Weight Management Library

Medically reviewed explanations of the terms, treatments and concepts that come up in weight management — written for patients.

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Screening

24-Hour Dietary Recall

A 24-hour dietary recall is a structured interview in which a person describes everything eaten and drunk in the previous day, with portions and preparation, to reveal patterns that a quick history misses.
Body Composition

3D Body Scanning

A 3D body scan uses cameras or depth sensors to build a full digital model of your body, giving accurate circumferences and shape changes without radiation.
Body Composition

A Body Shape Index (ABSI)

A Body Shape Index (ABSI) is a formula that measures how wide your waist is for your height and weight; a higher score points to a more central shape and a higher health risk than BMI alone suggests.
Procedures

Abdominoplasty (Tummy Tuck)

An abdominoplasty, or tummy tuck, is surgery that removes loose skin and fat from the lower belly and tightens the abdominal muscles.
Conditions

Acanthosis Nigricans

Acanthosis nigricans is a skin condition causing dark, velvety patches — a visible sign of insulin resistance linked to excess weight.
Psychological

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is a form of counselling that helps people respond skilfully to cravings and difficult emotions instead of fighting or being ruled by them.
Lifestyle

Active Commuting and Weight

Using walking, cycling, or public transport for daily travel to naturally build physical activity into routines and support healthy weight management.
Foundations

Adaptive Thermogenesis

The body's metabolic defence mechanism that disproportionately slows energy expenditure during and after weight loss.
Nutrition

Added Sugars

Added sugars are sugars and syrups added to foods during processing, which contribute empty calories and are linked to obesity, diabetes, and fatty liver disease.
Psychological

ADHD and Obesity

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and obesity occur together far more often than chance would predict, partly because impulsivity and altered reward processing make eating cues harder to resist.
Body Composition

Adipocyte Hyperplasia

Adipocyte hyperplasia means the body builds more fat cells rather than only enlarging existing ones, and it shapes how severe obesity becomes and how it behaves after weight loss.
Body Composition

Adipocyte Hypertrophy

Adipocyte hypertrophy is the enlargement of existing fat cells to store more fat; stretched, oversized fat cells leak fatty acids, attract inflammation and are closely linked to insulin resistance.
Foundations

Adipogenesis

The biological process by which the body creates new fat cells from precursor cells, influencing energy storage and metabolism.
Foundations

Adipokines

Bioactive signalling proteins secreted by fat cells that regulate metabolism, inflammation, and appetite throughout the body.
Hormones

Adiponectin

Adiponectin is a hormone produced by your fat tissue that helps your body use insulin properly and protects against inflammation.
Foundations

Adipose Tissue

Adipose tissue is the body's specialised fat storage tissue that plays a critical role in energy balance, hormone production, and metabolic health.
Foundations

Adipose Tissue Dysfunction

Adipose tissue dysfunction — 'sick fat' — means fat cells are no longer storing energy safely, leaking fat into the blood and driving insulin resistance and inflammation.
Foundations

Adipose Tissue Expandability Hypothesis

The adipose tissue expandability hypothesis explains that metabolic harm comes from fat overflowing into organs once the safe storage capacity of subcutaneous fat is full.
Foundations

Adipose Tissue Fibrosis

When fat tissue grows faster than its blood supply, chronic obesity drives collagen deposition and scarring inside it, which stiffens the tissue, limits further storage and promotes insulin resistance.
Foundations

Adiposity Rebound

Adiposity rebound is the natural rise in body fat that happens in early childhood after a low point around age 5–6; when it occurs earlier than usual, it can signal a higher risk of obesity later in life.
Hormones

Adipsin (Complement Factor D)

Adipsin, also called complement factor D, is a protein made largely by fat cells that drives part of the immune complement system and generates signals promoting fat storage; its levels change in obesity and diabetes.
Procedures

Adjustable Gastric Band

A reversible bariatric procedure using an adjustable silicone band around the stomach to restrict food intake.
Procedures

Adolescent Bariatric Surgery

Adolescent bariatric surgery is weight-loss surgery performed in teenagers with severe obesity who have not responded to intensive lifestyle and medical treatment.
Hormones

Adropin

Adropin is a hormone made mainly by the liver and brain that helps the body burn fat and use glucose efficiently - levels are usually lower in obesity and insulin resistance.
Psychological

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and Obesity

Adverse childhood experiences - abuse, neglect and household adversity before the age of 18 - are linked in a dose-dependent way to a higher risk of adult obesity, largely through long-term stress, sleep and appetite pathways.
Hormones

Agouti-Related Peptide (AgRP)

AgRP is one of the brain's two main hunger signals - a neuropeptide that turns appetite on when energy stores fall and switches off after you eat.
Body Composition

Air Displacement Plethysmography (Bod Pod)

The Bod Pod is an egg-shaped machine that measures your body fat percentage while you sit quietly inside it for a few minutes.
Lifestyle

Alcohol and Weight Management

Alcohol adds calories, lowers restraint and stalls fat burning, so cutting back supports weight loss.
Hormones

Aldosterone and Obesity

Aldosterone is the hormone that makes the kidneys retain sodium and water; excess weight raises aldosterone activity, contributing to high blood pressure and salt and fluid retention.
Psychological

All-or-Nothing Thinking

All-or-nothing thinking is a pattern of viewing eating and weight loss in extremes — perfect or failed — which makes small setbacks derail progress.
Screening

ALT (Alanine Aminotransferase)

ALT is a liver enzyme measured in a standard blood test, and a mildly raised level is the most common first signal that fat is accumulating in the liver - which is why it is checked during weight management.
Screening

Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring (ABPM)

Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring records blood pressure automatically over 24 hours, including during sleep, giving a far more reliable picture than a single clinic reading.
Hormones

Amylin

Amylin is a hormone released with insulin after meals that slows stomach emptying and signals fullness, helping to regulate appetite and blood sugar.
Complications

Anaesthesia and Obesity

Obesity makes general anaesthesia more demanding - a higher-risk airway, faster oxygen desaturation and a greater chance of breathing problems after surgery.
Body Composition

Android and Gynoid Fat Distribution

Android (apple-shaped) and gynoid (pear-shaped) fat distribution describe where the body stores fat — and the location matters more than the total amount for metabolic health.
Screening

Ankle-Brachial Index

The ankle-brachial index compares the blood pressure at your ankle with your arm to detect narrowed arteries in the legs - a common, silent problem in people with diabetes or excess weight.
Foundations

Anorexigenic Signals

Anorexigenic signals are the body's natural stop-eating messages — chemical messengers that promote fullness and suppress appetite after eating.
Body Composition

Anthropometry

Anthropometry is the measurement of body size and proportions - weight, height, waists, skinfolds and limb circumferences - the simple, portable first line of body composition assessment.
Nutrition

Anti-Inflammatory Diet

A diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and omega-3s that reduces chronic inflammation and supports healthy weight loss.
Medications

Anti-Obesity Medications (AOMs)

Anti-obesity medications are doctor-prescribed medicines that help with weight loss when diet and exercise alone have not been enough.
Medications

Antibiotics and Weight Gain

Repeated antibiotic courses, especially in the first two years of life, are associated with a small increase in later body weight through their effect on gut bacteria.
Medications

Antidepressants and Weight Gain

Antidepressant medicines differ widely in their effect on weight, with some adding several kilograms over months while others are weight-neutral or cause early weight loss.
Medications

Antihistamines and Weight Gain

Antihistamines that block the H1 receptor - the everyday hay-fever and allergy tablets - have been linked to higher body weight in long-term users.
Medications

Antipsychotics and Weight Gain

Antipsychotic medicines, especially olanzapine and clozapine, commonly cause substantial weight gain and metabolic changes, so weight and blood tests must be monitored.
Procedures

Antireflux Surgery After Bariatric Surgery

About half of people with a body mass index over 30 have reflux, so the choice of weight-loss operation and the treatment of reflux have to be planned together.
Medications

Antiretroviral Therapy and Weight Gain

Modern HIV treatment commonly leads to weight gain, particularly combinations built on integrase inhibitors and tenofovir alafenamide - and the gain can be managed without stopping treatment.
Psychological

Anxiety and Weight Management

Anxiety and weight management are closely linked — stress and worry can change eating habits, and carrying excess weight can in turn fuel anxiety, creating a cycle that is best broken with professional support.
Hormones

