Browse the evidence

Extending the duration of behavioral weight loss treatment increases initial weight loss magnitude but does not significantly improve long-term weight maintenance compared to shorter treatments.

Spending more time in a weight loss program will help you lose more weight initially, but it will not stop you from gaining it back later if you stop attending sessions. To maintain weight loss long-term, you must find a way to manage your energy balance independently of frequent professional supervision, as clinical contact alone does not prevent regain.

The health effects of reallocating time between behaviors are asymmetric; losing MVPA has a much larger negative impact than gaining MVPA has a positive impact.

Protecting your existing MVPA time is crucial. Losing 10 minutes of vigorous activity has a much larger negative impact on waist circumference than the positive impact of gaining 10 minutes. Prioritize not losing your current activity levels.

Wrist actigraphy using standard algorithms (e.g., Cole-Kripke) provides high accuracy (approx. 86%) and sensitivity (approx. 96%) for estimating total sleep time compared to polysomnography, but exhibits low specificity (approx. 33%), leading to an overestimation of sleep and underestimation of wakefulness.

Use wrist actigraphy to track general sleep patterns and total sleep time in population studies or personal trends, but do not rely on it for precise wake time or clinical diagnosis of insomnia. Be aware that it likely overestimates sleep duration and underestimates time awake, especially if you spend significant time awake in bed.

Experiencing weight-based stigma is associated with increased use of maladaptive coping strategies, specifically eating more food, which may perpetuate weight gain and obesity.

If you experience weight stigma, be aware that eating more is a very common way people cope with that stress. This is not a moral failing but a learned response. To manage weight, consider developing alternative coping strategies for dealing with bias, such as positive self-talk or seeking social support, which were also reported but less frequently linked to weight gain.

Coping strategies such as positive self-talk and seeking social support are associated with better psychological outcomes (higher self-esteem, lower depression) in response to weight stigma.

When facing weight stigma, try using positive self-talk and seeking support from others. These strategies are linked to higher self-esteem and lower depression, helping you maintain better mental health despite external bias.

Consumers infer product 'cleanliness' and health benefits primarily through peripheral cues on front-of-pack labels (e.g., organic logos, 'free-from' claims, short ingredient lists) rather than central processing of back-of-pack nutritional data.

When evaluating 'clean label' products, do not rely solely on front-of-pack claims like 'organic' or 'free-from'. These are often marketing heuristics. To truly assess healthfulness, you must inspect the back-of-pack ingredient list and nutrition facts, as consumers often overestimate the health benefits of products with these labels due to 'halo effects'.

Physical activity tracks significantly from childhood to adulthood, with stability being higher in males than females and higher in adolescence/adulthood than in early childhood.

Encourage physical activity in children and adolescents because their activity levels tend to persist into adulthood, especially for males. Interventions are most critical during transitional phases (childhood to adolescence) and for inactive youth, as inactivity also tracks. Focus on building habits and skills rather than just specific sports.

Smoking cessation after a myocardial infarction significantly reduces coronary mortality and all-cause mortality.

If you smoke and have heart disease, quitting is the single most effective thing you can do to extend your life. It cuts your risk of dying from heart issues by nearly half. Seek professional help, including medications like varenicline or NRT, to increase your chances of success.

High levels of sedentary behavior (defined as sitting or lying down with energy expenditure of 1.0-1.5 basal metabolic rates) are strongly associated with increased all-cause mortality, cardiovascular disease, and type 2 diabetes in adults, independent of physical activity levels.

If you have a desk job, prioritize breaking up long periods of sitting. The risk of heart disease and early death increases with sitting time even if you exercise. Stand up, walk, or move frequently throughout the day rather than relying solely on your gym session to protect your health.

In children and adolescents, high sedentary behavior (specifically TV viewing and screen time) is strongly associated with obesity, and moderately associated with high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and poor academic achievement.

For parents of children, limit recreational screen time. High sedentary time is linked to obesity and poor academic performance. Encourage active play and limit TV/computer use to healthy levels.

Actigraphy provides valid, cost-effective measures of sleep-wake patterns and sleep quality, making it a useful tool for assessing specific sleep disorders like insomnia and schedule disorders, despite limitations in distinguishing sleep from wakefulness in certain patient populations.

Actigraphy is a reliable, non-invasive way to track sleep patterns over time, especially for insomnia. While it might not be perfect for every single night or severe movement disorders, it is a valuable tool for doctors to monitor treatment progress and understand sleep schedules without the need for expensive lab stays.

Higher daily total sitting time is associated with a greater risk of all-cause mortality, with the risk increasing non-linearly (specifically 5% per hour) for individuals sitting more than 7 hours per day, even after adjusting for moderate-to-vigorous physical activity.

