Research
Energy balance
Increasing nonsedentary activity by 10 MET-hours per week predicts a small but significant decrease in BMI (approx 0.03 units), whereas increasing TV viewing by 10 hours per week predicts a small but significant increase in BMI (approx 0.05 units).
Small changes in behavior add up. Adding just one hour of moderate exercise (like squash or running) per week can help lower your BMI slightly, while cutting 10 hours of TV time can prevent a small BMI increase. Focus on these small, sustainable shifts.
GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
Each 10-MET increase in the nonsedentary activity level (equivalent to running or playing squash an extra hour each week) predicted a 0.03 decrease in body mass index... Each 10-hour per week increase in TV/VCR viewed predicted a 0.05 increase in body mass index...
Why this rating
Linear regression on a large prospective cohort, adjusting for baseline BMI and other factors.
Source
Activity level and risk of overweight in male health professionals.
Pamela Ching et al. · American Journal of Public Health · 1996
DOI 10.2105/ajph.86.1.25
cohort · n=22076Cited 185×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- Higher levels of nonsedentary physical activity (measured in MET-hours per week) are inversely associated with the risk of becoming overweight in adult men, with even moderate activity providing significant protection.Good
- High levels of sedentary behavior, specifically television viewing, are independently associated with an increased risk of becoming overweight, regardless of the amount of nonsedentary physical activity performed.Good
Related findings · Energy balance
- Achieving a total body weight loss of 10-15% (or >10-15 kg) through Total Diet Replacement (TDR) induces remission of Type 2 Diabetes in individuals with short-duration disease.Strong
- Bariatric surgery is superior to medical management alone for inducing significant long-term weight loss, remission of type 2 diabetes, and reduction in mortality for patients with BMI ≥ 40 or ≥ 35 with comorbidities.Strong
- Achieving type 2 diabetes remission requires significant weight loss (≥15 kg) via major caloric restriction, independent of macronutrient composition.Strong
This is one finding among thousands. Every one is graded and traced to its source, so you can see what the evidence actually supports. Browse the research →