The conference sessions are not open to members of the public or the media, but interviews with keynote speakers can be arranged.
Among the main speakers are:
Professor John Speakman, University of Aberdeen and The Rowett Research Institute
Physical activity and resting metabolic rate
The direct effects of physical activity interventions on energy expenditure are relatively small when placed in the context of total daily energy demands. For example, an average person exercising vigorously for an hour three times a week would elevate their total energy requirements by only 8% over the entire week.
Since exercise appears to provide benefits that exceed this level it has long been suspected that the effects of exercise on energy budgets include additional effects on other components of the energy budget. An obvious example is that as people get fitter through exercise they start to modify their routine behaviour - taking the stairs more often rather than the lift, or engaging in more walking in their routine activities.
A less obvious impact of exercise however may be to elevate our resting rate of metabolism. Resting energy expenditure is the largest component of the daily energy budget in most human societies. Increases in RMR in response to exercise interventions are therefore potentially of great significance. Animal studies have generally shown that forced exercise produces a compensatory reduction in RMR. In contrast many studies of human responses to exercise interventions have shown that RMR increases. The effects of exercise on resting metabolism can reflect two separate processes.
First, an increase may occur because there is a shift in body composition with increases in FFM at the expense of fat mass. Second, there may be an increase in the rate of metabolism per gram of FFM. There is some evidence to support both of these phenomena occurring in the response of RMR to exercise intervention in humans.
In short the benefits of exercise on our energy expenditure extend long after the exercise is over because of its positive impact on our resting rate of metabolism.
Professor John Reilly (University of Glasgow) who reports on his research to measure the levels of physical activity in three and four-year olds:
There has been widespread concern that levels of physical activity in today's children are inadequate for their short and long term health. Until recently there's been no hard evidence or means to measure physical activity levels in young children. However in 1999 thanks to funding by the children's medical research charity SPARKS, Dr John Reilly and his colleagues at the University of Glasgow have been able to study representative samples of 104 three year-olds using small 'activity monitors', which are worn on the waist for 3 days. Measurements were repeated a year later to test for changes in activity over time. The monitors revealed that lifestyles of these children were very inactive, with 80% of their waking hours spent immobile, a figure identical to that recently revealed in a study of American adolescents. Activity levels were equally low at nursery school and at home, and changed little from day to day. Changes over the one year period between age 3 to 4 were small, indicating that physically inactive lifestyles become entrenched from an early age.
Contact Katie Miller, Press Officer , SPARKS Charity, 020 7340 0681.
Professor John Blundell (University of Leeds) with Dr James Stubbs (Rowett Research Institute)
There is a belief that exercise is futile as a form of weight control because it drives up hunger and you simply eat more. This is a myth. Studies have shown that for most people doing moderate or intense exercise there is no immediate or automatic increase in hunger and eating. This means that taking up exercise will cause an energy inbalance that leads to weight loss.
Exercise is necessary because it will prevent weight gain. Conversely, when active people become sedentary eating does not decrease to a lower level to match the lower expenditure of energy. This leaves people with a positive energy balance (surplus of energy taken in over energy used up) which leads to weight gain (most of which is fat).
Contact: Professor John Blundell, 0113 3435742.
Founded in 1997 and officially launched the following February, ACERO is a cross institutional organisation that brings together scientists from the University of Aberdeen, the Rowett Research Institute, Grampian Universities Healthcare Trust and the Robert Gordon University. ACERO is a component unit of the Aberdeen Research Consortium (ARC). Comprised of around 60-70 research staff, including their students/technical support staff, ACERO is already a significant force in European obesity research.
Aberdeen Centre for Energy Balance and Obesity
For any further details about the conference, please contact Angela Begg, Public Relations, University of Aberdeen, telephone: (01224) 272960, email: a.begg@abdn.ac.uk
See www.abdn.ac.uk/acero/ for further details about ACERO and next week's two-day conference.
Issued by:
Public Relations Office
External Relations
University of Aberdeen
King's College
Aberdeen
Tel: +44 (0)1224 272014 Fax: +44 (0)1224 272086
University Press Office on telephone +44 (0)1224-272960
or contact Angela Begg email a.begg@abdn.ac.uk
- Issued by
-
The Communications Team
Directorate of External Relations,
University of Aberdeen,
King's College,
Aberdeen
- Issued on
- 19 July 2002
