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 .
Combined effects of weight loss and physical activity on all-cause mortality of overweight men and women
Objective : To estimate the excess deaths associated with weight loss in combination with leisure time physical activity among overweight or obese people . Design : Prospect i ve cohort study .Subjects : In two consecutive examinations in 1976–1978 and 1981–1983 , 11 135 people participated in the Copenhagen City Heart Study . Of these , 3078 overweight or obese participants lost weight or remained weight stable from 1976–1978 to 1981–1983 , and were without pre-existing diagnosis of diabetes , stroke , ischaemic heart disease or cancer in 1981–1983 . They were followed up until 2007 in the Danish Civil Registration System , with a < 0.2 % loss to follow-up only . Measurements : The following measurements were taken : body mass index ( BMI ) and physical activity in 1976–1978 and 1981–1983 and hazard ratio ( HR ) of mortality during 53 976 person-years of follow-up . Results : Of the initially overweight or obese subjects who either lost weight or remained weight stable , 2060 died . Overall , weight loss was associated with excess mortality when compared with weight stability . Weight loss was associated with a higher mortality among those who became physically inactive , compared with those who remained active while losing weight ( men : HR 2.25 , 95 % confidence interval 1.31–3.84 ; women : 1.43 , 1.07–1.91 ) . However , losing weight while remaining physically active was still associated with excess mortality when compared with those who were weight stable and initially active ( men : 1.72 , 1.27–2.34 ; women : 1.57 , 1.06–2.31 ) . Among those who remained physically inactive , weight loss seemed associated with excess mortality when compared with weight loss among those who became active , although not statistically significant ( men : 2.00 , 0.94–4.29 ; women : 1.40 , 0.82–2.39 ) . Finally , weight loss among those who became physically active was not associated with excess mortality when compared with those who were weight stable and initially inactive ( men : 1.12 , 0.61–2.07 ; women : 1.19 , 0.58–2.43 ) . Conclusion : Weight loss among the overweight or obese seemed hazardous to survival . However , weight loss seemed less hazardous to survival among those who remained physically active or those who became active
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 .