Research Progress on the Impact of Exercise on Dietary Behavior

Abstract

Unhealthy dietary behaviors, such as excessive consumption of high-energy-density foods, emotional eating, and binge eating, significantly contribute to the global rise in obesity and overweight prevalence, adding to the burden on public health systems. While current interventions, including nutritional counseling, psychological therapies, and pharmacological treatments, face challenges like high costs and poor compliance, exercise emerges as an economical, scalable, and sustainable alternative or adjunctive strategy. Regular exercise has been shown to improve appetite regulation, reduce impulsive eating, and enhance dietary quality, with minimal side effects and high acceptability. This review systematically analyzes the effects of different exercise modalities on dietary behaviors, evaluates the influence of exercise intensity, frequency, and duration, and explores the combined effects of exercise with nutritional or psychological interventions. Additionally, it discusses the biological mechanisms underlying exercise-induced improvements in dietary behaviors, including the regulation of appetite hormones, reward-executive control networks, inflammatory pathways, and the HPA axis. The findings highlight that moderate-intensity aerobic exercise performed 3–5 times per week for ≥30 minutes per session is optimal for improving dietary behaviors. Combining exercise with nutritional or psychological strategies offers more sustainable outcomes. Future research should address limitations in dietary behavior assessment, optimize integrated intervention parameters, and explore mechanistic pathways through longitudinal and interdisciplinary approaches. These insights provide a foundation for developing precise and individualized exercise prescriptions to promote healthier dietary behaviors.