Soccer better than exercise

LONDON – There’s a new slogan for weight-watchers: Burn it like Beckham. A friendly game of soccer, a new study has found, works off more fat and builds up more muscle than jogging.

“This is good news for men who prefer to play football with their mates,” said Dr. Gary O’Donovan, a sports medicine expert at the University of Exeter who was not connected to the study.

To measure how hard the men were working out, the researchers strapped heart monitors to their chests and compared blood samples and muscle tissue from before and after matches and jogging sessions.

The researchers selected men with similar health profiles aged 31 to 33 and split them into groups of soccer players, joggers, and couch potatoes — who not surprisingly ended the three month-long study in the worst shape.

Each period of exercise lasted about one hour and took place three times a week. After 12 weeks, researchers found that the body fat percentage in the soccer players dropped by 3.7 percent, compared to about 2 percent for the joggers.

The soccer players also increased their muscle mass by almost 2 kilograms (4.5 pounds), whereas the joggers didn’t have any significant change. Those who did no exercise registered little change in body fat and muscle mass.

“Even though the football (soccer) players were untrained, there were periods in the game that were so intense that their cardiovascular was maximally taxed, just like professional football (soccer) players,” said Dr. Peter Krustrup, head of Copenhagen University’s department of exercise and sport sciences, who led the study.

The soccer players and the joggers had the same average heart rate, but the soccer players got a better workout because of intense bursts of activity.

Krustrup and his colleagues found there were periods during soccer matches when the players’ hearts were pumping at 90 percent their full capacity. But the joggers’ hearts were never pushed as hard.

“The argument as to whether or not vigorous activity is better than moderate activity is over,” O’Donovan said.

He warned, however, that sedentary people shouldn’t jump-start their bodies with a dose of intense exercise but rather ease into their fitness regime with some moderate activity.

Unlike the soccer players, the joggers consistently thought their runs were exhausting.

“The soccer players were having more fun, so they were more focused on scoring goals and helping the team, rather than the feeling of strain and muscle pain,” Krustrup said.

Health officials were unsure how much impact the study results might have on the wider population.

Nick Cavill, a research associate at the British Heart Foundation at Oxford University, said it’s hard enough convincing people to exercise moderately, let alone engage in a high-intensity sport like soccer.

“There might be enormous benefits to telling people to play football twice a week,” he said. “But if they’re not going to do it, then that message may be useless.”

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Obesity and Children

It looks like restaurants are finally trying to take care of their customers.  In recent years, there have been a whole slew of new product announcements plus changes to menus to better inform consumers.  The latest to join in the trend is BurgerKing, which is unveiling a healthier kids menu.

From an article postd to Yahoo Health News…

“Burger King Holdings Inc., the world’s second largest hamburger chain, said it has set nutritional guidelines to follow when targeting children under 12 in advertising, including limiting ads to Kids Meals that contain no more than 560 calories, less than 30 percent of calories from fat and no more than 10 percent of calories from added sugars.”

One neat idea I liked was the introduction of “Apple Fries” — they are not fried, but resemble french fries; hopefully for easier adoption by children.

The article goes on to say…

“The 2.4-ounce serving of Apple Fries will have 35 calories, the company said. A small serving of Burger King french fries has 230 calories and 13 grams of fat, according to Burger King’s Web site.”

Also interesting to note, from the same article…

“Miriam Pappo, a registered dietitian and nutritionist, said the move is part of a trend to offer healthier products at restaurants as people become more aware of nutrition and take interest in exactly what they are eating.

“It’s a good trend. The actual ultimate solution is still to eat less fast food,” said Pappo, clinical nutrition manager at Montefiore Medical Center in New York. “It will only be successful if it tastes good and it will only be successful if it fills the child up.”

Long criticized for a lack of healthier options, several quick-service food chains in recent years have developed items for those seeking fast access to a less-expensive meal that has fewer calories and less fat than a burger, french fries and a soda.”

And finally, the Pappo noted that ultimately it is still up to the parents to teach their children to eat healthier.  But with the right tools hopefully parents can make better informed choices.

Here is to your health,

Regards,

Mohamed

Technorati Tags: eating healthy, burger king, healthy food, diet and nutrition, calories, obesity in children, children obesity