Physical activity, energy balance and adiposity

Dr James King: Total daily energy expenditure as a regulated variable: implications for exercise and weight management

The role of exercise in weight management is a topic that always attracts interest. Given that exercise expends energy, it is thought that simply moving more will lead to an increase in total daily energy expenditure. In turn, this higher level of energy output will generate weight loss or slow down the rate of weight gain. Recent evidence suggests this may not be the case. A new theory of ‘constrained energy expenditure’ has been put forward by evolutionary biologists at Harvard University. This thesis suggests that increases in exercise-related energy expenditure are compensated for by automatic (involuntary) decrements in other energetically expensive bodily processes. Therefore, exercise may not increase total daily energy expenditure as much as we once thought. This talk will outline the evidence supporting this theory and flag its merits and implications.

Dr Scott Willis: Location, location, location: understanding why all fat is not equal

Obesity is defined as the excessive accumulation of body fat which presents a risk to health. However, storing fat centrally in visceral and ectopic locations, such as the liver, is associated with a much greater health risk and plays an important role in the development of obesity-related chronic diseases such as Type 2 Diabetes and metabolic-dysfunction associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD). Emerging research also suggests that the type of fat being stored in these locations (e.g. saturated or unsaturated fat) may also impact our metabolic health. This talk will discuss the importance of fat location and composition in determining our metabolic health and will explore potential therapeutic strategies with a particular focus on exercise and diet.

Professor Lettie Bishop: Upping the anti: how being more active can have anti-inflammatory effects

Chronic systemic inflammation underlies the development and persistence of several long-term conditions including heart, lung and kidney diseases, diabetes, dementia and certain cancers. It is also present in many apparently healthy people long before the development of overt disease. Higher levels of physical activity are associated with reduced markers of systemic inflammation and the so-called ‘anti-inflammatory’ effect of exercise is gaining attention as we search for cost-effective interventions to prevent or delay onset of these conditions. In this talk Lettie will use examples from her team’s research and others to illustrate the different ways that physical activity and exercise can positively alter the characteristics of inflammatory immune cells in clinical and non-clinical populations and how ‘upping the anti-‘ through physical activity could act as an behavioural adjuvant for traditional therapies.