Sadly yes. Your risk of death does increase as you gain fat weight, and this goes for both men and women. Many researchers use Body Mass Index (BMI) to assess your degree of overweight. To calculate your BMI divide your weight in kilograms by your height in meters, squared. The normal weight range is considered [...]

The most common cause for obesity is eating too much and not exercising enough. Over the years the energy density of foods has increased markedly. Take a look at the journey of the humble corn cob. Stage 1: Cob of Corn (146gms), 155kcals, 3.4gm fat, 32gm carbohydrate Stage 2: Corn Tortilla (42gm), 100kcals, 1gm fat, [...]

While the most common cause for obesity is eating too much and not exercising enough, a number of other causes and factors associated with obesity are being looked at and these include: The role of micro-organisms (the bugs that live in your gut change with your weight and scientists are investigating why this occurs and [...]

We used to think fat cells (also called adipocytes) were passive little things whose sole purpose was to store fat. However, fat had us fooled until about a decade ago when we discovered that fat was an active endocrine organ that influenced important events like vascular tone regulation and appetite, to mention just a few [...]

Body Mass Index or BMI is probably the most common measure for assessing your weight range. To calculate your BMI your body weight measured in kilograms is divided by the square of your height in meters. For example, if you are 70kgs and measure 170cms (1.7m) in height your BMI would be as follows: 70/1.7 [...]

The Foresight Report (2007) was commissioned in 2005 to look at current obesity trends and to identify how they could be stopped. “The Foresight Report argues that understanding and preventing obesity is complex. There is no example anywhere in the world where the obesity trend has been reversed. The solution to reversing the trend is [...]

Our development, particularly in utero (during pregnancy) affects the risk of obesity. Of all the mammals we are the fattest at birth. And yes, that means that at birth we are fatter than seals and whales! Evolutionary scientists believe we are probably fatter than other mammals at birth because we need an energy supply to [...]

So, does eating six small meals a day produce more weight loss than eating three meals a day? Well, the bottom line is that eating 6 meals a day does not lead to more weight loss than eating 3 meals a day. While some studies have shown that having a higher meal frequency reduces food [...]

You can break bad dieting habits and get the body you want Changing behaviour and ways of thinking is not easy, but it is not impossible either. We have all heard the saying: “If you keep on doing what you are doing, you will get more of what you’ve got” Well, nothing could be truer [...]

Most Western countries have identified the fight against fat as their primary health protection target. However, many developing countries are suffering the same fate. The top ten countries, from highest to lowest, in prevalence of obesity between 1980 – 1998 will probably surprise you. They were: 1. Samoa 2. Kuwait 3. UK 4. New Zealand [...]