Obesity and overweight are a growing epidemic around the world. In the country, overweight and obesity reach 6 out of 10 peopleand its increase is worrying: in recent decades, obesity increased by 72%, as reported based on data from the latest National Risk Factor Survey (ENFR).
Obesity leads to other disorders: raises the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, some types of cancer, sleep apnea, and liver disease.
Among the recommendations for prevent and treat it, is to exercise regularly. However, this premise seems to be very difficult to comply with, which is reflected in another statistic: in our country, 60% are sedentary according to the ENFR.
When analyzing the obstacles that make it difficult to incorporate exercise, specialists usually indicate that the difficult thing is to make physical activity become a habitThat is, people can start, but they quickly become demotivated, find excuses, and cannot sustain it over time.
In this sense, a meta-analysis (“the first systematic review that focuses on the effectiveness of dance intervention on body composition,” as they say) carried out on the basis of 10 studies with more than 600 participants, becomes relevant, which indicates that, If compared to “a normal lifestyle,” dance shows a significant effect in improving body composition among overweight and obese people.
Specifically, those who had the habit of dancing obtained significant improvements in body mass index (which is arrived at by dividing a person’s weight in kilos by the square of their height in meters, and whose acronym is BMI), waist circumference, fat and fat mass .
The study
The article, which was prepared by a team from the Chinese University of Hunan and published in the journal Plos One, aimed to review research on the effects of dance interventions, in relation to normal lifestyles, on body composition in overweight and obese people.
Starting physical activity is not the main challenge; The key is to maintain long-term exercise habits. Photo Shutterstock.
Let us take into account that the obesity It is defined as an abnormal or excessive accumulation of fat that can be harmful to health, based on BMI. An adult with a BMI equal to or greater than 30 is considered obese and with a BMI equal to or greater than 25, overweight.
While 321 participants between 43 and 53 years old were assigned to the dance program (often performed three times a week for between 40 and 60 minutes), 331 were in the control group, and were asked to maintain their usual lifestyles. .
The benefits of dancing
The research suggests that the regular aerobic exercise Performed every week can effectively facilitate weight loss while improving cardiopulmonary fitness and kinetics.
“However,” they say, “initiating physical activity is not the main challenge; he crux It’s about maintaining long-term exercise habits. The participants who enjoy physical activity They are more likely to maintain it, which indicates the fundamental role of enjoyment as a key factor in maintaining physical exercise,” they maintain.
The monotony of traditional training usually works against its continuity. Photo Shutterstock.
It is at this point that they highlight the role that dancing can have: “As a form of physical activity that integrates exercise, entertainment and socialization, dance has innate advantages to foster motivation.”
But in addition, researchers highlight the variety of benefits and possibilities that a discipline like dance brings together: “it works as a way of artistic expression, has a wide audience and has considerable aesthetic value. It can be practiced alone or done in groups. Different styles of dance vary in their demands for physical movement patterns and degrees of technical proficiency.”
And they add the trait of versatility: “In addition, its almost non-existent requirement for specific exercise environments allows dance to meet the exercise needs of participants with various health conditions and help them develop long-term exercise habits.
Physical and mental benefits
On the other hand, the analysis reflects the growing evidence that the benefits derived from dance have both in the dimension physically as well as mentally.
In this sense, they point out that, compared to the group without exercise, dance can improve:
- VO2 (the maximum amount of oxygen that the body can absorb, transport and consume in a given time)
- insulin sensitivity,
- cognitive disorders
In physically inactive women, it was observed that practicing zumba For 8 weeks he achieved effective improvements in body composition and respiratory functionality.
Similar improvements were also identified within the population with health problems. A pilot study showed that dance can improve BMI and body fat percentage while improving physical activity.
“People with disease Parkinson’s “They can achieve physical (balance, functional mobility and cognition) and mental (self-esteem, quality of life and motor symptoms) improvements by dancing,” they encourage.
Conclusions
“In recent years, various forms of exercise have been shown to significantly improve body composition. However, conventional exercise (such as running, cycling, and swimming) is excessively monotonouswhich poses challenges for adherence,” the researchers say.
“Dance – they contrast -, as a form of exercise that involves multiple joints, not only proves to be effective in reducing fat but also has a entertainment valuewhich makes it more conducive to people forming exercise habits.”
It is important to note that, they say, as a form of aerobic exercise, dance requires an intervention that lasts at least 3 months to produce substantial effects on body composition.
The key, then? How stimulating it can be: “The general desertion of the dance group was low. Overall, dance can be effectively advocated as a viable fat loss program for overweight and obese people, due to the inherent fun of dance, which makes participants more likely to stick with it.”
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