The key to these conflicting results could lie in the genetic makeup of the exercisers. A joint research project of The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston and the University of Houston will explore that issue over the next five years under a $3.2 million grant from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disease of the National Institutes of Health.
"This will be the largest, most racially and ethnically diverse study ever conducted of how genes may influence a person's response to exercise," said project principal investigator Molly Bray, Ph.D., assistant professor of biological sciences in the UT School of Public Health's Human Genetics Center. "If we can determine the genes involved, then we might be able to prescribe an exercise program that fits a person's individual needs, one that really works for them and is easier to stick with."
Sixty percent of U.S. adults are overweight and half of those are obese, subjecting them to higher risk for hypertension, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, stroke and cancer. While exercise and diet are often generally prescribed, success with either is highly variable, Bray said.
Deanna Hoelscher, Ph.D., associate professor of nutrition at the School of Public Health, is a co-investigator. At UH, the lead investigator is Andrew Jackson, Ph.D., professor of health and human performance. Brian Sekula, Ph.D., and Jill Bush, Ph.D., both assistant professors of health and human performance also are involved in the study.
The study, Training Interventions and Genetics of Exercise Response (TIGER), offers UH students who volunteer to participate an opportunity to get in shape, and learn about their body composition and fitness while earning academic
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Contact: Scott Merville
scott_merville@uth.tmc.edu
713-500-3042
University of Houston
28-Aug-2003