An Oscar a day keeps flab away

The next time a dog owner cites walking the pet as 'exercise' you'd do well to not laugh at him.

An Oscar a day keeps flab away

The next time a dog owneru00a0 cites walking the pet as 'exercise' you'd do well to not laugh at him. Although that line has been scorned by hardcore workout addicts as nothing more than a lazy person's excuse for physical activity, ex-Miss India Sonu Walia is walking testimony, quite literally, to the theory that being a dedicated dog owner helps you shed the kilos.

Apr 2010: 86 kg

Walia shed a cool 30 kg after she adopted Oscar, a rare breed of a white German Shepherd less than a year ago. Recounting how it happened, she says, "German Shepherds or Alsatians as they are popularly known, are used worldover as police dogs. They need plenty of exercise and if not walked at least twice in a day, get cranky and hyper active in the house. I had two choices, either to hire help or walk him myself." She chose the latter, and it turned out to be the wisest decisions she had made.

Feb 2011: 56 kg

"When the kilos started dropping, what was once considered an additional responsibility, changed in to a double treat of companionship and exercise. Now, I don't walk Oscar. It's actually the other way round."

If a study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine (Feb 2006) is to be believed, dedicated dog owners exercise more than their urban neighbours without pet dogs.

Another recent research done at the University of Victoria revealed that it is the obligation to walk the dog that gets people up and about, in turn helping to fight their own flab. Researchers surveyed 177 men and 174 women between the age of 20 and 80 in Greater Victoria and found that 70 dog owners walked an average of 300 minutes a week compared to 168 minutes a week for the others. Women and men spent an equal amount of time walking their dogs. Time spent on strenuous physical activity, either walking or other forms of exercise, was similar for owner and non-owners.

But that doesn't mean you should go and adopt the next stray around the corner. Though scientific research has shown that contact with animals can have physiological and psychological benefits, adopting a pet purely as exercise motivation, is not recommended, say experts.