An editorial published in a journal from The BMJ says that excess sugar and carbs are the cause of obesity, and the issue can’t be “outrun” with exercise. Even the exercise regimens of professional athletes cannot counteract the effects of an unhealthy diet. According to Medical News Today, the authors of the article say that while obesity has sky-rocketed in the past 30 years, the exercise patterns have remained unchanged in the Western world.

The article, which is meant to lead the opinions of sports medicine researchers and clinicians, was written by Dr. Aseem Malhotra, a UK cardiologist and consultant to the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges in London, with Prof. Tim Noakes of the Sports Science Institute of South Africa in Cape Town, and Dr. Stephen Phinney, professor emeritus of medicine at the University of California Davis. The authors purport that a bad diet is more detrimental and causes more diseases that physical inactivity, alcohol and smoking combined. They support their claim by citing information about the global burden of disease published by The Lancet.

The editorial concludes with this remark: “It is time to wind back the harms caused by the junk food industry’s public relations machinery.” The article blames major junk food industries in North America for spewing misleading information about their products. For example, Coca-Cola spent 3.3 billion dollars on advertising in 2013, and sent the message that “every calorie counts”. In the advertisements, they associated they’re product with sport and activity, suggesting that it’s ok to consume sugary calories as long as you exercise, which is simply not the case.