In view of the increasing prevalence of overweight and obesity in Europe, the role of certain carbohydrates, like sugar, is often controversially discussed. Here are some facts about the role of carbohydrates, sugars and sugar in our diet.

This is the last in the series of articles examining the prevention of childhood obesity and will look at the overall guidance gleaned from earlier studies which can be used to inform and improve future interventions.

You may have noticed the term Guideline Daily Amounts or GDAs mentioned on food labels, but what does it mean? Guideline Daily Amounts are a guide to the total amount of energy and nutrients that a typical healthy adult should be eating in a day.

Programmes to prevent childhood overweight and obesity, which focus on modification of dietary behaviour, increasing physical activity or reducing sedentary behaviour, have been underway for a number of years in countries all over the world. Encouraging results have provided useful data for the development of future initiatives. This is the second in a series of articles discussing current research on the prevention of childhood obesity.

As levels of overweight and obesity in European children continue to rise, it is generally agreed that preventive action is needed urgently. However, there is still much debate over when and how to introduce interventions and what precise measures should be used. Here are some of the considerations

You are preparing for an important public speaking engagement; do you reach for the biscuit tin or go right off the whole idea of food? Stress affects people’s eating behaviour in different ways, read on to find out why.

It seemed too good to be true, bacon and eggs every day if you want and still lose weight. Millions of Europeans tried The Atkins Diet and stories of dramatic weight loss were reported, but concerns regarding nutritional balance and poor long- term compliance may mean the Atkins reign is over.

A recent study has once again confirmed that people who closely follow ‘the Mediterranean Diet’ live longer than other Europeans. So what exactly is the Mediterranean diet and how does it exert this spectacular effect.

Two previous articles in this mini-series on problems of excess weight considered the physical, psychological, social and economic consequences. Those articles advised that nostrums and snake oils have no value and stressed that losing weight deliberately is not easy and gave some practical advice on how to achieve weight reduction. But how to keep your weight under control, that is the question.

In Food Today 37, attention was drawn to the fact that maintaining body weight in the normal range improves health; that the proportion of the population that is overweight or obese is now substantial; that a hundred million years of heredity benefited, during famine, those who accumulated fat in times of plenty; that losing weight is consequently difficult for most people and that fad diets and nostrums have no place in weight loss. How then should one reduce weight?

Each week brings a further rash of fad diets and dieting nostrums in the pages of women's magazines. In truth we know that 'grapefruit segments' or 'cultured yak milk' is not the answer to our overweight problem, but despite this we still hope that it might help and we try it. So why don't we reject them?

What we eat and how much we eat have an influence on our health and well being. But what kinds of foods make us feel full and why do so many of us tend to over-eat?

Against a global backdrop of increasing levels of obesity 1, it is important that public health messages to counter this serious problem really work. In a major collaborative venture, five European research centres recently carried out a study to test whether current advice to follow a low-fat diet actually reduced weight in a free-living situation2.

Snacking is on the increase and when eaten as part of a balanced diet and lifestyle, snacks can play a useful role in our overall health.

If you are feeling drained and your energy levels seem to be at an all time low, ask yourself this; how much are you drinking?

One of the common fears associated with giving up smoking is that it will lead to uncontrolled weight gain. While it is true that some people can gain 9 kilos during the first year of abstinence, other more encouraging studies have shown that initial gains tend to peak after six months and that many people return to their normal body weight within twelve months of quitting the habit.