Aussies worry most about weight in the bedroom

News Com Au 11/01/2010

AUSTRALIANS worry the most when it comes to weight and how it affects our sex lives, a new global survey has revealed.

Half of us cared much too much about our waistlines, but at the same time we secretly wished our partners would lose a few kilos.

A majority of Australians have tried to lose weight at least once - unsurprisingly women more than men - and about 40 per cent of us felt constant pressure to be thin.

There was also a fear that being fat could affect our performance at work.

The revelations were part of a large-scale survey conducted by Readers Digest that took in the thoughts of some 6000 people from 16 countries around the world.

Australians appeared to be the world's biggest worriers when it came to weight and how it affected performance in the bedroom.

A hefty 52 per cent said excess weight "seriously impacted" their sex lives - more than any other country except Mexico, which came in equal first with Australia.

Eighty-one per cent of women have tried to shift the kilos at least once, as well as 63 per cent of men - ranking Australia fourth among the 16 countries surveyed.

Machine That Gives Feedback As You Eat

Sky News 06/01/2010

A set of portable scales that monitors portion size and speed of eating may be a key ingredient in losing weight.

The machine teaches the user to monitor portions, and to eat more slowly

The Mandometer machine helps retrain people to eat less and more slowly by providing real-time feedback during meal times, according to research published on bmj.com.

The device - developed at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm - plots a graph showing the rate at which food actually disappears from the plate, compared with an "ideal" graph programmed in by a food therapist.

Researchers at Bristol Royal Hospital for Children and the University of Bristol, led by Professor Julian Hamilton-Shield, carried out a trial of 106 obese patients aged between nine and 17.

One group was given Mandometer "therapy" to lose weight while the other was provided with standard care.

If we ate fresh, nutritious food that we had cooked ourselves and then sat down to eat and enjoy our meals in a leisurely way - rather like the French do - then obesity problems would be non-existent. Professor Julian Hamilton-Shield

Both groups were encouraged to do 60 minutes of physical exercise a day and to eat a balanced diet based on the Food Standards Agency "eatwell plate".

Participants were checked after 12 months and followed up at 18 months while being regularly monitored and given advice and encouragement over the phone.

After 12 months, the researchers found, the Mandometer group not only had a significantly lower average body mass index but they ate less - and more slowly.

Levels of "good cholesterol" were also significantly higher in the Mandometer group.