Physical Activity

• Preschool-aged children (ages 3 through 5 years) should be physically active throughout the day for growth and development.
• Children and adolescents (ages 6 through 17 years) need 60 minutes or more of moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity each day. Children and adolescents need aerobic, muscle-strengthening, and bone-strengthening activities.
  
• Pregnant or postpartum women, with their doctor’s approval, should do at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity per week, such as brisk walking. It is best to spread this activity throughout the week, such as 30 minutes a day, five days a week.
• Adults need 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity each week (this can be 30 minutes a day, five days a week), or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity activity every week. Adults also need two days a week of muscle-strengthening activities.
• Adults 65 and older need at least 150 minutes a week of moderate intensity activity such as brisk walking, at least two days a week of activities that strengthen muscles, and activities to improve balance, such as standing on one foot.

People who are physically active can still gain wait if they take in more calories than they use. Healthy lifestyles include being physically active, limiting calories, and ensuring adequate nutrition.

Other Factors

Getting enough sleep can help you manage your body weight. Age, genetics, diseases, medications and environments may also contribute to overweight and obesity.

As people age, their body composition gradually shifts — the proportion of muscle decreases and the proportion of fat increases. This shift slows their metabolism, making it easier to gain weight. In addition, some people become less physically active as they get older, increasing the risk of weight gain.

Genetics can directly cause obesity in specific disorders such as Bardet-Biedl syndrome and Prader-Willi syndrome. However genes do not always predict future health. In some cases, multiple genes may increase susceptibility for obesity, but obesity does not occur without excess food or too little physical activity. See more information.

Some illnesses may lead to obesity or weight gain. These may include Cushing’s disease and polycystic ovary syndrome. Drugs such as steroids and some antidepressants may also cause weight gain.

A doctor is the best source to tell you whether illnesses, or medications are contributing to weight gain or making weight loss hard.

Environmental factors such as a lack of sidewalks may keep people from being physically active. Communities, homes, and workplaces can all influence people’s health decisions.