Determination of diet and physical activity programs for fit and overweight individuals.

At present, scientific consensus exists on the multifactorial reasons of overweight and obesity. Both professionals and researchers agree that treatment must also have a multifactorial approach, including diet and physical activity. 

The aim of the PRONAF project is to determine what type of exercise combined with caloric restriction is the most appropriate to be included in overweight and physical training programs. One-hundred nineteen overweight (46 males) and 120 obese (61 males) subjects aged 18–50 years were assigned to a strength training group, an endurance training group, a combined strength + endurance training group or a diet and physical activity recommendations group. The intervention period was 22 weeks (in all cases 3 times/wk of training for 22 weeks and 2 weeks for pre and post evaluation). 

All subjects followed a hypo-caloric diet (25-30% less energy intake than the daily energy expenditure estimated by accelerometry). 29–34% of the total energy intake came from fat, 14–20% from protein, and 50–55% from carbohydrates. The mayor outcome variables assessed were biochemical and inflammatory markers, body composition, energy balance, physical fitness, nutritional habits, genetic profile and quality of life.