[Effect of daily energy intake and amount of walking on body weight reduction and its maintenance].
The relationship of daily energy intake and the amount of walking performed, based on pedometer readings, for effective body weight reduction were studied based on results of a weight reduction program at the Aichi Prefectural Center of Health Care from 1983 to 1990. In addition, a follow-up study based on a mailed questionnaire was performed, to further determine the relationship to maintenance of body weight reduction of energy intake and amount of walking after the conclusion of program. The subjects were two-hundred and forty middle-aged obese women who were placed on a 5-month weight reduction program consisting of diet (1500 kcal/day) and exercise (10000 walk steps/day). At the end of the program, the mean energy intake and the mean number of steps per day had reached target levels and the mean body weight reduction was 4.2 kg. The relationship of energy intake, and the number of steps walked at the end of program to the amount of reduction in body weight during the program was analyzed by multiple regression analysis, and the amount of walking expressed in the number of steps necessary for weight reduction were calculated for various energy intakes. A follow-up study was performed in 1988, with sixty-six women responding to the mailed questionnaire. Since the end of the program, body weight increase of 1.1 kg occurred, but body weight was still lower than initially. Although mean energy intake increased after the program, a level about 200 kcal less than at the beginning of the program was being maintained, so the effect of diet recommendation in the program appeared to be retained.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)