Apelin

Apelin is a signalling protein released by fat tissue, blood vessel walls and the heart that improves the body response to insulin, helps blood vessels relax and is being studied as a link between obesity and heart and metabolic disease.
Screening

Apolipoprotein B (ApoB)

Apolipoprotein B (ApoB) is a blood test that counts the particles that carry harmful cholesterol — a more precise heart-risk gauge than LDL cholesterol alone.
Body Composition

Appendicular Skeletal Muscle Mass Index (ASMI)

The appendicular skeletal muscle mass index divides the muscle in the arms and legs by height squared, giving a single number used to define low muscle mass in sarcopenia - and it can be low in people who are overweight.
Foundations

Appetite Regulation

The neuroendocrine system of hormones and brain signals that controls hunger and fullness, targeted by modern weight loss medications.
Screening

Arterial Stiffness

Arterial stiffness measures how rigid the large arteries have become - rising stiffness with obesity signals a higher risk of heart attack, stroke and kidney damage, and it is measured with a simple, painless pulse test.
Nutrition

Artificial Sweeteners

Artificial sweeteners provide sweetness without calories, and may help reduce sugar intake — but their long-term effects on weight and metabolism are complex.
Procedures

Aspiration Therapy

A minimally invasive procedure that removes a portion of stomach contents after meals to reduce calorie absorption.
Hormones

Asprosin

Asprosin is a hormone released by fat tissue during fasting that signals the liver to release glucose and the brain to increase appetite, and its levels are raised in obesity, insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes.
Conditions

Asthma and Obesity

Obesity increases the risk of developing asthma and makes existing asthma harder to control — and losing weight can meaningfully improve asthma symptoms.
Complications

Atrial Fibrillation and Obesity

Atrial fibrillation is an irregular and often fast heartbeat that can cause palpitations, breathlessness and a higher risk of stroke.
Conditions

Bardet-Biedl Syndrome

A rare genetic ciliopathy characterised by severe early-onset obesity caused by impaired hypothalamic appetite regulation, requiring specialised multidisciplinary care.
Procedures

Bariatric Endoscopy

Bariatric endoscopy uses a thin flexible tube passed through the mouth to perform weight-loss procedures on the stomach without surgery or scars.
Procedures

Bariatric Prehabilitation

A structured pre-surgery programme of diet, exercise, and lifestyle changes that prepares patients physically and mentally for bariatric procedures.
Procedures

Bariatric Surgery

Surgical procedures that alter the digestive system to promote weight loss.
Body Composition

Basal Metabolic Rate

Calories your body burns at complete rest — the foundation of energy expenditure.
Psychological

Behavioural Economics and Weight Management

Behavioural economics explains why knowing what to eat is not enough: present bias, defaults and portion cues shape eating, and small changes to the food environment shift choices modestly but reliably.
Lifestyle

Behavioural Therapy for Weight Loss

A psychological approach to weight management that helps change eating habits, identify triggers, and build sustainable healthy behaviours.
Body Composition

Beige Adipocytes

Beige adipocytes are brown-fat-like cells that appear inside white fat depots in response to cold or adrenergic signalling and burn energy as heat rather than storing it.
Conditions

Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia and Obesity

Obesity and the metabolic syndrome are associated with a larger prostate and worse urinary symptoms, and losing weight measurably improves both.
Medications

Beta-Blockers and Weight Gain

Beta-blockers taken for blood pressure or heart rate can add a kilogram or two over the first months, and the effect is largest in people who are already overweight.
Psychological

Big Five Personality Traits and Weight Management

Of the five broad personality traits, conscientiousness is the one consistently linked to lower body weight and to keeping weight off, while high neuroticism and impulsivity predict weight fluctuation.
Hormones

Bile Acids and Weight Regulation

Bile acids digest fat, but they also act as hormones through the FXR and TGR5 receptors - and after gastric bypass they rise two to three fold, helping drive the GLP-1 surge that improves blood sugar.
Procedures

Biliopancreatic Diversion

A major malabsorptive bariatric surgery that reduces nutrient absorption by rerouting the small intestine, producing substantial and sustained weight loss.
Medications

Bimagrumab

Bimagrumab is an investigational medication that aims to build muscle while reducing body fat — a new approach to weight loss being studied in clinical trials.
Psychological

Binge Eating Disorder

A serious eating disorder involving recurrent episodes of uncontrolled overeating.
Procedures

Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis (BIA)

A quick, non-invasive test that uses a small electrical signal to estimate your body fat percentage, muscle mass, and hydration levels.
Lifestyle

Blue Light and Weight

Evening blue light from screens disrupts sleep hormones and metabolism, contributing to weight gain — reducing exposure supports weight management.
Body Composition

BMI

Body Mass Index — a screening tool using height and weight to assess weight status.
Body Composition

Body Adiposity Index (BAI)

The Body Adiposity Index (BAI) is a simple way to estimate how much of your body is made up of fat using only your height and the size of your hips.
Body Composition

Body Cell Mass

Body cell mass is the oxygen-using, potassium-rich, working part of the body - roughly 40% of weight in a healthy adult - and it is the compartment that shrinks in starvation, illness and ageing.
Psychological

Body Checking

Body checking is the habit of repeatedly weighing, measuring or inspecting your body, and it can actually increase body dissatisfaction and interfere with weight loss.
Screening

Body Composition Analysis

Measurement of body fat percentage, muscle mass, and distribution.
Procedures

Body Contouring

Body contouring is surgery to remove loose, excess skin and reshape remaining tissue after significant weight loss.
Psychological

Body Dysmorphia

Body dysmorphia is a mental health condition involving obsessive focus on perceived appearance flaws, which can complicate weight-loss efforts.
Body Composition

Body Fat Percentage

Body fat percentage measures the proportion of body weight from fat, providing a more accurate health picture than BMI alone.
Psychological

Body Image

Body image is how you see, think and feel about your body — and in weight management it shapes motivation, eating behaviour and emotional wellbeing.
Body Composition

Body Recomposition

Body recomposition means losing fat while gaining or preserving muscle, so the scale may barely move while your body genuinely improves.
Foundations

Body Roundness Index (BRI)

A body shape index that uses waist circumference and height to estimate abdominal fat distribution, providing more accurate health risk assessment than BMI alone.
Body Composition

Body Surface Area (BSA)

Body surface area is an estimate of the total area of the skin, calculated from height and weight, and used mainly to work out drug doses and to scale physiological measurements.
Body Composition

Bone Health and Obesity

Obesity and weight loss both affect bone strength — extra weight loads the bones, but rapid weight loss can thin them, so bones need protection during any weight loss journey.
Psychological

Boredom Eating

Boredom eating is eating for stimulation rather than hunger - a learned habit triggered by idle moments, and one of the most fixable patterns in weight management.
Procedures

Brachioplasty

Brachioplasty is arm-lift surgery that removes excess skin and fat from the upper arm after major weight loss, at the cost of a permanent scar along the inner arm.
Foundations

Brown Adipose Tissue

Brown adipose tissue is a special type of fat that burns calories to produce heat, playing a unique role in energy expenditure and metabolic health.
Medications

Bupropion

Bupropion is a medication that affects brain chemicals linked to appetite and cravings, and may support weight loss as part of a comprehensive programme.
Screening

C-Peptide

C-peptide is a blood marker that shows how much insulin your pancreas is actually producing — it helps doctors pinpoint the true cause of high blood sugar.
Lifestyle

Caffeine and Weight Management

A mild stimulant that briefly boosts metabolism and curbs appetite but has limited effect on long-term weight loss.
Medications

Cagrilintide

A long-acting amylin analogue given as a weekly injection to enhance feelings of fullness and reduce food intake.
Body Composition

Calf Circumference

Calf circumference is a tape measurement around the widest part of the lower leg - a quick, validated way to estimate muscle mass, and a key check that weight is coming off as fat rather than as muscle.
Nutrition

Caloric Deficit

Consuming fewer calories than your body burns, the foundation of weight loss.
Lifestyle

Calorie Tracking

Calorie tracking means recording what you eat and drink to see your actual energy intake.
Complications

Cancer and Obesity

Carrying excess body fat has been linked to a higher risk of developing at least 13 different types of cancer, including breast, bowel and womb cancers.
Nutrition

Capsaicin and Weight Management

The active compound in chilli peppers that may boost calorie burning and reduce appetite as a natural adjunct to weight management.
Foundations

