The Effects of Different Percentages of Dietary Fat Intake, Exercise, and Calorie Restriction on Body Composition and Body Weight in Obese Females

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Abstract
Purpose.: The goal of this study was to determine the effect of varying the amount of dietary fat, while holding calories at 1,200 kcals/day, on body weight and percent body fat in 35 obese women. Design.: A pretest, midtest, posttest experimental design was employed, and subjects were randomly divided into one of four dietary fat groups, with 10%, 20%, 30%, or 40% of caloric intake as dietary fat. Intervention.: Subjects consumed 1,200 kcals/day and a specified percentage of total energy as fat, depending on their dietary group. Protein was held constant at 20%. All subjects engaged in a five day/week walking program. Setting.: Participants were recruited from the general community using newspaper advertisements. Subjects.: Thirty-five obese women 25 to 45 years of age (means=38 ± 4.97) served as subjects. All were at least 20% above ideal weight and 30% to 52% body fat. Measures.: Percent body fat, body weight, and anthropomorphic measurements were taken at baseline, six and 12 weeks. Dietary intake was recorded daily by each subject, and exercise walking logs were maintained by each participant. Results.: All subjects lost body weight and body fat; however, there were no significant differences in the rate or amount of body weight or percent body fat lost across the four groups during the intervention. Conclusions.: It appears that during calorie restriction and exercise for 12 weeks, percent of calories derived from dietary fats does not influence loss of body weight or percent body fat in adult obese women.