title: Aerobic exercise alone results in clinically significant weight loss for men and women: midwest exercise trial 2.
abstract: Exercise is recommended by public health agencies for weight management; however, the role of exercise is generally considered secondary to energy restriction. Few studies exist that have verified completion of exercise, measured the energy expenditure of exercise, and prescribed exercise with equivalent energy expenditure across individuals and genders.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The objective of this study was to evaluate aerobic exercise, without energy restriction, on weight loss in sedentary overweight and obese men and women.
  
  
  METHODS
  This investigation was a randomized, controlled, efficacy trial in 141 overweight and obese participants (body mass index, 31.0 ± 4.6 kg/m(2) ; age 22.6 ± 3.9 years). Participants were randomized (2:2:1 ratio) to exercise at either 400 kcal/session or 600 kcal/session or to a nonexercise control. Exercise was supervised, 5 days/week, for 10 months. All participants were instructed to maintain usual ad libitum diets. Because of the efficacy design, completion of ≥90% of exercise sessions was an a priori definition of per protocol, and these participants were included in the analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Weight loss from baseline to 10 months for the 400 and 600 kcal/session groups was 3.9 ± 4.9 kg (4.3%) and 5.2 ± 5.6 kg (5.7%), respectively, compared with weight gain for controls of 0.5 ± 3.5 kg (0.5%) (P < 0.05). Differences for weight loss from baseline to 10 months between the exercise groups and differences between men and women within groups were not statistically significant.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Supervised exercise, with equivalent energy expenditure, results in clinically significant weight loss with no significant difference between men and women.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Cardiovascular Research Institute, The University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas, USA. jdonnelly@ku.edu
authors.forename: Joseph E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Donnelly
authors.forename: Jeffery J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Honas
authors.forename: Bryan K
authors.initials: BK
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Matthew S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Mayo
authors.forename: Cheryl A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Gibson
authors.forename: Debra K
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Sullivan
authors.forename: Jaehoon
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Stephen D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Herrmann
authors.forename: Kate
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Lambourne
authors.forename: Rik A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Washburn
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001823:Body Composition; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002149:Energy Intake; D004734:Energy Metabolism; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000628:therapy*; D050177:Overweight / Q000628:therapy*; D057185:Sedentary Behavior; D015431:Weight Loss; D055815:Young Adult