Browse the evidence

There is insufficient evidence to fully assess the effect of non-pharmacological interventions on cognition in T2DM.

Further well-constructed trials are needed to evaluate the cognitive effects of non-pharmacological interventions in T2DM.

The most frequently simulated obesity-associated events were coronary heart disease (≈ 83%), type 2 diabetes (≈ 74%), and stroke (≈ 66%).

Understanding the focus areas of economic models can guide future research and interventions.

There is a lack of a gold-standard method for returning to sport after an ACL injury.

Practitioners should be aware that there is no universally accepted protocol for returning athletes to sport after ACL injuries.

There is controversy regarding the variables involved in ACL injuries.

Practitioners should consider the complexity and variability in ACL injuries when developing recovery plans.

A clear verdict on the risk-to-benefit ratio of the Roman Chair Back Extension exercise remains elusive.

Professionals should remain cautious and informed when considering this exercise for clients.

The term 'ultra-processed food' emerged in the 1980s and refers to highly-processed convenience foods that are often energy-dense and poor in nutrients.

Practitioners should recognize the historical context and definition of ultra-processed foods when discussing nutrition.

53.5% of participants are at risk of exercise addiction and 46.5% are addicted to exercise.

Practitioners should be aware that a significant portion of regular exercisers may be at risk or addicted to exercise.

The paper developed the first consensual definition of functional training using an international e-Delphi method.

Practitioners can refer to this consensual definition for clarity in functional training.

A proposal was made to avoid the distinction between functional training and the general concept of training.

Practitioners should consider this proposal when defining and applying functional training.

Obesity is a disorder of the energy homeostasis system involving the biological defense of an elevated body-fat mass set point, rather than simply the passive accumulation of excess calories.

Understand that your body has a biological 'set point' for body fat that it actively defends. This is why weight loss programs often fail long-term; your body fights back by increasing hunger and decreasing energy expenditure. Effective treatment requires addressing this biological defense, not just relying on willpower or specific diet compositions.

Mitochondrial dysfunction, characterized by ROS overproduction, Ca2+ overload, and structural changes, is a primary driver of cellular senescence and age-related diseases.

Maintaining mitochondrial health is crucial for longevity. This involves managing oxidative stress through a balanced diet, regular exercise, and potentially avoiding excessive ROS-producing activities. Understanding that mitochondria are central to aging helps prioritize interventions that support their function.

Resting energy expenditure (REE) is primarily determined by the mass and specific metabolic rates of organs and tissues, with fat-free mass (FFM) explaining the majority of variance in REE.

Your resting metabolic rate is largely dictated by your body composition, specifically your fat-free mass (muscle, organs, bone). Maintaining muscle mass is key to preserving metabolic rate.

Obesity is fundamentally a chronic metabolic disease characterized by disturbances in energy homeostasis and excessive fat accumulation, driven by a complex interplay of genetic, epigenetic, biological, psychological, and environmental factors.

Understand that obesity is a complex chronic disease, not a moral failing. Effective management requires addressing biological, genetic, and environmental factors, often necessitating medical interventions alongside lifestyle changes.

Energy expenditure can be increased through specific physiological mechanisms independent of physical activity, including UCP1-dependent thermogenesis in brown/beige fat, futile cycling of substrates (creatine, glucose, lipids), and ion pumping (Na+/K+-ATPase, SERCA).

Your body burns calories through several active processes beyond just moving around. These include generating heat in fat tissue (thermogenesis), running 'futile' metabolic cycles that burn energy as heat, and maintaining electrical gradients in cells. While you can't easily control these directly, understanding them helps explain why some medications work better than others. Future treatments may target these specific pathways to help you burn more calories passively.

Body weight regulation is not governed by a single fixed set-point, but rather by a dynamic equilibrium where energy expenditure passively adjusts to match intake, creating a 'zone of indifference' bounded by upper and lower intervention points.