If you sit for more than 7 hours a day, your risk of death increases by about 5% for every additional hour, even if you exercise. To mitigate this, try to break up long periods of sitting, especially if your total sitting time exceeds 7 hours.

Exercise therapy provides slight but statistically significant improvements in pain and function for adults with chronic non-specific low back pain, with greater benefits observed in healthcare populations compared to general population samples.

If you have chronic low back pain, exercise therapy is recommended. It offers slight but real improvements in pain and daily function. You are more likely to benefit if you receive this therapy through a healthcare provider rather than self-guiding from general resources. Expect mild soreness, but the net benefit is positive.

For acute non-specific low back pain, exercise therapy is as effective as no treatment or other conservative treatments, showing no significant difference in pain relief or functional outcomes.

If you have acute low back pain, exercise therapy is safe and as effective as doing nothing or other conservative treatments. It does not provide superior pain relief compared to rest or standard care, so you can choose based on preference and ability to adhere.

Prolonged sitting time is associated with a 30% higher risk of endometrial cancer and a 30% higher risk of colorectal cancer, independent of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity.

Try to minimize prolonged sitting throughout the day. Even if you exercise regularly, breaking up sitting time can further lower your risk of endometrial and colorectal cancers.

Subjective self-reported measures (e.g., mood, perceived stress, recovery) are superior to objective measures (e.g., blood markers, heart rate, performance tests) for monitoring athlete well-being and detecting training load responses.

Use validated subjective questionnaires (like POMS or RESTQ-S) daily or post-training to monitor how athletes feel. Do not rely solely on blood tests or performance metrics, as these often fail to detect early signs of fatigue or overtraining. Subjective reports are more sensitive to changes in training load.

Higher levels of moderate and vigorous physical activity are robustly associated with increased gut microbiome diversity, independent of major dietary factors and BMI.

Aim for regular moderate (e.g., brisk walking) or vigorous (e.g., running, cycling) physical activity. This study suggests that doing so is strongly linked to a healthier, more diverse gut microbiome, regardless of your exact diet or weight. You don't need to be an athlete; consistency in movement is the key lever identified here.

The widespread availability of competitive foods (sodas, snacks) in schools is causally linked to increased total calorie, fat, and sugar intake and decreased fruit and vegetable consumption in students.

If you are a school administrator, do not assume that removing soda and chips will bankrupt your food service. Evidence indicates that schools can upgrade to healthier options without losing revenue, and students may actually choose the school lunch more often if the junk food alternatives are gone.

Sarcopenia assessment in primary care should utilize accessible, low-cost screening tools (SARC-F, Red Flags, Gait Speed) rather than expensive imaging (DXA/MRI) for initial identification.

Primary care providers should screen older patients for sarcopenia using simple, low-cost tools like the SARC-F questionnaire, gait speed tests, or the Red Flag method. If risk is identified, patients can then be referred for more detailed assessment (like DXA) if necessary, rather than relying on expensive imaging for everyone.

Increasing access to supermarkets and places to exercise, along with improving neighborhood safety, are promising strategies to reduce obesity-related health disparities in disadvantaged populations.

For communities with high obesity rates, simply providing information on healthy eating is insufficient. Interventions must prioritize structural changes: increasing the number of supermarkets with affordable produce, ensuring safe, accessible places for physical activity, and improving neighborhood safety to encourage outdoor movement.

Excise taxes on sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) effectively reduce consumer purchases, with a 10% price increase leading to a 12% decline in purchases, particularly among lower-income populations.

Government policies that increase the price of sugary drinks through excise taxes have been shown to significantly reduce their purchase, especially among lower-income groups. This suggests that fiscal interventions are a viable tool for public health officials aiming to reduce sugar consumption and its associated health risks like obesity and diabetes.

Insufficient sleep reduces dietary restraint in women, leading to significant weight gain, whereas men maintain weight gain regardless of sleep duration due to higher baseline caloric intake and lack of dietary restraint.

Women may be more vulnerable to weight gain from poor sleep because they lose their natural dietary restraint. If you are a woman, prioritizing 7-9 hours of sleep is especially important to prevent overeating.

Oncology clinicians should adopt the 'Assess, Advise, Refer' (EIM) framework to standardize exercise referrals, as current referral rates are low despite high patient interest.

Clinicians: Make exercise a vital sign. Ask about activity, advise on its importance, and refer to a program using the EIM tools. This is a low-time, high-impact step.

There is a significant gap between recommended dietary fiber intakes and actual population intakes across Europe, with few countries providing guidance on specific fiber types to help close this gap.

If you are not meeting your fiber goals, generic advice is likely not enough. Look for specific guidance on which foods to prioritize. The problem is not just lack of will, but lack of clear direction on which fiber sources to target.