Diet and exercise help prevent knee pain in overweight people in the short term, says new research

Overweight adults at high risk of knee pain may be able to prevent it by taking more physical exercise and having a better diet, according to a study published in Arthritis Care & Research.

Experts were interested in whether an intensive programme of weight loss combined with exercise, could prevent the onset of knee pain.

An intensive lifestyle intervention was given to a group of overweight adults with diabetes. It was compared to standard diabetes support and education.

A total of 2,889 people were involved in the research, all of whom had no knee pain at the start of the study but were at high risk because they were obese.

Those in the intensive lifestyle intervention group were 15% less likely to develop knee after one year. But four years later this difference decreased to 5% and was no longer statistically significant. So the intervention may be more effective as a short-term measure.

“An intensive lifestyle intervention of diet and exercise may prevent the development of knee pain among those at high risk in the short term,” the authors explain. “Healthcare providers may consider recommending diet and exercise as a means to prevent the development of knee pain among those at high risk.”

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Image credit: HeavyWeightGeek