Note: This advice is given by the CAP Executive about non-broadcast advertising. It does not constitute legal advice. It does not bind CAP, CAP advisory panels or the Advertising Standards Authority.
Weight gain is caused by an imbalance between energy intake and energy expenditure. Physical activity is important for achieving proper energy balance. An increase in exercise is likely to increase energy expenditure. Therefore, provided that energy (calorific) intake is maintained at the same level, increasing exercise should result in some weight loss. Marketers should not exaggerate the role played by exercise; the extent of exercise required is rarely enough to induce significant weight loss in the absence of dietary change. For example, two hours cycling burns about an extra 500 calories.
Exercise helps prevent the loss of muscle during calorific restriction. Optimum weight-loss programmes should therefore selectively deplete body fat while maintaining lean tissue: i.e. reduction of calorific intake combined with exercise. Advertisers should remember that muscle tissue is more dense than fat; therefore exercise designed to increase muscle mass (for example, high-intensity weight training) might not lead to a loss of weight. Marketers of exercise regimes as weight-loss aids should consider the complexity of those relationships and also the role of willpower in determining the balance between energy input and output.
It is likely to be acceptable to claim that exercise can help achieve weight loss, inch loss or aid in maintaining a healthy weight when performed in conjunction with a calorie-controlled diet. Similarly, it might be acceptable to make claims along the lines “trim”, “tone”, “tighten” “shape” or “look slimmer” when advertising exercise programmes but marketers would need to hold evidence to show that the programme advertised achieved the claimed effects (Windsor Group, 17 March 2004). Advertisers should not suggest or imply that exercise regimes will definitely lead to weight or inch loss.
Last modified : 03 November 2011