Carbohydrate-Insulin Model of Obesity

The carbohydrate-insulin model says that refined carbohydrates drive insulin release, which stores fat and leaves the body under-fuelled, causing hunger and weight gain.
Screening

Cardiopulmonary Exercise Testing (CPET)

Cardiopulmonary exercise testing measures breathing, oxygen use and heart rhythm while a patient pedals or walks against rising resistance, giving an objective picture of fitness and surgical risk.
Complications

Cardiovascular Disease

Heart and blood vessel disease — the leading cause of obesity-related death.
Complications

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and Obesity

Carpal tunnel syndrome — numbness and tingling in the hand caused by pressure on a wrist nerve — occurs more often in people with obesity.
Complications

Cataract and Obesity

A cataract is a clouding of the eye's natural lens, and carrying excess weight is linked with a higher chance of developing one - largely because obesity drives diabetes, inflammation and oxidative stress that damage the lens.
Hormones

Catecholamines and Energy Expenditure

Catecholamines - adrenaline and noradrenaline - are the body's alertness and stress hormones; they raise energy expenditure, and medicines that block them can make weight harder to lose.
Foundations

Cellular Senescence and Obesity

Cellular senescence is the accumulation of cells that stop dividing but stay alive and leak inflammatory signals - one way obesity behaves like accelerated ageing.
Conditions

Cellulite and Weight Management

Cellulite is the dimpled appearance of the skin on the thighs, buttocks and hips that affects most women; excess weight makes it more noticeable, but it is not the same thing as obesity and weight loss does not always improve it.
Complications

Cellulitis and Obesity

Cellulitis is a bacterial infection of the deep layers of the skin, and carrying excess weight raises the risk of getting it and of having it come back, mainly through skin folds, leg swelling and poorer lymphatic drainage.
Medications

Cetilistat

A weight-loss medication that blocks fat absorption in the digestive system, designed to support weight management with fewer side effects.
Hormones

Chemerin

Chemerin is an inflammatory signalling protein released by fat tissue that is elevated in obesity and linked to insulin resistance.
Lifestyle

Chewing Rate and Satiety

Eating slowly and chewing thoroughly gives your body time to register fullness, helping you consume fewer calories without feeling deprived.
Conditions

Childhood Obesity

Childhood obesity means a child carries substantially more body fat than is healthy for their age and sex, and because children are still growing, treatment focuses on family routines rather than restrictive diets.
Procedures

Cholecystectomy After Rapid Weight Loss

Losing weight quickly makes gallstones far more likely, and removing the gallbladder is the most common operation performed after weight-loss surgery.
Hormones

Cholecystokinin (CCK)

Cholecystokinin, or CCK, is a hormone released by the gut after eating.
Conditions

Chronic Kidney Disease and Obesity

Chronic kidney disease is gradual loss of kidney function, and obesity is a major risk factor — weight loss can help slow its progression.
Foundations

Chronic Low-Grade Inflammation

Carrying excess weight keeps the immune system mildly switched on, producing constant low-level inflammation that drives insulin resistance, fatty liver and heart disease.
Conditions

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and Obesity

Obesity is common alongside COPD and, despite an apparent survival advantage in smokers, it independently worsens breathlessness, exercise capacity and exacerbation risk.
Psychological

Chronic Stress and Weight Gain

Long-running stress keeps cortisol and appetite hormones switched on, nudging food choices, sleep and fat storage in the wrong direction - it is physiology, not a failure of discipline.
Complications

Chronic Venous Insufficiency and Obesity

Chronic venous insufficiency is a condition where leg veins struggle to return blood to the heart — and excess weight significantly worsens it.
Nutrition

Chrononutrition

The science of how meal timing interacts with your body clock to influence metabolism and weight.
Lifestyle

Circadian Rhythm and Weight

The relationship between your body's internal clock and weight regulation, showing how meal timing and sleep patterns affect metabolism and fat storage.
Foundations

Clinically Significant Weight Loss

Clinically significant weight loss usually means losing about 5% of your starting weight — enough to measurably improve blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol.
Psychological

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)

Cognitive behavioural therapy, or CBT, is a structured form of talking therapy that helps people change the unhelpful thoughts and habits around food, eating and weight.
Psychological

Cognitive Restructuring

Cognitive restructuring is a therapy technique that helps people recognise and replace unhelpful or extreme thoughts that can trigger overeating and derail weight loss.
Lifestyle

Cold-Induced Thermogenesis

Cold-induced thermogenesis activates brown fat to burn calories for heat, offering a modest metabolic boost that can complement weight management efforts.
Complications

Colorectal Cancer and Obesity

Bowel cancer is one of the cancers most strongly linked to excess weight, especially fat around the waist - and screening finds it early, when it is curable.
Medications

Combination Appetite Therapy

Investigational injectable treatments combining an amylin analogue with a GLP-1 receptor agonist to target several appetite pathways at once.
Body Composition

Conicity Index

The conicity index compares your waist measurement with the waist a cylinder of your own height and weight would have, so a higher number means fat is concentrated at the middle.
Complications

Constipation and Weight Management

Constipation is more common in people carrying excess weight and is often worsened by low fibre, inactivity, some medicines and the appetite-suppressing injections - all of it manageable.
Screening

Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM)

A small wearable sensor that tracks blood sugar every few minutes, revealing how different foods affect your glucose — useful for metabolic health and weight loss.
Screening

Coronary Artery Calcium Score

A coronary artery calcium score is a low-dose CT scan that measures calcified plaque in the heart arteries, giving a single number that sharpens heart attack risk prediction beyond cholesterol and blood pressure.
Medications

Corticosteroids and Weight Gain

Corticosteroid medicines such as prednisolone commonly cause weight gain and central fat redistribution by increasing appetite and changing where the body stores fat, even at modest doses.
Hormones

Cortisol

Cortisol is the body's primary stress hormone, and chronically elevated levels can promote belly fat storage and increased appetite.
Procedures

Cryolipolysis

A non-surgical fat freezing treatment that destroys fat cells in small, targeted areas of the body.
Lifestyle

Culinary Medicine

An evidence-based approach that combines nutrition science with practical cooking skills to help patients make healthier food choices for long-term weight management.
Conditions

Cushing's Syndrome

A hormonal disorder caused by prolonged exposure to high cortisol levels, leading to rapid central weight gain.
Conditions

Cushing's Syndrome and Weight

Cushing's syndrome is a condition caused by too much cortisol, causing weight gain around the face, neck and abdomen.
Lifestyle

Cycling for Weight Loss

Cycling burns energy at a rate comparable to brisk walking or better, while the bike carries the body weight - which makes it a practical option when knees or hips make walking and running difficult.
Medications

Daily GLP-1 Injection

A daily injectable GLP-1 receptor agonist that reduces appetite and supports weight loss in adults with obesity. Prescription only, after medical assessment.
Lifestyle

Daily Steps and Weight

Daily step counts are a simple, measurable way to track activity — any consistent increase over your baseline helps.
Lifestyle

Dancing for Weight Loss

Structured dance programmes reduce body weight by about two kilograms and waist circumference by about three centimetres compared with no exercise, and they are unusually well tolerated because people keep turning up.
Nutrition

DASH Diet

The DASH diet focuses on fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and low-fat dairy to reduce blood pressure and support healthy weight management.
Foundations

De Novo Lipogenesis

The metabolic process where your liver converts excess carbohydrates into stored fat.
Psychological

Delay Discounting

Delay discounting is the tendency to prefer a smaller reward now over a larger reward later - steep discounting makes immediate food hard to resist and long-term goals easy to abandon.
Complications

Dental Caries and Obesity

Tooth decay and excess weight share the same drivers - frequent sugar, ultra-processed food and sweetened drinks - and people carrying extra weight are more likely to have active decay, particularly when blood sugar runs high.
Conditions

Depression and Obesity

Depression and obesity have a bidirectional relationship — each increases the risk and severity of the other, requiring integrated treatment.
Body Composition

Deuterium Dilution (Hydrometry)

Deuterium dilution measures the amount of water in the body after drinking a safe tracer, and from that calculates fat-free mass - it is the reference method for total body water.
Foundations

DEXA Scan

A low-radiation imaging test that precisely measures bone density, body fat percentage, and lean muscle mass to guide weight management.
Hormones

