You are here: Home » Main Links » Health Topics » Diet and weight

Diet and weight

See also Eating Disorders and Body Image

Shrinking away: what does publically funded bariatric surgery mean for women's health?

June 2010 Women's Health Update

We are starting to hear an awful lot about bariatric surgery. Bariatric surgery, commonly referred to as stomach stapling, banding or gastric bypass, is fast becoming a much talked about new weapon in our national obsession - "the war against fat". However while the incidence of "obesity" is not higher in women, the uptake of bariatric surgery certainly is. Women currently constitute the large majority of those undergoing bariatric surgery suggesting that fat stigma and a slenderness ideal may be overly influential in some people's decision to undergo the procedure. Christy Parker, Women's Health Action Policy Analyst looks at the rise of bariatric surgery in New Zealand, and raises some questions about the benefits of the procedure for women's health... Read more (pdf)

Tangled web: skinny sisters in cyberspace

December 2002 Women's Health Watch

While feminist groups have been campaigning for years to encourage young women to accept their body shape and reject media pressures to be thin, a disturbing new trend in eating disorders has emerged. Cordelia Lockett looks at this on-line phenomenon.

A number of pro-anorexia and bulimia websites have sprung up as platforms of 'support' for young women with eating difficulties. The sites contain chat rooms and message-boards, advice and diet tips - including lists of 'safe foods' and how to conceal an eating disorder from family and friends. Like the old Elle McPherson picture stuck to the fridge, images of thin models and actors serve to discourage the site-users from eating by reminding them exactly how far from 'perfection' they are. They also have links to 'calorie counter' sites where visitors can type in their food intake in neat tables and charts.... Read More

Commonly used diet pills prompt warnings

July 1999 Women's Health Watch

The Ministry of Health has launched a world-first publicity campaign to warn consumers that two dieting pills commonly used for three decades can cause thickening of the heart valves in some cases. The warning is going to doctors and consumers, as well as weight loss companies such as Weight Watchers and Jenny Craig. Ponderax (fenfluramine) was marketed from 1966, Adifax (dexfenfluramine) from 1993. Both were taken off the market in 1997. Ponderax was widely prescribed as a dieting pill in the 1970s. The Ministry of Health estimates that around 25,000 New Zealanders have used one of these medicines. Most of the users were women and the majority of cases of heart valve disease that have been reported in the US are in women.... Read More

Milk good for girls

April 1998 Women's Health Watch

Sheffield schoolgirls consumed a pint of milk daily for 18 months and then had their bones measured; the control group drank an average 150 mls. Compared with the control group the intervention group had greater increases in bone density (9.6% v 8.5%) and bone mineral content (27% v 24%). No significant differences in height, weight, lean body mass and fat mass were observed between the groups. The researchers concluded that increased milk consumption significantly enhanced bone mineral acquisition in adolescent girls and could favourably modify attainment of peak bone mass.
Ref: BMJ 1997; 315

Breast cancer and the role of fat

November 1998 Women's Health Watch

There have been suggestions that a high-fat diet promotes the development of breast cancer after the menopause. This contention appears to be supported by statistics from countries with a high fat diet and high breast cancer rate (and concomitantly, low breast cancer rates in countries with low-fat diets) and the results of some case control and animal studies.

Confounding this theory, no correlation has been found between fat in the diet in cohort studies. Authors from the American Health Foundation recently reviewed the evidence for this association to try and make sense of the apparent contradictions.... Read More

Fear of fat fuels tobacco use

November 1998 Women's Health Update

Weight control is the main reason teenage girls start smoking, according to a study of nearly 3000 British and Canadian schoolgirls.

An article in the Postgraduate Medical Journal reports girls who smoked were more likely to be overweight, prone to overeating and twice as likely to be worried about their body image than non-smokers.... Read More

^ Top