How a daily stroll could halve the risk of obesity
FORGET pounding away for hours at the gym – a brisk walk every day can cut your risk of obesity in half.
Scientists have discovered that the secret to staving off the flab is taking a regular one-hour stroll.
They believe walking can reduce the influence of genes thought to cause obesity by 50 per cent.
But they have a warning for couch potatoes. Those who love slobbing out on the sofa watching TV for four hours a day see their genetic risk of obesity increase by 50 per cent.
The conclusions were reached after a study of 10,000 people with a genetic disposition to obesity by the Department of Nutrition at Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, USA.
Research leader Dr Qibin Qi said: “In our study, a brisk one-hour daily walk reduced the genetic influence towards obesity, measured by differences in body mass index, by half.”