DHEA and Weight Management

DHEA is an adrenal hormone and a building block for testosterone and oestrogen; it is widely sold as a fat-burning supplement, but randomised trials have not shown meaningful weight loss.
Conditions

Diabesity

The close link between obesity and type 2 diabetes, where losing weight is key to controlling blood sugar.
Complications

Diabetic Retinopathy and Obesity

Diabetic retinopathy is diabetes damage to the light-sensing retina at the back of the eye - obesity and poor glucose control speed it up, and it is a leading cause of preventable blindness in working-age adults.
Procedures

Diastasis Recti Repair

When the abdominal muscles stay separated after pregnancy or major weight change, the midline can be repaired with sutures, usually during a tummy tuck, after physiotherapy has been tried.
Foundations

Dietary Adherence and Weight Loss

How closely and how long someone sticks to a plan predicts weight loss better than which diet is chosen - most diets perform similarly when people can actually sustain them.
Nutrition

Dietary Fibre

Dietary fibre is the indigestible part of plant foods that promotes fullness, supports gut health, and aids weight management.
Nutrition

Dietary Protein

A key nutrient that preserves muscle, promotes fullness, and supports healthy weight loss.
Psychological

Dietary Restraint

Dietary restraint is consciously limiting food intake to control weight — flexible restraint works, but very rigid restraint often backfires into craving and overeating.
Medications

Diethylpropion

A short-term prescription appetite suppressant that helps jump-start weight loss by reducing hunger signals in the brain.
Lifestyle

Digital Health Tools for Weight Loss

Apps, wearables, and telehealth can support weight loss through self-monitoring and accountability, especially when combined with professional medical guidance.
Psychological

Disinhibited Eating

Disinhibited eating is the tendency to overeat or lose control around food once eating has begun, especially when tasty food, emotions or social settings lower normal restraint.
Psychological

Disordered Eating

Disordered eating is a range of irregular eating behaviours — like chronic dieting, skipping meals, or binge-restrict cycles — that are not severe enough to be a formal eating disorder but still harm health.
Psychological

Distress Tolerance

Distress tolerance is the ability to get through an uncomfortable moment - stress, boredom, anger, craving - without doing something to escape it immediately, such as eating.
Medications

Diuretics and Weight Loss

Diuretics make the kidneys pass more salt and water, so the scale falls quickly - but that is fluid, not fat, and using them to lose weight is ineffective and can be dangerous.
Conditions

Diverticular Disease and Obesity

Obesity is one of the strongest risk factors for diverticulitis and diverticular bleeding, and it also raises the chance that a flare will be severe.
Lifestyle

Dog Walking and Weight Management

Walking the dog is a daily, low-effort way owners accumulate physical activity - and dog walkers are more likely to meet activity targets and less likely to have obesity.
Medications

Dual GIP/GLP-1 Receptor Agonist

An injectable treatment acting on two gut-hormone pathways to reduce appetite and improve blood sugar control. Prescription only, after medical assessment.
Complications

Dumping Syndrome

Dumping syndrome happens when food moves too quickly from the stomach into the small intestine, most often after weight-loss surgery.
Procedures

Duodenal Mucosal Resurfacing (DMR)

A minimally invasive endoscopic procedure that renews the duodenal lining to improve the body's hormonal response to food and help control blood sugar.
Procedures

Duodenal Switch

A combined restrictive and malabsorptive bariatric procedure that produces the greatest weight loss among all surgical options for severe obesity.
Procedures

Duodenal-Jejunal Bypass Liner (EndoBarrier)

A removable intestinal sleeve placed by endoscopy that mimics gastric bypass hormone changes to reduce appetite and improve blood sugar.
Conditions

Dyslipidaemia

An imbalance of blood fats — high bad cholesterol or triglycerides — that increases heart disease risk and often improves with weight loss.
Screening

Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q)

The EDE-Q is a 28-item questionnaire that measures eating-disorder thinking and behaviour over the past four weeks, scoring restraint, eating concern, shape concern and weight concern.
Nutrition

Eating Frequency

How many meals you eat per day matters less for weight than total caloric intake and food quality, though irregular patterns can affect appetite control.
Lifestyle

Eating Out Healthy

Eating out — hawker centres, food courts and restaurants — is part of daily life in Singapore. Ordering well is a learnable skill.
Lifestyle

Eating Rate

The speed at which you eat — faster eating is linked to higher calorie intake and weight gain because the brain needs about 20 minutes to register fullness.
Body Composition

Ectopic Fat

Ectopic fat is fat stored in organs where it does not belong — such as the liver, pancreas and muscle — and it is closely linked to insulin resistance and metabolic disease.
Screening

Edmonton Obesity Staging System (EOSS)

The Edmonton Obesity Staging System, or EOSS, is a way for doctors to grade obesity based on how it affects your health and daily life, rather than just your BMI.
Screening

Electrocardiogram (ECG)

An ECG records the heart's electrical rhythm in about five minutes; it is a standard part of the checks before weight-loss surgery or some medicines because obesity strains the heart and can mask problems.
Psychological

Emotion Regulation and Weight Management

Emotion regulation is the set of skills you use to notice, name and manage feelings without turning to food, and people who find this harder tend to eat more in response to stress, boredom or low mood.
Psychological

Emotional Eating

Using food to cope with emotions rather than physical hunger.
Foundations

Endocrine Disruptors (Obesogens)

Chemicals in some plastics, pesticides and everyday products that can disrupt hormones and promote fat storage — part of the obesogenic environment.
Complications

Endometrial Cancer and Obesity

Cancer of the womb lining is the cancer most strongly linked to excess weight, because fat tissue makes extra oestrogen - and losing weight lowers that risk.
Procedures

Endoscopic Gastric Remodelling

A non-surgical, incisionless procedure that reshapes the stomach through an endoscope to reduce its capacity and support weight loss.
Procedures

Endoscopic Sleeve Gastroplasty

A non-surgical, incisionless weight-loss procedure that reduces stomach size using an endoscope and internal sutures.
Foundations

Energy Balance

The fundamental principle of weight management describing the relationship between calories consumed and calories burned.
Foundations

Energy Density

Energy density is the number of calories per gram of food — choosing lower-density foods helps you feel full while controlling calorie intake.
Foundations

Energy Flux

Energy flux is the rate of energy turnover in your body — high flux supports better weight control and metabolic health.
Foundations

Energy Homeostasis

Energy homeostasis is your body’s system for balancing the energy you take in from food with the energy you burn through daily activity and metabolism.
Procedures

Enhanced Recovery After Bariatric Surgery

Enhanced recovery after bariatric surgery is a standardised set of measures before, during and after the operation that speeds recovery and reduces complications without increasing readmissions.
Lifestyle

Environmental Design for Weight Loss

The practice of arranging your surroundings to make healthy eating and activity choices the easiest and most natural option.
Foundations

Epigenetics of Obesity

Epigenetics describes chemical marks that switch genes on or off without changing the genetic code, and in weight regulation these marks respond to early nutrition, stress, sleep and activity.
Screening

Epworth Sleepiness Scale

The Epworth Sleepiness Scale is a simple questionnaire that measures how likely you are to doze off in everyday situations, helping to screen for sleep disorders like sleep apnoea.
Complications

Erectile Dysfunction and Obesity

Erectile dysfunction is significantly more common in men with obesity, and weight loss can meaningfully improve erectile function.
Body Composition

Essential Fat

Essential fat is the small amount of fat the body needs to function - about 3 to 5 per cent of body weight in men and 8 to 12 per cent in women - and going below it harms hormones and bone.
Body Composition

Ethnic Differences in Body Composition

At the same body mass index, people of Chinese, Malay and South Asian ancestry tend to carry more body fat than people of European ancestry, which is why Singapore uses the lower BMI action points of 23 and 27.5.
Complications

Excess Skin After Weight Loss

Excess skin, also called skin laxity, is loose, stretched skin that remains after substantial weight loss and does not tighten back on its own once the fat beneath it is gone.
Psychological

Executive Function and Weight Management

Executive function is the brain's planning and self-control system — when it is weaker, resisting cravings and sticking to healthy routines gets harder, but these skills can be trained.
Medications

Exenatide

The first approved GLP-1 receptor agonist — a twice-daily injection that improves blood sugar and supports weight loss.
Lifestyle

Exercise Physiology

How physical activity affects body weight, metabolism, and health.
Lifestyle

Exercise Snacking

Short, 1–2 minute bursts of vigorous activity spread throughout the day to improve fitness and metabolism.
Complications