Do not assume your body has a rigid 'set point' that fights against you. Your weight settles at a level where your energy expenditure matches your intake. If your environment changes (e.g., more food, less activity), your weight will drift until your expenditure rises to match the new intake. Understanding this passive feedback helps explain why small, sustained environmental changes lead to gradual weight gain over years.

Alternate-day fasting does not produce superior weight loss, weight maintenance, or cardioprotection compared to daily calorie restriction in metabolically healthy obese adults.

If you are obese and metabolically healthy, alternate-day fasting is not a magic bullet for better weight loss or heart health compared to simply eating less every day. It is equally effective for weight loss but may be harder to stick to long-term, as evidenced by higher dropout rates. Choose the diet you can sustain consistently.

Bariatric surgery (specifically Roux-en-Y gastric bypass) produces the largest and most durable weight loss among current treatments, serving as a benchmark for efficacy, though individual response varies significantly.

If lifestyle and medications fail, bariatric surgery (like RYGB) is the most effective option for significant, sustained weight loss, averaging over 30% loss. It is considered the benchmark for efficacy, though it requires lifelong medical follow-up.

Intermittent energy restriction (IER) diets (time-restricted eating, alternate-day fasting, and 5:2 diet) do not produce superior improvements in body weight, fat mass, or cardiometabolic risk markers compared to continuous energy restriction (CER) when total energy intake is matched.

If your goal is weight loss or better metabolic health, you do not need to adopt a complex intermittent fasting schedule. A standard daily calorie restriction diet is equally effective. Focus on maintaining a consistent caloric deficit rather than restricting your eating window, unless you personally prefer the structure of fasting.

Global age-standardised mean BMI in children and adolescents increased significantly from 1975 to 2016, with obesity prevalence rising from 0.7% to 5.6% in girls and 0.9% to 7.8% in boys, while underweight prevalence decreased.

Track your child's growth using standard BMI percentiles for their age and sex, not just absolute weight. Recognize that both underweight and obesity carry significant health risks. In many regions, underweight remains a larger burden than obesity, so nutritional support should address both ends of the spectrum.

The trajectory of BMI increase in children and adolescents has decoupled from adults in many high-income countries, where childhood BMI trends have plateaued while adult BMI continues to rise.

In high-income countries, public health efforts for children may be showing results (plateauing BMI), but adult obesity continues to rise. This suggests that childhood interventions are working to some extent, but adult lifestyle factors remain unaddressed. Focus on maintaining childhood gains and addressing adult-specific barriers.

Underweight remains a more prevalent issue than obesity globally for children and adolescents, with the highest burden concentrated in South Asia and parts of Africa.

Do not assume that obesity is the only or main nutrition problem for children. In many parts of the world, underweight is far more common. Nutrition programs must be tailored to address both undernutrition and overnutrition, especially in South Asia and Africa.

The global rise in excess body weight, defined as BMI ≥ 25 kg/m², has led to a more than 6-fold increase in the number of obese adults (from 100 million to 671 million) between 1975 and 2016, driven by changes in the global food system and reduced physical activity.

The environment around you is designed to promote weight gain through easy access to cheap, energy-dense food and less physical activity. Recognizing this external pressure helps remove shame and shifts the focus to actionable strategies: choosing nutrient-dense foods and finding ways to move more, even in sedentary environments.

Rapid weight gain in infancy and the second year of life, exceeding normal growth standards, is associated with an increased risk of subsequent obesity.

Monitor your infant's growth using standard growth charts. Avoid rapid weight gain that exceeds these standards, as it is linked to a higher risk of obesity later in life. Focus on balanced feeding practices rather than forcing extra food.

Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) is the current reference standard for assessing body composition in clinical research due to its accuracy, low radiation, and ability to distinguish between fat mass, lean mass, and bone mineral content, although it has limitations regarding hydration status assumptions.

If you need an accurate assessment of your body composition (fat vs. muscle vs. bone), DXA is the most accessible and reliable clinical standard available today. It provides a detailed breakdown that BMI cannot, helping to identify hidden risks like visceral fat or muscle loss.