farmdoc's blog post number 572

Garry Egger (pictured) is Adjunct Professor of Health and Applied Sciences at the Southern Cross University, and Director of the NSW Centre for Health Promotion and Research. He’s qualified to write on the topic of Weight management – because he founded GutBusters, and his 25 books include Trim for Life: 201 Tips for Effective Weight Control, Lifestyle Medicine and The Fat Loss Handbook: A Guide for Professionals. And he’s the lead author of this article in the November 2009 issue of Australian Family Physician – where I found the 12-question quiz. Here are Egger’s answers, which he says are ‘based on the best available evidence’:

(1) T; (2) F; (3) T; (4) F; (5) T; (6) F; (7) F; (8) F; (9) T; (10) F; (11) F; (12) T.

So there you have it. How did you fare? In Egger’s paper he gives a brief commentary about the correct answer for each question, he tells us that doctors scored 60% correct, and truck drivers and tradesmen scored 51% correct; and he gives us a question-by-question response for both groups (with a few extra – and easier – questions thrown in for good measure). In case you’re disappointed with your score, he reassures us by saying that ‘many of these statements remain controversial’.

I hope you enjoyed Farmdoc’s Blog’s first quiz. I predict it’s not the last.

farmdoc's blog post number 189

Until I read this article, I didn’t know the body mass index [BMI] was invented over 150 years ago. Here’s a BMI calculator. I’m currently 175cm and 70.1kg, so my BMI’s 22.9 which is within the normal range (18.5-24.9). But my ideal weight’s 67.5kg equating to a 22.0 BMI which is nearer the 21.7 middle of the normal range. But for some reason I’m having trouble getting there after putting on my usual three winter kilograms. I think I eat healthily – certainly no junk food. And I exercise daily (recently mainly splitting and stacking wood, and walking). But my weight’s not falling. Why? This article in the current BMJ, reports a Japanese study showing that eating quickly and eating until full are associated with being overweight, independent of total energy intake and other confounding variables; and these two eating behaviours combined may have a substantial impact on being overweight. Assuming these conclusions apply in Tasmania, the key issue for me – which this survey didn’t study – is whether eating slowly and stopping eating before full are beneficial weight-wise. In his 2008 book In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto, Michael Pollan suggests they are. I’m guilty on both counts, which may explain my plight. Anyhow I’m giving it a try – I’ve resolved to eat more slowly, and to stop before I’m full. Stay tuned, folks.