Exertional Dyspnoea and Obesity

Exertional dyspnoea is breathlessness on activity; in obesity fat loading of the chest wall lowers resting lung volumes and roughly doubles the oxygen cost of breathing, and moderate weight loss measurably improves both.
Psychological

External Eating

External eating is eating in response to outside triggers such as the sight or smell of food, rather than because of true hunger.
Body Composition

Extracellular Water (ECW)

Extracellular water is the fluid outside your cells - blood plasma and the fluid between tissues - and it makes up a larger share of total body water with inflammation, oedema or excess fat.
Complications

Faecal Incontinence and Obesity

Faecal incontinence is involuntary leakage of stool - an under-reported consequence of excess weight and pelvic floor strain that is worth asking about.
Complications

Falls and Obesity

People carrying excess weight fall more often, not less - weaker balance, muscles that are relatively weak for the load they carry, painful joints and nerve damage all contribute, and the consequences of a fall are more serious.
Screening

Fasting Blood Glucose

Fasting blood glucose is a blood test, taken after at least eight hours without food, that measures the sugar level in your blood and screens for diabetes and prediabetes.
Screening

Fasting Insulin

A fasting insulin blood test measures the level of insulin in your blood after an overnight fast — a key early marker of insulin resistance.
Body Composition

Fat Loss vs Weight Loss

Fat loss means reducing body fat specifically, while weight loss is any decrease on the scale — including water, glycogen and muscle — so the two are not the same thing.
Body Composition

Fat Mass Index (FMI)

The fat mass index divides your total body fat by your height squared, giving a clearer picture of body fatness than BMI alone.
Foundations

Fat-Free Mass

Everything in your body that is not fat — muscles, bones, organs, and water. Preserving it during weight loss is essential.
Body Composition

Fat-Free Mass Index

The fat-free mass index (FFMI) shows how much lean tissue — muscle, bone and water — you carry relative to your height, like a BMI for your muscle.
Complications

Fatigue and Obesity

Fatigue is one of the most common complaints in obesity - body fat is linked to physical tiredness even when depression is accounted for, and losing weight while training with weights has been shown to bring energy back.
Conditions

Fatty Liver Disease

Accumulation of fat in liver cells, strongly associated with obesity.
Psychological

Fear of Weight Regain

Fear of weight regain is persistent anxiety about putting weight back on after losing it, which can either drive very rigid eating or, paradoxically, trigger the very relapse a person fears.
Screening

Ferritin and Iron Studies

Ferritin and iron studies measure the body's iron stores - and people with obesity, and anyone who has had bariatric surgery, are prone to low iron even when their diet looks adequate.
Lifestyle

Festive Weight Gain

Festive seasons — Chinese New Year, Hari Raya, Deepavali and Christmas — bring rich food and sweet treats. The gain is small, real and preventable.
Screening

FIB-4 Index (Liver Fibrosis Score)

FIB-4 is a four-number blood calculation that estimates liver scarring and is now the recommended first-line test for people with fatty liver or metabolic risk.
Hormones

Fibroblast Growth Factor 21 (FGF21)

Fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) is a hormone-like protein released mainly by the liver that helps regulate blood sugar, fat burning and energy balance.
Screening

FibroScan

FibroScan is a quick and painless scan that measures fat and scarring in your liver using sound waves, similar to an ultrasound.
Psychological

Financial Incentives for Weight Loss

Paying people for hitting weight-loss targets works well while the money runs - especially deposit contracts, where you risk your own cash - but the effect fades once the incentive stops.
Foundations

Foetal Programming of Obesity

How maternal health during pregnancy can influence a child's lifelong obesity risk through epigenetic changes.
Conditions

Food Addiction and Obesity

A pattern of compulsive overeating driven by the same brain reward pathways involved in substance addiction.
Lifestyle

Food Cravings

Intense, selective urges to eat specific foods, driven by brain chemistry rather than true hunger.
Screening

Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ)

A food frequency questionnaire lists foods and asks how often each is eaten over the past month or year; it captures usual diet but under-reports energy intake by about a fifth and is not a precise calorie count.
Foundations

Food Insecurity and Obesity

Food insecurity is unreliable access to enough affordable nutritious food, and it is paradoxically linked with higher rates of obesity and type 2 diabetes.
Nutrition

Food Labels and Weight Management

The skill of reading nutrition labels to make informed food choices that support weight loss goals.
Psychological

Food Noise

The constant background mental chatter about food — cravings and food thoughts that are not true hunger; often silenced by GLP-1 medication.
Lifestyle

Food Reward

The brain's pleasure and motivation response to eating, especially processed foods that can override fullness signals and drive overeating.
Body Composition

Four-Compartment Model of Body Composition

The four-compartment model combines body weight, body volume, total body water and bone mineral to give the most accurate research measurement of body fat.
Screening

FRAX (Fracture Risk Assessment)

FRAX is a free calculator developed by the World Health Organization that estimates your 10-year chance of a hip fracture or a major osteoporotic fracture.
Complications

Frozen Shoulder and Obesity

Frozen shoulder is a painful stiffening of the shoulder capsule that builds up over months, and carrying excess weight - especially with diabetes or prediabetes - makes it more likely and often slower to settle.
Nutrition

Fruits and Vegetables and Weight

Fruits and vegetables fill you up for very few calories, so eating more of them helps control appetite and supports gradual, lasting weight loss.
Medications

Gabapentinoids and Weight Gain

Gabapentin and pregabalin, widely used for nerve pain, epilepsy and anxiety, cause weight gain in a substantial minority of users, and the risk rises with dose.
Conditions

Gallstones

Hardened deposits of digestive fluid that form in the gallbladder — obesity and rapid weight loss both increase the risk.
Screening

Gamma-Glutamyl Transferase (GGT)

GGT is a liver enzyme measured by a standard blood test - a raised level is often the first clue to fatty liver, and it tends to fall as you lose weight.
Procedures

Gastric Artery Embolisation

Gastric artery embolisation is a newer, minimally invasive procedure in which tiny beads are used to reduce the blood supply to part of the stomach.
Procedures

Gastric Balloon

A non-surgical weight loss procedure placing a soft balloon in the stomach.
Procedures

Gastric Botox

An endoscopic procedure using botulinum toxin injections into the stomach to slow gastric emptying and reduce appetite.
Procedures

Gastric Bypass

A surgical weight-loss procedure that reduces stomach size and reroutes the intestine, leading to significant and lasting weight loss.
Procedures

Gastric Bypass Reversal

Reversal of a Roux-en-Y gastric bypass restores normal anatomy for a small minority of patients with intractable dumping, excessive weight loss, marginal ulceration or malabsorption, at substantially higher risk than the original operation.
Procedures

Gastric Electrical Stimulation

An implanted pacemaker-like device that sends pulses to the stomach to promote fullness and delay emptying.
Hormones

Gastric Inhibitory Polypeptide (GIP)

GIP is a gut hormone released after meals that helps the body manage sugar and store energy — and it is now a key target in modern weight-loss medication.
Procedures

Gastric Plication

A reversible weight loss surgery that folds and stitches the stomach to reduce its size without removing tissue.
Medications

Gastrointestinal Effects of Weight-Loss Medication

Weight-loss medications can cause stomach and bowel effects such as nausea, vomiting, constipation or oily stools — most are temporary and manageable.
Foundations

Genetic Factors in Obesity

Your genes can influence how your body stores fat, controls appetite and responds to food, which is why some people gain weight more easily than others.
Complications

GERD

A chronic acid reflux condition that is common with excess weight and often improves significantly with weight loss.
Complications

Gestational Diabetes and Obesity

Gestational diabetes is diabetes first diagnosed during pregnancy — and carrying excess weight significantly raises the risk, for both mother and baby.
Hormones

Ghrelin

The hunger hormone — stimulates appetite before meals.
Medications

GLP-1 Medication

A prescription medication class that mimics the GLP-1 hormone to regulate appetite and blood sugar, used in weight management and type 2 diabetes.
Medications

GLP-1 Receptor Agonists

A class of medications that mimic the GLP-1 hormone to regulate appetite and blood sugar.
Hormones

Glucagon

Glucagon is a hormone that raises blood sugar by releasing stored energy, and it also helps regulate how much energy the body burns — a target of newer weight-loss medications.
Nutrition

