On May 12 Drs. Yoni Freedhoff and Robert Ross held a debate on what should be the primary focus for obesity treatment: diet (Yoni) or exercise (Robert).  It seemed to me that the talks principally focused on what the primary cause of the obesity epidemic is by Yoni, and how exercise works in controlled environments and the benefits of exercise on co-morbidities by Ross.  Both of course recognize the importance of both for health and weight (especially maintenance as emphasized by Yoni), but that is really a crude summary of the must see talks, so watch the videos of the entire debate over at Peer Review Radio (~1h:30min total).

It is difficult to see their references in the videos but I tracked them down and pulled them for convenience:

From Dr. Ross’ Presentation:

• Update 5/25/11: PLoS One study by Tim Church et al. was just published: Church, TS et al. (2011). PLoS One. Trends over 5 Decades in U.S. Occupation-Related Physical Activity and Their Associations with Obesity.
• Tjepkema M & Shields M (2006). Health Reports. Trends in Adult Obesity.
• Janssen I et al. (2005) Comparison of overweight and obesity prevalence in school-aged youth from 34 countries and their relationships with physical activity and dietary patterns.
• Miller WC et al. (1997). Int J Obesity. A meta-analysis of the past 25 years of weight loss research using diet, exercise or diet plus exercise intervention.
• Clinical Guidelines on the Identification, Evaluation, and Treatment of Overweight and Obesity in Adults (1998)
• Ross R, Janssen I (2001) Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. Physical activity, total and regional obesity: dose-response considerations.
• Ross R et al. (2004) Obesity Research. Exercise-induced reduction in obesity and insulin resistance in women: a randomized controlled trial.
• Wei M et al. (1999) JAMA. Relationship Between Low Cardiorespiratory Fitness and Mortality in Normal-Weight, Overweight, and Obese Men.
• Katzmarzyk P et al. (2004) Arch Intern Med. Cardiorespiratory Fitness Attenuates the Effects of the Metabolic Syndrome on All-Cause and Cardiovascular Disease Mortality in Men. (on slide but skipped because of time in presentation)
• Perseghin G et al. (1996). NEJM. Increased Glucose Transport–Phosphorylation and Muscle Glycogen Synthesis after Exercise Training in Insulin-Resistant Subjects.
• Röckl et al. (2008). IUBMB Life. Signaling Mechanisms in Skeletal Muscle: Acute Responses and Chronic Adaptations to Exercise.
• Cannot make out the reference in one of his summary slides titled “Strategies for Reducing Obesity-Related Health Risk”
• (Updated for above thanks to Yoni) Lee et al. (2010) JAMA. Physical Activity and Weight Gain Prevention.

From Dr. Freedhoff’s Presentation:

• Manios Y et al. (2009) Obesity. Obesity and Television Watching in Preschoolers in Greece: The GENESIS Study.
• Chaput JP et al. (2011) AJCN. Video game playing increases food intake in adolescents: a randomized crossover study.
• Metcalf BS et al. (2008) Arch Dis Child. Physical activity at the government-recommended level and obesity-related health outcomes: a longitudinal study (Early Bird 37).
• Wilkin TJ et al. (2006) Int Journal of Obesity. Variation in physical activity lies with the child, not his environment: evidence for an ‘activitystat’ in young children (EarlyBird 16).
• Harris KC et al. (2009). CMAJ. Effect of school-based physical activity interventions on body mass index in children: a meta-analysis.
• Westerterp KR & Speakman JR (2008). Int Journal of Obesity. Physical activity energy expenditure has not declined since the 1980s and matches energy expenditures of wild mammals.
• Luke A et al. (2008). AJCN. Energy expenditure does not predict weight change in either Nigerian or African American women.
• Dugas LR et al. (2011). AJCN. Energy expenditure in adults living in developing compared with industrialized countries: a meta-analysis of doubly labeled water studies. *I blogged about this one here
• Ross R et al. (2000). Ann Inter Med. Reduction in Obesity and Related Comorbid Conditions after Diet-Induced Weight Loss or Exercise-Induced Weight Loss in Men; A Randomized Controlled Trial.
• May AM et al. (2010). AJCN. Effect of change in physical activity on body fatness over a 10-y period in the Doetinchem Cohort Study.
• Lee I et al. (2010). JAMA. Physical Activity and Weight Gain Prevention.
• “The APPEAL Study” as blogged about by Yoni here in 2008, still unpublished maybe?
• Update for above (3.13.2012): McTiernan et al. (2007). Obesity. Exercise Effect on Weight and Body Fat in Men and Women.
• Rampersaud E et al. (2008). Arch Inter Med. Physical Activity and the Association of Common FTO Gene Variants With Body Mass Index and Obesity.
• Jakicic JM et al. (2008). Arch Intern Med. Effect of Exercise on 24-Month Weight Loss Maintenance in Overweight Women.
• Slater J et al. (2009). Public Health Nutrition. The growing Canadian energy gap: more the can than the couch?
• Swinburn B et al. (2009). AJCN. Increased food energy supply is more than sufficient to explain the US epidemic of obesity.