Diet and Overweight

Here you will find information on the role of diet in overweight and obesity and on how you can adjust your weight through diet, including information on weight loss diets. 

The HealthInsite topic area on Exercise, Fitness and Sports [HealthInsite Topic Page] has links to information on the role of exercise in managing weight.

Updated September 2007

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50 Resources Found
Results 1 to 20 displayed.
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Title:   Obesity and hormones
Publisher:   Better Health Channel
Description:   The hormones leptin, oestrogen and growth hormone influence appetite, metabolism and body fat distribution. Obese people have levels of these hormones that encourage the accumulation of body fat.
Date:   Apr 2007
Title:   Promoting Healthy Weight
Publisher:   Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing
Description:   Promoting healthy weight focuses on the prevention and management of overweight and obesity. In Australia, the 1995 National Nutrition Survey showed that some 56% of the adult population (18 years and over) were overweight, with 19% of these classified as obese.
Date:   Dec 2007
Title:   I have heard that, no matter how much food I eat, it is difficult to put on weight if I eat a very low-fat diet. Is this correct?
Publisher:   Nutrition Australia
Description:   There is a consensus that avoiding high energy intakes is critical to weight control. Although reducing your fat intake may be helpful in weight control, it is not sufficient of itself.
Date:   Jun 1999
Title:   What can I do to increase my chances of losing unwanted weight and keeping it off?
Publisher:   Nutrition Australia
Description:   This answer is brought to you by many of the Australian nutrition professionals who regularly contribute to a nutrition email discussion group.
Date:   Mar 2006
Title:   Weight loss - common myths
Publisher:   Better Health Channel
Description:   Dieting has led to many unhealthy misconceptions about weight loss and caused long term difficulties in maintaining a healthy body weight. There are no magical foods or ways to combine foods to reduce body fat. To lose weight, you need to make small, achievable changes to your lifestyle. You need to change the way you eat and increase your physical activity.
Date:   Jun 2007
Title:   Weight loss - a healthy approach
Publisher:   Better Health Channel
Description:   Increasing your physical activity level, together with eating a nutritious diet, is the key to losing body fat. You need to use more energy through physical activity than you eat as food. Yoyo ('crash') dieting can increase your weight by lowering your metabolism. Dieting can also cause psychological stress and increase the likelihood of binge eating.
Date:   May 2007
Title:   Diet or exercise, or both, for weight reduction in women after childbirth
Publisher:   John Wiley and Sons, Ltd. for The Cochrane Collaboration
Description:   Women naturally gain weight during pregnancy and many gradually lose it afterwards. Some women, though, find it difficult to lose the pregnancy-related weight during postpartum and there is concern that this may be a health risk. The retention of weight...
Date:   Apr 2007
Title:   Low glycaemic index or low glycaemic load diets for overweight and obesity
Publisher:   John Wiley and Sons, Ltd. for The Cochrane Collaboration
Description:   There is a lack of consensus as to the best nutritional management of obesity. We assessed the effects of low glycaemic index or glycaemic load diets in overweight or obese people. Six randomised controlled trials, involving 202 participants, were analy...
Date:   May 2007
Title:   Weight and muscle gain
Publisher:   Better Health Channel
Description:   This fact sheet offers a range of suggestions to help you gain weight. However, gaining lean body weight is a slow process that takes months or years rather than days or weeks.
Date:   Jul 2008
Title:   Smoking - weight gain and quitting
Publisher:   Better Health Channel
Description:   About 80 per cent of smokers gain weight when they quit smoking. The causes include the effect of nicotine on the body and the ex-smoker's inclination to eat more. However you can quit and keep weight gain low.
Date:   Nov 2007
Title:   Questions about overweight/ obesity and the role of activity in weight maintenance and weight loss
Publisher:   Nutrition Australia
Description:   A series of questions/answers which address the definitions and likely causes of overweight/obesity, and activity in relation to weight maintenance and weight loss.
Date:   Mar 2006
Title:   Lifestyle management of hypertension
Publisher:   National Prescribing Service
Description:   Recently updated Australian guidelines recommend that advice on smoking, nutrition, alcohol use, physical activity and body weight should be part of routine management of hypertension for all patients, regardless of drug therapy.
Date:   Dec 2008
Title:   Weight loss behaviours survey
Publisher:   Healthy Eating Club
Description:   This page enables you to take part in a survey of weight loss behaviour. There are questions on particular eating habits and demographic characteristics.
Title:   The problem of food restriction and weight loss
Publisher:   Healthy Eating Club
Description:   Weight cycling is a common problem for chronic dieters.
Date:   May 2001
Title:   Weight loss and carbohydrates
Publisher:   Better Health Channel
Description:   Carbohydrates are the only fuel source for many vital organs, including the brain, central nervous system and kidneys. Low carbohydrate diets are popular again, even though they may be dangerous. A diet high in protein and fats can lead to obesity and obesity-related disorders such as heart disease.
Date:   Jun 2007
Title:   High fructose processed foods linked to obesity, gout, hypertension, diabetes, cholesterol and fatty liver
Publisher:   Healthy Eating Club
Description:   There has been a 'cloud' over the health benefits of fructose added to processed foods over the last few decades. Food manufacturers have been adding pure fructose to foods in the quest to lower the glycaemic index (GI) of the food because fructose does not affect insulin production therefore is considered to be a low GI sugar (this is contrast to glucose which does raise insulin levels).
Date:   Jul 2008
Title:   Kilojoules and calories explained
Publisher:   Better Health Channel
Description:   A kilojoule is a unit of energy. It also refers to the energy value of food and the amount of energy our bodies burn. The common term for this used to be 'Calorie'.
Date:   Oct 2007
Title:   Eating well and feeling good
Publisher:   Inspire Foundation
Description:   This fact sheet has information on eating well and some weight-related issues.
Date:   Nov 2008
Title:   Causes of weight gain
Publisher:   Healthy Eating Club
Description:   If you have discovered that you are gaining weight and don't know why, the following information may be of some assistance.
Date:   Apr 2001
Title:   Fish oil
Publisher:   Healthy Eating Club
Description:   Fish oil for weight loss, metabolic syndrome, heart disease and blood fats
Date:   Mar 2006
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