Active You: Walk, Dance, and Tone Your Abs to Reduce Your Risk of Diabetes

Plain-language summary

The phenomenon of physical activity (PA) avoidance in obesity has been detailed in the literature, but there is a lack of programs designed to address the root causes. In addition to common PA barriers such as lack of time, individuals with obesity face weight-related impediments, including stigma, shame, poor fitness, and low exercise self-efficacy, which reduce their engagement in PA. These impediments have been observed in white and minoritized populations. Numerous studies have suggested that individuals with obesity prefer activities that are enjoyable, less exhausting, and conveniently available in settings where they are not exposed to stigma. The studies also point to a need for programs that focus on the general health benefits of PA rather than weight loss, which although desirable, can be elusive. Unmet weight loss expectations contribute to high dropout rates and non-adherence to the prescribed PA regimen among those with obesity. This is particularly consequential for minoritized populations including African Americans who tend to lose less weight in lifestyle interventions but achieve significant improvements in many cardiometabolic outcomes. In this proposal, investigators present PA as a buffer against the deleterious effects of obesity, agnostic of weight loss status. The Physical Activity for The Heart (PATH) program was intentionally designed to provide vicarious experiences for diverse individuals with obesity, by featuring their peers in body size, fitness level, and age engaging in PA. The impact of the PATH intervention on these biomarkers will provide important insights into the mechanisms via which a combination of popular PA modalities improves cardiometabolic outcomes in the context of obesity.

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