Exercise Up in U.S., But So Is Obesity: Report

Although Americans are exercising more, the obesity epidemic continues to expand, University of Washington researchers report. Their nine-year study of data from two U.S. health surveys suggests that physical activity alone is not enough to combat the problem. "While physical activity has improved noticeably in most counties, obesity has also continued to rise in nearly all counties," said lead researcher Laura Dwyer-Lindgren, from the university's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. The obesity problem is directly related to how much Americans eat, said senior author Ali Mokdad, a professor of global health at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. "Americans are not doing enough to control what they eat," he said. They still consume more energy than they burn off through exercise, he said. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_138573.html