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Role of NEAT in Obesity
In general, those who maintain a healthy lifestyle, or modify their lifestyle and caloric intake to suit their bodily needs, are better able to achieve and maintain a healthier weight. In addition, those who are inherently able to increase their NEAT are less likely to gain bodyfat even with intermittent overeating, whereas those who do not increase NEAT appropriately will continue to gain weight. However, genetic factors will also influence the bodyweight and health outcomes.
High-intensity exercises modify the postexercise resting energy expenditure and bodyfat content, while β-blockade reduces the positive effects of exercise on postexercise thermogenesis. This suggests that high-intensity exercise minimizes the accumulation of bodyfat by increasing postexercise energy metabolism mediated via β-adrenergic stimulation. Other studies have reported that lean people, whether sedentary or active, generally walk faster and for longer durations than do obese subjects; thus, in relative terms, they burn more calories. If subjects with obesity were to adopt similar levels of physical activity, they could burn more calories for a given time period. In fact, this may add up to an additional 300–400 of caloric expenditure per day, which is adequate to produce a steady and healthy decline in bodyfat for an individual with obesity.
The NEAT energy expenditure is related proportionately to the square root of the speed of the activity:
Thus, the higher the speed of walking or the intensity of the exercise, disproportionately, the more calories that will be burned. Therefore, with reference to calories burned, the speed at which leisure or work-related activities are performed is also important for the weight control, and overall physical health. Thus, the importance of fast-walking. Moreover, exercises related to resistance and balance training to increase the lean body (muscle) mass would also increase exercise energy as well as the insulin sensitivity. Therefore, engaging in a variety of exercises such as walking, stair climbing, light-weight training would be more beneficial than one exercise type alone.
Taking all these factors together, in addition to (mal) adaptive thermogenesis, there seem to be defects in the generation of NEAT in those with obesity. However, contrary to some reports, it is unlikely that the recent epidemic of obesity is caused by changes in genetics or is secondary to a new disease entity. The current obesity epidemic is probably due to the over-consumption of abundantly available calorie-dense inexpensive food. In addition, the unhealthful changes of lifestyles during the past four decades including less walking, convenient transportation, sedentary work and fewer leisure activities all contribute to the current obesity epidemic (Table 1).
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