uptake. The reduction in BMI was significantly
more pronounced in the diet groups than in the
exercise groups. Finally, the reduction of blood
pressure with diet alone (5.9/4.2 mmHg) was
superior to that of exercise alone (3.6/2.7mmHg).
The results on the comparison of combined exercise
and diet intervention with diet alone are shown
in Table 4 (11 study groups). Only the combined
intervention increased peak oxygen uptake. Diet
alone was less effective in reducing BMI than the
combined intervention. Nevertheless, there was no
evidence that adding physical training to diet was
more effective for blood pressure control than diet
alone. It appears therefore that dynamic aerobic
training is less effective than diet in lowering blood
pressure and that exercise does not add to the blood
pressure reduction by diet alone.