Research

Energy balance

Persistent physical inactivity during adolescence (ages 16-18) strongly and independently predicts the development of adult obesity and abdominal obesity by age 25, establishing a causal link between early sedentary behavior and later adiposity.

If you are a teenager or young adult, staying physically active is one of the most powerful things you can do to prevent obesity later in life. It doesn't matter if your parents are overweight; your activity level during your teens is a stronger predictor of your adult weight than your genes. Start moving now to break the cycle of inactivity and weight gain.

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Physical inactivity in adolescence strongly predicted the risk for obesity (odds ratio (OR) 3.9, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.4–10.9) and abdominal obesity (4.8, 1.9–12.0) at age 25, even after adjusting for baseline and current BMI.
Kirsi H. Pietiläinen et al. · Obesity · 2008

Why this rating

High-quality longitudinal twin cohort design with objective metabolic measurements (DLW, accelerometry) controlling for genetic factors.

Source

Physical Inactivity and Obesity: A Vicious Circle

Kirsi H. Pietiläinen et al. · Obesity · 2008

DOI 10.1038/oby.2007.72

cohort · n=4240Cited 393×
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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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