Americans are fatter than we've ever been, but at least the prevalence of obesity appears to be leveling off. That's the finding of a new study published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The study found that if obesity rates had continued to rise as rapidly as they'd been going up since the late 1980s, an increase of 6 to 7 percentage points would have been expected for men and women between 1999 and 2009. Instead, rates increased by less than 5 percent in men and didn't appear to increase much at all in women. "The data presented in our current study … suggest that the prevalence may have entered another period of relative stability," write the study authors, who are from the National Center for Health Statistics.
That's good news, but the rates are still shocking. About one third of Americans are obese, and another third are overweight, which means two thirds of us have a weight problem. Black women fare the worst: Nearly three quarters are overweight, and half are obese. "Obesity is associated with more chronic disorders and poorer health-related quality of life than smoking or problem drinking," writes J. Michael Gaziano of the Massachusetts Veterans Research and Information Center in an editorial that accompanied the study.
What to do? While the health risks of being, say, 50 pounds or more above a healthy weight remain undisputed, carrying around a few extra pounds isn't necessarily harmful. A growing body of evidence suggests it's where you carry your weight that determines your health risks. "Having extra fat in your legs, arms, or buttocks doesn't appear to hurt and may even be protective," says obesity researcher Gary Hunter, a professor of exercise physiology at the University of Alabama–Birmingham. "It's the fat that accumulates around the waistline that we worry about." This fat tends to collect near and around abdominal organs and releases chemicals that lead to inflammation, which is linked to heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. But scientists are pinpointing a combination of diet and exercise techniques to flatten your stomach—even if you can't quite shed those extra pounds:
1. Don't overdo it on exercise. Those who hit the treadmill, stationary bike, or elliptical trainer for an hour or more may find themselves gaining weight from exercise. And not because they're putting on extra muscle. "You get really hungry from burning all those calories, and then you feel justified eating that muffin or doughnut after your workout," says plastic surgeon James Lyons, author of The Brown Fat Revolution. He often encourages prospective patients to revamp their diet and exercise program instead of having liposuction. "I tell them to get a maximum of 10 to 15 minutes of aerobic activity, and focus on doing resistance training exercises that work the abdominal core like yoga or pilates and weightlifting to build arm and leg muscles." This will help you retain muscle, normally shed with aging, and since muscle requires more calories to maintain than fat, will keep your metabolism boosted throughout the day. Thus, you'll burn off belly fat without increasing your appetite.
2. But definitely do some moderate activity at least twice a week—especially if you've recently lost weight. It's well known that regular exercise is essential for maintaining weight loss, but University of Alabama researchers discovered last October that all it takes is 40 minutes a day, twice a week to keep the belly fat from creeping back on. Interestingly, it didn't matter whether the study participants—white and black women who had lost an average of 27 pounds on a low-calorie diet—did aerobic activity or resistance training as long as they kept it up twice a week for a year. "While they did regain some weight, they gained it in their legs and arms, not their midsection," says Hunter, who led the study. Those participants who didn't exercise, on the other hand, regained most of their lost weight, the bulk of it around their belly. Hunter theorizes that exercise triggers beneficial hormonal changes that make it easier for the body to store excess fat in the arms, hips, and thighs rather than near vital organs.