Exercise could indirectly affect body weight by exerting changes on various components of appetite control, including nutrient and taste preferences, meal size and frequency, and the drive to eat. This review summarizes the evidence on how exercise affects appetite and eating behavior and in particular answers the question, "Does exercise induce an increase in food intake to compensate for the increase in energy expenditure?" Evidence will be presented to demonstrate that there is no automatic increase in food intake in response to acute exercise and that the response to repeated exercise is variable. The review will also identify areas of further study required to explain the variability. One limitation with studies that assess the efficacy of exercise as a method of weight control is that only mean data are presented—the individual variability tends to be overlooked. Recent evidence highlights the importance of characterizing the individual variability by demonstrating exercise-induced changes in appetite. Individuals who experience lower than theoretically predicted reductions in body weight can be characterized by hedonic (eg, pleasure) and homeostatic (eg, hunger) features.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Research Division:	Medical and Health Sciences
Research Group:	Human Movement and Sports Science
Research Field:	Exercise Physiology
Objective Division:	Health
Objective Group:	Other Health
Objective Field:	Health not elsewhere classified
Author:	Hills, AP (Professor Andrew Hills)
Author:	Byrne, NM (Professor Nuala Byrne)
ID Code:	109876
Year Published:	2013
Deposited By:	Health Sciences
Deposited On:	2016-07-06
Last Modified:	2017-05-02
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