Are you the right weight?

If we eat more energy than we need, the extra energy gets stored in our bodies, mainly as fat, and we put on weight. If we eat less energy than we need, the difference comes mainly from the fat stored in our bodies and we lose weight. The only way to lose weight is to make sure our energy intake is less than the energy we use up.

Obesity is a very complicated condition and has many physiological, psychological, behavioural and environmental causes. So, its prevention and treatment is also complex. It’s not difficult to lose weight - the key is keeping the weight off. This means making lifetime changes to the sorts of foods we eat and our behaviour patterns, like the amount of physical activity we take part in.

There’s no magic pill that can safely speed up your metabolic rate to help you lose weight. Neither is there any scientific proof that over-the-counter and mail-order remedies that claim to make you burn energy or fat faster - or lose fat from specific regions of the body - actually work. Some of the newer pharmaceutical therapies now available on prescription may be effective - but only if the person concerned also decreases their calorie intake and increases their activity.