© 2009 American Public Health Association DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2007.124495
João G. Alves and Jailson B. Correia are with the Instituto Materno Infantil Professor Fernando Figueira, Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil. Catharine R. Gale is with the UK Medical Research Council (MRC) Epidemiology Resource Centre, University of Southampton, Southampton, England. Nanette Mutrie is with the Department of Sport, Culture, and the Arts, Strathclyde University, Glasgow, Scotland. G. David Batty is with the UK MRC Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, University of Glasgow, Glasgow. Correspondence: Correspondence and reprint requests should be sent to Professor João G. Alves, Instituto Materno Infantil Prof. Fernando Figueira (IMIP), Rua dos Coelhos, 300, Boa Vista Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil, 50070-080 (e-mail: joaoguilherme{at}imip.org.br).
Objectives. We examined the viability and efficacy of a known quantity of exercise in facilitating weight loss among previously sedentary or irregularly active overweight and obese adult women residing in a slum (favela) in Brazil. Methods. In this randomized controlled trial, 156 women were randomized to a control or intervention group (78 in each group). Exercise was supervised, consisting of three 50-minute aerobic sessions each week for 6 months. Results. Ninety-one percent (71) of the participants in the intervention group completed 6 months of the exercise program. At 6 months, women in the treatment group showed significant reduction in weight (mean = –1.69 kg; 95% confidence interval [CI] = –2.36,–1.03) and body mass index (mean = –0.63 kg/m2; 95% CI = –0.97, –0.30) compared with controls (P for both < .001). Conclusions. A moderately intense, structured exercise program resulted in modest weight loss in women when sustained for 6 months.
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