Weight management is more far more complex than cutting out a
few ‘bad’ foods or balancing energy in and energy out, according
to a new consensus paper. The report – produced by a group of
international experts and published in the American Journal of
Clinical Nutrition – reviews the components of energy balance,
considering the interactions between components of metabolism
and the ways in which the body regulates energy imbalances.
Professor John Speakman of the University of Aberdeen, Scotland,
explained that the task of the expert committee put together to
write the consensus report was to explore the complexities of
weight management, “and highlight some of the myths surrounding
the energy balance concept." "Most people are aware of calories
and that an imbalance between intake and expenditure of calories
leads to weight gain,” said Speakman – who co-authored the
consensus statement. “However, this rather simple concept of
energy balance hides within it an extremely complex association
between different e