Glucomannan

Glucomannan is a natural soluble fibre from konjac root that expands in the stomach to help you feel full, sometimes used as a weight-loss supplement.
Body Composition

Gluteofemoral Fat

Gluteofemoral fat is the fat stored on the hips, buttocks and thighs; it behaves differently from belly fat and is linked to a lower, not higher, metabolic risk.
Nutrition

Glycaemic Index

A measure of how quickly foods raise blood sugar levels.
Nutrition

Glycaemic Load

Glycaemic load measures how much a typical serving of food actually raises blood sugar — a more practical tool than glycaemic index alone.
Nutrition

Glycemic Index

The glycemic index (GI) ranks carbohydrate foods by how quickly they raise blood sugar.
Nutrition

Glycemic Load

Glycemic load (GL) combines the glycemic index of a food with the amount of carbohydrate you actually eat.
Psychological

Goal Setting and Weight Loss

The way goals are set - specific, behavioural, reviewed regularly - changes how much weight people actually lose, because the goal shapes the daily choices.
Conditions

Gout

A painful arthritic condition linked to high uric acid, where weight loss can significantly reduce the frequency of attacks.
Lifestyle

Grazing

Grazing means eating small amounts of food repeatedly throughout the day, often without planning or even noticing.
Psychological

Grief and Weight Change

Bereavement commonly changes eating and body weight in either direction - involuntary weight loss is well documented in the year after losing a spouse, while comfort eating and weight gain also occur.
Hormones

Growth Differentiation Factor 15 (GDF15)

Growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF15) is a stress-signalling protein that suppresses appetite and is a leading target for next-generation weight-loss treatments.
Hormones

Growth Hormone and Weight

Carrying excess weight blunts the body's natural growth hormone release — and losing weight restores it.
Foundations

Gut Microbiome

The trillions of bacteria in your digestive system that influence metabolism, appetite, and weight regulation.
Foundations

Gut-Brain Axis

The two-way communication network between your gut and brain that regulates hunger, fullness, and metabolism.
Procedures

Gynaecomastia Surgery After Weight Loss

Male chest fullness after major weight loss is usually a mix of fat and glandular tissue, and surgery plus liposuction is often needed because glandular tissue does not shrink with dieting.
Lifestyle

Habit Stacking

A behavioural technique that pairs a new healthy habit with an existing routine to make lifestyle changes easier and more sustainable.
Complications

Haemorrhoids and Obesity

Obesity and abdominal obesity carry a modestly higher risk of haemorrhoids, most plausibly through raised pressure inside the abdomen and the constipation that often comes with a low-fibre diet.
Complications

Hair Loss After Weight Loss

Temporary hair shedding, known as telogen effluvium, can occur two to four months after rapid weight loss or weight-loss surgery, and usually resolves once nutrition and weight stabilise.
Body Composition

Handgrip Strength

Handgrip strength measures how hard you can squeeze — a simple test of overall muscle strength that predicts health better than muscle size alone.
Screening

HbA1c (Glycated Haemoglobin)

A blood test that measures your average blood sugar over two to three months, a key marker of metabolic health during weight loss.
Medications

hCG for Weight Loss

Human chorionic gonadotropin injections and drops are marketed for rapid weight loss, but controlled trials show no benefit beyond the severe calorie restriction given with them.
Psychological

Health Belief Model and Weight Management

The Health Belief Model explains that whether someone acts on weight advice depends on perceived susceptibility, severity, benefits and barriers plus self-efficacy - and benefits and barriers predict behaviour best.
Psychological

Health Literacy and Weight Management

Health literacy is the ability to find, understand and act on health information - when it is limited, weight plans fail for reasons that have nothing to do with motivation.
Screening

Health Screening

Comprehensive medical check-up to assess weight-related health risks.
Nutrition

Healthy Plate Method

The Healthy Plate method is a simple visual guide for balanced meals: fill half your plate with vegetables and fruit, a quarter with lean protein and a quarter with whole grains.
Complications

Hearing Loss and Obesity

Obesity and the metabolic problems that travel with it are linked to a higher risk of hearing loss, because the delicate blood supply to the inner ear is easily damaged.
Complications

Heart Failure and Obesity

Obesity raises the risk of heart failure and can worsen it — but meaningful weight loss is one of the most effective ways to improve symptoms and heart function.
Complications

Heat Intolerance and Obesity

People carrying excess weight often feel hot sooner and tolerate heat less well, because body fat insulates, surface area is small relative to body mass, and sweating responds more sluggishly.
Psychological

Hedonic Hunger

Hedonic hunger is the urge to eat for pleasure rather than for energy — triggered by the sight, smell or thought of tasty food, and it can override normal fullness signals.
Complications

Hiatus Hernia and Obesity

A hiatus hernia is when part of the stomach slides up through the diaphragm into the chest - extra weight around the middle makes it far more likely and makes reflux worse.
Complications

Hidradenitis Suppurativa and Obesity

Hidradenitis suppurativa is a chronic inflammatory skin condition with painful lumps and boils, and obesity makes it more likely and more severe.
Nutrition

High-Fibre Diet

A high-fibre diet is rich in vegetables, fruit, whole grains, legumes and nuts — filling, slow-digesting and good for the gut.
Lifestyle

High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)

HIIT alternates short bursts of intense exercise with rest — a time-efficient way to burn fat and boost metabolism.
Nutrition

High-Protein Diet

A high-protein diet increases the share of daily energy from protein — meat, fish, eggs, legumes and dairy — which helps fullness and preserves muscle during weight loss.
Screening

High-Sensitivity C-Reactive Protein (hs-CRP)

High-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) is a blood test that measures low-level inflammation, which is often quietly elevated in people living with obesity.
Lifestyle

Hiking for Weight Loss

Hiking burns more calories than walking on flat ground, and because it feels like an outing rather than a workout, people tend to stick with it.
Lifestyle

Holiday Weight Management

Holidays and festive seasons bring larger meals, rich foods and disrupted routines, and it is common to gain a little weight.
Screening

HOMA-IR

HOMA-IR is a simple calculation from a fasting blood test that estimates how insulin-resistant your body is — a higher score is an early warning sign for diabetes and stubborn weight gain.
Medications

Hormonal Contraceptives and Weight Gain

Most hormonal contraceptives do not cause meaningful weight gain; the clear exception is the three-monthly injectable progestogen, which is associated with slow, cumulative gain over years.
Lifestyle

Hydration and Weight Management

How adequate water intake supports weight loss by boosting metabolism, reducing calorie intake, and replacing high-calorie beverages.
Body Composition

Hydrostatic Weighing

Hydrostatic (underwater) weighing is the classic gold-standard method for measuring body fat by weighing a person under water.
Complications

Hyperhidrosis and Obesity

Hyperhidrosis is sweating far beyond what the situation warrants; excess weight strongly increases the late-onset form and the damp skin folds it produces, even though it does not cause the classic teenage type.
Conditions

Hyperinsulinaemia

A condition of chronically elevated blood insulin levels that promotes fat storage and complicates weight loss.
Conditions

Hyperphagia

Abnormally intense and persistent hunger that contributes to weight gain and requires clinical evaluation.
Conditions

Hypertension

High blood pressure — a common condition often linked to excess weight.
Conditions

Hyperuricaemia and Obesity

Elevated blood uric acid is strongly linked to obesity and can lead to gout; weight loss helps lower uric acid levels naturally.
Conditions

Hypogonadism and Obesity

Hypogonadism means the body produces too little of the sex hormone testosterone, and it is common in men who carry excess weight.
Conditions

Hypothalamic Obesity

Weight gain caused by damage to the hypothalamus, the brain's hunger control centre, leading to relentless appetite and metabolic disruption.
Conditions

Hypothyroidism

An underactive thyroid gland that slows metabolism and can contribute to weight gain and difficulty losing weight.
Complications

Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension (IIH)

Raised pressure inside the skull linked to obesity, causing headaches and vision problems that often improve with weight loss.
Hormones

IGF-1

IGF-1 is a hormone produced mainly by the liver that drives growth and repair — obesity changes its levels, and sustained weight loss helps normalise them.
Procedures

Ileal Transposition

Ileal transposition is an experimental metabolic operation that moves a segment of lower small bowel higher up so nutrients meet it sooner, triggering gut hormones that improve blood sugar and appetite.
Psychological

