A Review of Obesity, Physical Activity, and Cardiovascular Disease.

Clinical trials continue to demonstrate improved outcomes among overweight or obese individuals who achieve a healthy weight using various methods. Increasing CRF levels appears to demonstrate the largest health improvements, regardless of underlying comorbidities or achieving weight loss. CRF, which is perhaps the single most important predictor of overall health, seems more important than weight loss alone regarding improved CVD outcomes in the obese population. These findings are reproduced in studies involving patients with various forms of CVD and CVD risk factors. The importance of CRF is well established; future endeavors to establish specific CRF targets for various patient cohorts are needed.