In sum , exercise and physical activity can effectively prevent weight gain in older adults and postmenopausal women either in terms of weight loss or maintenance .
They can preserve lean body mass and thus are important for the balance between potentially positive and negative effects of weight reduction in later life .
In addition , since all intervention studies were conducted with an overweight sample , it seems that primordial prevention ( in terms of preventing the development of risk factors such as excess weight in the first place ) might be a neglected issue in geriatric and postmenopausal prevention
This review examines the role of exercise and physical activity for preventing  weight gain in older people .
Effect of exercise on total and intra-abdominal body fat in postmenopausal women: a randomized controlled trial.
CONTEXT The increasing prevalence of obesity is a major public health concern . Physical activity may promote weight and body fat loss . OBJECTIVE To examine the effects of exercise on total and intra-abdominal body fat overall and by level of exercise . DESIGN R and omized controlled trial conducted from 1997 to 2001 . SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS A total of 173 sedentary , overweight ( body mass index > or = 24.0 and > 33 % body fat ) , postmenopausal women aged 50 to 75 years who were living in the Seattle , Wash , area . INTERVENTION Participants were r and omly assigned to an intervention consisting of exercise facility and home-based moderate-intensity exercise ( n = 87 ) or a stretching control group ( n = 86 ) . MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE Changes in body weight and waist and hip circumferences at 3 and 12 months ; total body , intra-abdominal , and subcutaneous abdominal fat at 12 months . RESULTS Twelve-month data were available for 168 women . Women in the exercise group participated in moderate-intensity sports/recreational activity for a mean ( SD ) of 3.5 ( 1.2 ) d/wk for 176 ( 91 ) min/wk . Walking was the most frequently reported activity . Exercisers showed statistically significant differences from controls in baseline to 12-month changes in body weight ( -1.4 kg ; 95 % confidence interval [ CI ] , -2.5 to -0.3 kg ) , total body fat ( -1.0 % ; 95 % CI , -1.6 % to -0.4 % ) , intra-abdominal fat ( -8.6 g/cm2 ; 95 % CI , -17.8 to 0.9 g/cm2 ) , and subcutaneous abdominal fat ( -28.8 g/cm2 ) ; 95 % CI , -47.5 to -10.0 g/cm2 ) . A significant dose response for greater body fat loss was observed with increasing duration of exercise . CONCLUSIONS Regular exercise such as brisk walking results in reduced body weight and body fat among overweight and obese postmenopausal women
In sum , exercise and physical activity can effectively prevent weight gain in older adults and postmenopausal women either in terms of weight loss or maintenance .
They can preserve lean body mass and thus are important for the balance between potentially positive and negative effects of weight reduction in later life .
In addition , since all intervention studies were conducted with an overweight sample , it seems that primordial prevention ( in terms of preventing the development of risk factors such as excess weight in the first place ) might be a neglected issue in geriatric and postmenopausal prevention
This review examines the role of exercise and physical activity for preventing  weight gain in older people .