywhere.

If you haven’t read it, you’re cheating.

Here’s my beef:

There’s nothing  wrong with the study or its design. It does a fine job of what it intended to do, which was to document compensatory changes in groups of women suddenly asked to exercise (moderately).

The findings were that the exercise groups: added more non-sedentary activity to their regimen besides the exercise–they felt better, so they moved more; lost some weight (2-5 pounds), and some inches around their middle ( up to 2). They also performed better on fitness tests.

That all sounds like good news to me.

Except that the only message that the media are allowing people to take home is: when you exercise more, your weight loss goes down, because you eat more.

HAH.

These women were specifically asked NOT to diet. So when they felt hungry, they ate.

Plus: even the group getting the most exercise was only doing moderate activity for an average of 27 minutes per day. Current weight loss guidelines recommend  60 to 90 minutes of exercise 5 or more days a week if you really want to lose weight.

And even if they didn’t lose WEIGHT, they obviously lost SOMETHING, since their waist measurements decreased. I’ve read through the study twice now, and, although they did lots and lots of tests on these women, they do not appear to have done body fat percentages. Muscle weighs more than fat–it is entirely possible to lose fat without losing ANY weight (not that the exercise they were doing is terribly conducive to stacking on muscle, but if you take a bunch of sedentary post menopausal women and stick them in weight-bearing exercise scenarios, you’re gonna see at least a little new muscle). Muscle is, however, more compact than fat. So your measurements drop, even if you haven’t lost an ounce.

To me, this study just verifies what docs have been saying about weight loss all along–exercise and stop eating so damn much. And start pumping iron (not in the study. That’s my little aside. Every pound of muscle burns 40 extra calories a day. Pump on 10 pounds of muscle, and you’ll not only feel better, be stronger, have stronger bones, and look really hot in a sleeveless blouse, but you’ll get to eat 400 extra calories a day).

And it proves what I’ve been saying all along–DON’T believe every headline you read.

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191 Comments

I think 90% of the media does with these types of studies is crap. They feed you a line that makes you think one thing, and unless you read into it, know a bit about fitness and overall good eating habits- you are in trouble. I have SO many friends that work out for 27 min and think they can eat whatever they want. Some of them eat a protein shake (for energy), workout, then eat a full meal after. Um, what weight loss? The protein shake was more k's than you burned!

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Dr. Dad Replies:

That's the point of this study. Not that exercise dose no good (which is what the headlines read), but that when you exercise, you still need to control caloric intake. The problem is that there seems to be a tendency (whether from true hunger after exercise or an incorrect sense that one can eat protein shakes and large meals "because they exercised") to stuff in more calories, disproportionately to the amount of exercise done.

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One thing I've learned over the years (and this isn't just media and headlines) is that condensing any complex study or analysis into a "bottom line" is an exercise in manipulation. If you don't understand the criteria, the assumptions, the limitations of the study/analysis, the conclusion means nothing. If you want to know the truth, know what the real implecations are, you better be willing to do your homework.

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TheMother Replies:

I do agree. The problem is that many, many studies just aren't available to the layman to evaluate on their own. They have to rely on the media, and the media often get it dead wrong.

There were even some in the science blog community who took this idea that compensatory eating made up for weight loss and ran with it.

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Stephanie B Replies:

My point is that this is a bigger problem than media and medicine. We have the same problems with environmental issues and, even in science communities, the problems creep up. Someone coughs up a number from an analysis and it's taken at face value without understanding the implications, the limitation, the assumptions. That's dangerous.

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TheMother Replies:

Do you have any suggestions, other than just not letting the media report on this stuff?

That's been tried, by the way. Some of the big, state-of-the-art science conferences have tried imposing voluntary media blackouts, requiring everything that gets printed/blogged to be run through the official screeners. THe media just yell 'censorship' and generally write what they want to, anyway. So it seems as though it's sort of a no win situation. I'm more than willing to listen to suggestions.

Certainly the tendency to go to full articles online is helpful, but it won't completely solve the problem until the print journals (still the most respected and therefore the place to publish if you can get in) stop charging $30/article. Also, it doesn't stop misinterpretation by folks who don't know how to read a study and assess how well it is controlled, what possibly confounding variables were missed, etc.

It also won't solve the most important problem: the media are in the attention grabbing business, not in the information business. Salacious headlines like "Exercise doesn't work" sell more papers/screen time than "study shows that diet and exercise are STILL the way to lose weight." Bummer.

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Stephanie B Replies:

I don't have a solution. I think my point is that this kind of "bottom line" surface thinking isn't always limited to the layman or the media. If we can't even get the scientists/technologically adept understanding that the details matter, I don't see how we'll ever have a chance with the populace.

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It is too bad that body fat percentage wasn't assessed. I tried a pretty intense workout regimen once, as part of a program, and they assessed my body fat at the beginning and the end of the first month. I had lost a total of three pounds, but when the body fat numbers were weighed, I had gained 20 lbs. of muscle and lost 23 lbs. of fat.

Big difference, if you ask me. And I'd lost more than a dress size, naturally.

Very interesting blog!

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TheMother Replies:

Perfect example.

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A friend of mine was telling me about this study. We were like "yeah, so they're not telling us anything we don't already know".

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Well, all I can say is I just hate being referred to as a "layman." To me it sounds just like a "hangman."

But I've always got my grandmother to turn to: eat less and exercise.

Aaahhh.

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TheMother Replies:

I apologize for the 'layman' barb. But 'non-medically inclined' is just long.

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[...] And it proves what I’ve been saying all along–DON’T believe every headline you read. Send this to the person bothering you today! More » [...]

What? I get to eat and extra 400 calories if i do strength training? I'm sold. I'm so glad you have thoughts! And so many of them too. ;)

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Agree. Suspect Time used it as a cover story to boost readership and generate cash. Otherwise it would have languished in some metabolic journal.

"Full of sound and fury, signifying nothing".

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Of course you eat more if you exercise. Duh! The point is that you make an effort to replace empty calories with good ones. Eat carrots instead of muffins. HELLO.

BTW – I am a weight loss expert. I've done it so many times that it's like second nature. I'm also an expert on how to pack it on, unfortunately.

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Excellent points made here. Too many people think that once they start exercising, they can eat whatever they want. Most people rarely burn THAT many calories in one workout — you know, maybe you get a candy bar or something. And I agree about pumping iron. It's as important as cardio for your health and keeps your metabolism raised for longer.

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