According to a study conducted on 34,000 women in the U. S. an hour of moderate exercise is required to fight weight gain. This comes in contrast to the generic belief that half an hour of exercise is sufficient to keep the fat at bay.

Harvard team of researchers informs that women who are overweight need to diet as well exercise. Their views are published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The UK Government also counsels adults to work out for a minimum of half an hour five or more times in a week.

The study included 34,000 women in the United States. The women were asked to complete regular surveys stating the amount of time they spent on exercising.

The participants of the survey were categorized into three groups namely those did a moderate work out of approximately two and a half hours in a week, those who exercised between two and a half hours and seven hours a week, those who exercised more than seven hours a week.

It is important to note that the group that exercised more than seven hours in a week put on considerably less weight than the other groups.