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Behavior, Psychology and Sociology

What mediates exercise effects on dietary choice? Clues from the brain stimulation literature

International Journal of Obesity volume 43, pages 1650–1651 (2019)Cite this article

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To the Editor:

A recent study by Joo and colleagues [1] found that a 15-week exercise training program increased healthy dietary choice among adults. The effects were not large in magnitude but did emerge across a number of different indicators of dietary choice, which collectively suggested a decrease in calorie density and increase in nutritive value of dietary choices among those in the exercise intervention arm. In the context of discussing these findings, Joo and colleagues offer the hypothesis that exercise, specifically aerobic exercise, may result in healthier dietary choices via a general increase in motivation to live a healthy lifestyle. In short, the mediational mechanism thought to explain the causal effect of exercise on dietary choice was motivation. Motivation of course can be understood as both a social–cognitive variable and also with reference to enhanced activity in the brain’s reward pathways, both of which are plausible consequences of aerobic exercise.

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References

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  1. Prevention Neuroscience Laboratory, School of Public Health & Health Systems, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, N2L 3G1, Canada

    Peter A. Hall

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Hall, P.A. What mediates exercise effects on dietary choice? Clues from the brain stimulation literature. Int J Obes 43, 1650–1651 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41366-019-0395-z

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