Energy balance
Once obesity is established, it creates a self-perpetuating vicious circle where obese individuals exhibit significantly lower physical activity levels and avoid high-intensity exercise, leading to lower total energy expenditure relative to body mass despite higher basal metabolic rates.
If you are overweight, you likely move less than you realize, which keeps your total calorie burn lower than expected. You don't need to run marathons; simply increasing your daily movement (steps, standing, light activity) can significantly boost your energy expenditure and help break the cycle of weight gain.
Physical inactivity was both causative and secondary to the development of obesity discordance in the MZ pairs... The obese co-twins had less than half the activity levels... of that of their non-obese co-twins... obese persons (even at a young age) easily fall below the level of PA that might be needed to maintain cardiovascular health.
Why this rating
Robust within-subject comparison using MZ twins eliminates genetic confounding, and objective accelerometry/DLW measurements provide high-fidelity data.
Source
Physical Inactivity and Obesity: A Vicious Circle
Kirsi H. Pietiläinen et al. · Obesity · 2008
DOI 10.1038/oby.2007.72
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