Implementation Intentions

An implementation intention is an if-then plan that links a specific situation to a specific action, so the response is decided in advance instead of relying on willpower.
Procedures

Incisional Hernia Repair After Bariatric Surgery

A bulge at a surgical scar or keyhole port after weight-loss surgery is a hernia, far more common after open operations, and is usually repaired with mesh once weight has stabilised.
Medications

Incretin-Based Therapies

A class of medications that mimic gut hormones to lower blood sugar, suppress appetite, and promote significant weight loss.
Hormones

Incretins

Incretins are gut hormones released after eating that help control blood sugar and appetite — GLP-1 is the best known.
Screening

Indirect Calorimetry

Indirect calorimetry measures how much oxygen a person uses and carbon dioxide they produce, giving a measured resting metabolic rate and an indication of which fuels the body is burning.
Conditions

Infections and Obesity

Obesity keeps the immune system mildly inflamed and blunts parts of its response, raising the risk and severity of several infections including pneumonia and wound infections.
Conditions

Infertility and Obesity

Obesity can disrupt hormonal balance and ovulation in both men and women, but weight loss can significantly improve fertility.
Hormones

Insulin

Insulin is a hormone made by the pancreas that moves sugar out of the blood into cells for energy, and tells the body to store excess energy as fat.
Hormones

Insulin Resistance

A condition where cells do not respond well to insulin, driving weight gain.
Medications

Insulin Therapy and Weight Gain

Insulin is the most effective glucose-lowering medicine but commonly adds 2 to 4 kilograms in the first year, through retained calories and defensive eating after low blood sugar.
Nutrition

Intermittent Fasting

An eating pattern cycling between periods of eating and fasting.
Psychological

Internalised Weight Bias

Internalised weight bias is what happens when a person absorbs the negative messages society holds about higher body weights and turns them on themselves, producing shame, self-blame and a sense of not deserving help.
Screening

International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ)

The IPAQ estimates a person's weekly physical activity in MET-minutes and sorts them into low, moderate or high activity levels from walking, moderate and vigorous activity.
Psychological

Interoceptive Awareness

Interoceptive awareness is the ability to notice and interpret internal body signals such as hunger, fullness and thirst, and it is often blunted in obesity and disordered eating.
Complications

Intertrigo

Intertrigo is a red, irritated rash that forms where skin folds rub together and trap moisture, such as under the breasts, in the groin, or beneath the belly.
Body Composition

Intracellular Water (ICW)

Intracellular water is the water held inside your body's cells - chiefly inside muscle - so it reflects how much lean tissue you carry, while water outside the cells rises with inflammation and fluid retention.
Procedures

Intragastric Balloon

An intragastric balloon is a soft silicone balloon placed in the stomach through the mouth that takes up space, helping you feel full sooner and eat less.
Psychological

Intuitive Eating

Eating guided by your body's natural hunger and fullness signals rather than strict diet rules.
Hormones

Irisin

Irisin is a hormone released by muscles during exercise that helps convert energy-storing white fat into energy-burning beige fat.
Complications

Iron Deficiency Anaemia and Obesity

Obesity raises the risk of iron deficiency even when iron intake is adequate, because chronic inflammation drives the hormone hepcidin to block iron absorption and lock iron away in stores.
Procedures

Jejunoileal Bypass

A historical malabsorptive weight-loss surgery abandoned due to severe complications — a milestone in bariatric surgery evolution.
Nutrition

Ketogenic Diet

A very low-carbohydrate, high-fat diet that induces ketosis, causing the body to burn fat for fuel.
Screening

Kidney Function Tests (eGFR & Creatinine)

Kidney function tests measure how well your kidneys filter waste, using blood creatinine and the eGFR — a calculation of your filtration rate.
Conditions

Kidney Stones and Obesity

Obesity and metabolic syndrome raise the risk of kidney stones, especially uric acid stones, and rapid weight loss or bypass surgery can increase calcium oxalate stone risk.
Hormones

Kisspeptin and Obesity

Kisspeptin is the brain hormone that switches on the reproductive system, and excess weight disturbs its signalling, contributing to low testosterone, irregular periods and reduced fertility.
Procedures

Laser Lipolysis

Laser lipolysis is a minimally invasive treatment that uses laser energy to heat and melt fat beneath the skin, which is then naturally removed by the body or gently…
Body Composition

Lean Body Mass

Lean body mass is everything in your body except fat — muscle, bone, organs and water.
Hormones

Leptin

The satiety hormone — regulates hunger and energy balance.
Hormones

Leptin Resistance

Leptin resistance — the brain stops responding to the 'fullness' hormone leptin, so hunger stays high and metabolism slows even when fat stores are plentiful.
Medications

Lipase Inhibitor

A prescription treatment that reduces how much dietary fat the body absorbs from food, used as part of medically supervised weight management.
Conditions

Lipedema

Lipedema is a condition of abnormal fat distribution, almost always in women, causing painful symmetrical enlargement of the legs that does not respond to dieting.
Screening

Lipid Accumulation Product (LAP)

The lipid accumulation product combines waist circumference and fasting triglycerides into a single number that flags excess central fat better than body mass index.
Screening

Lipid Profile

A blood test measuring cholesterol and triglycerides — a key screening tool to assess heart disease risk during weight management.
Conditions

Lipidema

A chronic condition causing painful, abnormal fat accumulation mainly in the legs and arms, often mistaken for simple obesity.
Hormones

Lipocalin-2 (NGAL)

Lipocalin-2 is a protein released by fat, bone and immune cells that is raised in obesity and insulin resistance, while the bone-derived form signals the brain to suppress appetite through the melanocortin-4 receptor.
Conditions

Lipodystrophy

A group of rare disorders causing abnormal fat distribution and severe metabolic complications from impaired fat storage.
Conditions

Lipohypertrophy

Abnormal fat accumulation at insulin injection sites that can interfere with diabetes management and complicate weight loss efforts.
Foundations

Lipolysis

The biological process of breaking down stored fat into usable energy, driven by a caloric deficit and regulated by hormones.
Procedures

Liposuction

A cosmetic fat-removal procedure for body contouring — not a weight-loss treatment or obesity solution.
Conditions

Lipotoxicity

The damaging effects of excess fat accumulation in organs like the liver, pancreas, and muscles.
Medications

Lithium and Weight Gain

Lithium causes weight gain in a substantial minority of users, most of it in the first year or two, and although recent pooled averages are small the individual variation is wide.
Screening

Liver Function Tests (LFTs)

Liver function tests are a group of blood tests that measure liver enzymes and proteins, used to check for fatty liver and other liver problems linked to excess weight.
Screening

Liver Ultrasound

A liver ultrasound is the usual first test for fat in the liver - a bright, echogenic liver on the scan, which is very common with excess weight.
Procedures

Liver-Shrinking Diet Before Bariatric Surgery

The liver-shrinking diet is the two to four week pre-operative eating plan, usually meal-replacement shakes plus a small low-carbohydrate meal, that reduces liver volume so weight-loss surgery is safer and easier to perform.
Psychological

Locus of Control and Weight Management

Locus of control describes how far you believe your outcomes come from your own actions rather than luck or other people - and believing your choices matter is linked with sticking to a weight plan.
Psychological

Loneliness and Obesity

Loneliness and social isolation are linked with higher rates of obesity and with poorer weight-loss results, because eating often substitutes for company and for calming stress.
Medications

Lorcaserin

A selective serotonin receptor agonist that reduced appetite by activating satiety pathways, withdrawn in 2020 after long-term safety review.
Complications

Low Back Pain and Obesity

Low back pain is more common and more disabling in people with obesity, and losing even a modest amount of weight can significantly improve it.
Nutrition

Low-Carbohydrate Diet

A low-carbohydrate diet reduces the share of daily energy from carbohydrates — bread, rice, noodles and sugars — and increases the share from protein and fat.
Nutrition

Low-Glycaemic Diet

A diet focused on foods that cause a slow, steady rise in blood sugar, helping with appetite control and sustained energy.
Complications

Lymphoedema and Obesity

Lymphoedema is chronic swelling caused by fluid building up in body tissues; obesity can cause it directly and makes it worse.
Nutrition

Macronutrients

The three main nutrients: carbohydrates, proteins, and fats — all essential for health.
Procedures

Marginal Ulcer After Bariatric Surgery

A marginal ulcer is an ulcer at the join between the small stomach pouch and the intestine after gastric bypass; it usually heals with acid-suppressing medicine and is strongly linked to smoking, anti-inflammatory painkillers, diabetes and H. pylori.
Body Composition

