Diet, not exercise, ‘is the key to weight loss’

Changing dietary habits is the key to losing weight, not exercise, an expert has claimed.

Speaking at the British Science Festival in Birmingham last week, professor John Speakman, director of the institute of biological and environmental sciences at the University of Aberdeen, suggested that people overestimate the effects of exercise.

Professor Jonathan Pinkney, expert in the field on obesity at the Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry in Plymouth supports these views.

"In order to have any substantial impact on long-term body weight maintenance, you should do very regular exercise. It has to be quite exertional as well," he explained.

He went on to suggest that brisk walking was the bare minimum that overweight people should be doing and that horse riding, swimming and dancing would "really begin to burn serious calories".

Mr Pinkney said that people are underestimating the number of calories that they consume and suggested that this needs to be addressed if people are to lose weight.

His comments follow the recent publication of research in the Journal of Consumer Affairs, which claimed that people who read food labels and exercise are more likely to lose weight than those who do one or neither of these things.