Weight and girth have become shorthand for health but these are blunt instruments that provide an unreliable and reductive snapshot of its complexities.
Sales of protein-based health products are booming.
Exercise by Shutterstock
Want to drop a dress or pants size? Then losing five kilograms, or about 5% of your body weight will help that zipper start to close with ease. In case you need another reason, keeping a small amount of…
The energy imbalance gap is how many calories you consume versus how many you burn. Understanding how it differs among different populations could lead to better policies to target obesity.
Daily kilojoule requirements are based on many variables, and no two people are the same across all of these parameters.
Sarah Horrigan/Flickr
Dietary guidelines broadly recommend a daily intake of 10,000 kilojoules (2,400 calories) for men and 8,000 kilojoules (1,900 calories) for women. But what do these figures mean in the context of the number…
Being lean and unfit is worse than being fat and fit.
Raúl González/Flickr
This month, the toxic combination of extreme heat and summer holidays will probably mean that you’re going to expose more flesh than you would like to someone whose opinion you care about. January is the…
Seeing pictures of preened celebrities, or even slimmer friends, makes many wish that their arms were that little bit thinner or abs more tightly toned. Most of us have an existing desire to be a normal…
Supermodel Kate Moss’ quip that “nothing tastes as good as skinny feels” captured the sense in society that being thin is the recipe for happiness. Obesity causes a range of health problems, including…
Used as a weight-loss or body-sculpting supplement, DNP can cause side effects when used in doses recommended by body-building websites.
Ian Carroll/Flickr
Losing weight is very hard, so it’s not surprising many people succumb to the allure of miracle weight-loss pills and potions available online. But they do so at their own peril, as today’s Emergency Medicine…
Eating less and exercising works for people who need to lose a little weight but not necessarily for people who’ve carried a lot of excess weight for a long time.
Ed Yourdon/Flickr
There will always be people extolling the virtues of eating less and moving more for weight loss. But while this may work for overweight people or the newly obese, it’s woefully inadequate for most people…
When it comes to weight loss, there are no magic tricks that guarantee success. What works for you is likely to be different to what works for your partner, neighbour or workmate. The best advice is to…
Bariatric surgery is the last-line option for weight loss.
Chris J/FLickr
You don’t need an expert to tell you obesity has become a major health problem worldwide. The World Health Organisation estimates 35% of the world’s adults are overweight and 11% obese, double the rate…
Anna Peeters, Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute and Tim Olds, University of South Australia
Australians are getting heavier and, as a result, are more likely to suffer life-threatening illnesses such as heart disease, diabetes and strokes. But should we be worried about a bit of excess weight…