Research

Energy balance

Lifestyle interventions with physical activity significantly improve specific cardiometabolic risk factors (fat mass, waist circumference, blood pressure, total cholesterol, LDL-C, triglycerides, fasting insulin) in Class II and III obese individuals, but do not significantly affect HDL-C or fasting blood glucose.

While lifestyle changes improve blood pressure, cholesterol, and insulin sensitivity in severe obesity, they may not automatically normalize HDL cholesterol or fasting blood glucose levels for everyone. Monitoring these specific markers is important even if weight loss is achieved.

ModerateQualifiesMEDIUM confidence
A significant global effect of lifestyle intervention on fat mass, waist circumference, blood pressure, total cholesterol, LDL-C, triglycerides and fasting insulin was found (p<0.01), without significant effect on HDL-C and fasting blood glucose.
Aurélie Baillot et al. · PLoS ONE · 2015

Why this rating

Based on the same meta-analysis with mixed study quality (mostly uncontrolled).

Source

Effects of Lifestyle Interventions That Include a Physical Activity Component in Class II and III Obese Individuals: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Aurélie Baillot et al. · PLoS ONE · 2015

DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0119017

Meta-analysis · 56 studiesCited 123×
Read the paper
DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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