Researchers identify a variety of myths about obesity and deliver sometimes-unpleasant countervailing facts in the New England Journal of Medicine. Among them:

Myth: Sexual activity is a good form of exercise.

Fact: It may be intense, but it’s not long-lasting enough to be much better than watching television, calorically speaking.

Myth: Breast-feeding infants protects them from obesity later in life.

Fact: Studies that controlled for confounding found no evidence of a protective effect.

Myth: Patients should set realistic goals for weight loss. Otherwise they might become frustrated and not lose as much.

Fact: Studies have shown that patients who set more ambitious goals are likely to lose more weight.

Citation:Myths, Presumptions, and Facts about Obesity, N Engl J Med 2013; 368:446-454; DOI: 10.1056/NEJMsa1208051