Activity as a function of body weight.

Thirty-one undergraduate men and women who weighed more (overweight) or who weighed less (underweight) than the normal weight limits for their height wore actometers on all four limbs 24 h each day for 14 consecutive days. All groups were found to be equally active. This result fails to replicate previously reported results that overweight men and women are hypoactive. This discrepancy is explained in terms of differences in percent overweight between the present and previous samples. The possibility of a catastrophic decline in activity as a function of percent overweight is discussed.