When it comes to weight loss, giving up the foods you love is hard. You might think you can just exercise your way to better wellness, and still allow yourself your dietary indulgences, but you may want to think again. This is according to a new study, published in the journal Psychological Science, which found that while the majority of overweight people believe lack of exercise is to blame for them piling on the pounds, slim or healthy weight people believe diet is the main cause of obesity.
Led by Doctor Brent McFerran, of the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan, and Doctor Anirban Mukhopadhyay, of Hong Kong University of Science and Teachnology, the researchers found that your belief on what causes obesity has a direct impact on your weight and wellbeing. If you believe lack of exercise is the main cause of obesity, you’re more likely to be overweight and eat more chocolate than those who believe otherwise. In fact, the researchers claim they can even predict your body mass index (BMI) by your views.
For the study, the researchers conducted an online survey in which it was found that people dubbed one of two culprits to be the cause of obesity; lack of exercise or overeating. According to Dr McFerran ‘There was a clear demarcation – some people overwhelmingly implicated poor diet, and a roughly equal number implicated lack of exercise. Genetics, to our surprise, was a far distant third.’ The researchers then conducted a further series of studies across five countries on three continents, and found that participants in Korea, the US and France showed the same overall pattern; people who implicated diet as the primary cause of obesity actually had lower BMIs than those who implicated lack of exercise.
Dr McFerran explained, ‘What surprised me the most was the fact that we found lay theories to have an effect on BMI over and above other known factors, such as socio-economic status, age, education, various medical conditions, and sleep habits.’ Dr Mukhopadhyay added: ‘This is the first research that has drawn a link between people’s beliefs and the obesity crisis, which is growing as fast as people’s waistlines are.’ He noted that public health campaigns may need to target people’s beliefs just as much as they target their behaviour, in order to be effective.
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