Marrow Adipose Tissue

Bone marrow contains fat as well as blood-forming cells - it increases in obesity, harms bone-building, and changes in the first years after weight-loss surgery.
Complications

MASLD (Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease)

MASLD is the current name for fat accumulating in the liver in a person who also has at least one feature of metabolic ill health, such as a large waist, high blood pressure, high blood sugar or abnormal cholesterol.
Procedures

Mastopexy (Breast Lift) After Weight Loss

Breasts that have lost volume and dropped after major weight loss usually need a lift rather than an implant, because stretched skin may not support a prosthesis.
Screening

Matsuda Index

The Matsuda index is a measure of whole-body insulin sensitivity calculated from the glucose and insulin readings taken during a two-hour glucose tolerance test, so it shows how well the body responds to insulin after a sugar load.
Medications

Mazindol

An appetite suppressant that works on the brain's hunger control centre, historically used for short-term weight management in resistant cases.
Medications

MC4R Agonist Therapy

An injectable treatment for severe obesity caused by specific rare genetic conditions affecting appetite regulation.
Lifestyle

Meal Prepping

A structured food preparation strategy that makes healthy eating convenient by preparing meals in advance.
Nutrition

Meal Replacement Products

Meal replacement products are shakes, bars or soups designed to replace a full meal with a controlled number of calories and nutrients.
Procedures

Medical Tourism for Weight Loss Surgery

Travelling abroad for weight-loss surgery costs far less, but reported complication rates among patients who return home for care are several times higher than those of local accredited programmes, and aftercare is harder to arrange.
Medications

Medication-Induced Weight Gain

Weight gain caused by common prescription drugs — some antidepressants, steroids, antipsychotics and more — often manageable by switching to weight-neutral alternatives.
Nutrition

Mediterranean Diet

A balanced, evidence-based eating pattern rich in vegetables, olive oil, fish, and whole grains.
Nutrition

Medium-Chain Triglycerides

Fats that bypass normal digestion, providing quick energy and modestly boosting metabolism and satiety.
Hormones

Melatonin

Melatonin is the hormone that signals night-time to your body clock; disrupted melatonin patterns are linked to poor sleep, and short sleep is linked to weight gain.
Conditions

Menopause and Weight Gain

Weight gain driven by declining oestrogen during menopause — shifts fat storage to the abdomen and slows metabolism.
Hormones

Menopause and Weight Gain

Many women gain weight around menopause, particularly around the abdomen — hormonal changes shift where fat is stored.
Body Composition

Metabolic Adaptation

The body's natural slowing of metabolism in response to weight loss.
Foundations

Metabolic Flexibility

The body's ability to switch between burning carbohydrates and fats — poor flexibility is linked to weight gain and insulin resistance.
Foundations

Metabolic Health

How well your body regulates blood sugar, cholesterol, and blood pressure, a fuller measure of health than weight alone.
Conditions

Metabolic Syndrome

A cluster of conditions that increase risk of heart disease, stroke, and diabetes.
Foundations

Metabolically Healthy Obesity

Metabolically healthy obesity describes a high body mass index without the usual metabolic abnormalities, and it is a temporary state of lower risk rather than a harmless one.
Medications

Metformin

A diabetes medication that can support modest weight loss by improving insulin sensitivity and reducing liver sugar production.
Medications

Metreleptin

Metreleptin is an injectable man-made form of leptin approved for generalised lipodystrophy, where the body cannot produce enough leptin - it is not a treatment for common obesity.
Screening

Microalbuminuria

Microalbuminuria is a small amount of the protein albumin leaking into the urine - the earliest sign that obesity, high blood pressure or diabetes is straining the kidney filters, and it is detected with a simple urine test.
Nutrition

Micronutrient Deficiencies in Obesity

People with obesity can still lack important vitamins and minerals such as vitamin D, iron, and vitamin B12.
Complications

Migraine and Obesity

Obesity raises the risk and severity of migraines; losing 5-10% of body weight can reduce how often migraine attacks occur.
Psychological

Mindful Eating

The practice of paying full attention to eating experiences to recognise hunger cues and break emotional eating patterns.
Psychological

Mindless Eating

Mindless eating is eating on autopilot - in front of a screen, while driving or standing at the counter - so that portions go unnoticed, fullness signals are missed and more is eaten than intended.
Procedures

Mini Gastric Bypass (OAGB)

A simplified weight loss surgery using a single connection to reduce stomach size and calorie absorption.
Medications

Mirtazapine and Weight Gain

Mirtazapine is an antidepressant that commonly causes weight gain, typically a few kilograms in the first weeks to months of treatment, driven by increased appetite and its effects on histamine and serotonin signalling.
Complications

Mobility Disability and Obesity

Mobility disability means difficulty walking a few hundred metres, climbing stairs or rising from a chair, and excess weight raises the risk through joint load, reduced fitness and reduced strength relative to body mass.
Conditions

Monogenic Obesity

Monogenic obesity is severe early-onset obesity caused by a mutation in a single gene, most often within the leptin-melanocortin appetite pathway.
Lifestyle

Morning vs Evening Exercise

Morning exercise may enhance fat burning and consistency, while evening exercise may boost strength — the best time is the one you can keep to.
Psychological

Motivational Interviewing

Motivational interviewing is a proven counselling style that helps people find their own reasons to change — a key part of long-lasting weight loss.
Lifestyle

Movement Breaks

Short bursts of light activity taken throughout the day to break up long periods of sitting.
Screening

MRI-PDFF (Proton Density Fat Fraction)

MRI-PDFF is a magnetic resonance scan that measures the percentage of fat inside the liver without a biopsy, giving a precise number that can be tracked over time.
Complications

Multiple Sclerosis and Obesity

Obesity in the teenage years roughly doubles the later risk of multiple sclerosis, and carrying extra weight with MS adds fatigue, pain and disability on top of the disease itself.
Body Composition

Muscle Loss During Weight Loss

Muscle loss during weight loss is the unintentional loss of lean body mass that occurs when dieting, especially with rapid weight loss, low protein intake or no resistance exercise.
Body Composition

Muscle Mass

Muscle mass is the amount of skeletal muscle in your body — the tissue that burns energy at rest and is most at risk during rapid weight loss.
Body Composition

Muscle Quality

Muscle quality describes how well muscle performs for its size — the strength and function a person gets from each unit of muscle mass.
Nutrition

Mushrooms and Weight Management

Mushrooms fill a plate for very few calories, so swapping some meat for them lowers the energy of a meal without making it feel smaller.
Hormones

Myostatin

Myostatin is a signal released by muscle that limits how much muscle you can build; training and protein lower it, and blocking it is being tested as a way to lose fat without losing muscle.
Body Composition

Myosteatosis

Myosteatosis is the buildup of fat inside muscle tissue, making muscles look bigger but weaker and less responsive to insulin.
Medications

Naltrexone

An opioid blocker that, combined with bupropion, helps reduce food cravings and support medically supervised weight loss.
Medications

Naltrexone/bupropion (combination)

A prescription combination medication (naltrexone/bupropion) that reduces hunger and food cravings for weight management.
Hormones

Natriuretic Peptides and Obesity

Natriuretic peptides are heart hormones that flush out salt and water and also help fat cells burn energy; levels are lower in obesity, which can mislead heart-failure testing.
Lifestyle

NEAT (Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis)

The calories burned through everyday non-exercise activities like walking, standing, and household chores.
Screening

Neck Circumference

Neck circumference is a simple tape measure of the upper airway that helps screen for sleep apnoea and metabolic risk.
Hormones

Nesfatin-1

Nesfatin-1 is a signalling molecule made in the brain, gut and fat tissue that reduces appetite; levels tend to be lower in people with obesity, and it is one of the body's satiety brakes.
Hormones

Neuropeptide Y (NPY)

Neuropeptide Y is one of the brain strongest appetite-stimulating signals, released when energy stores fall, and it rises further after weight loss, which helps explain hunger during weight maintenance.
Conditions

Night Eating Syndrome

A condition where a person consumes a large portion of daily calories after dinner or during the night.
Lifestyle

Night Shift and Weight

Night-shift work disrupts the body clock, and shift workers gain weight more easily — eating at night, less sleep and altered hunger hormones all contribute.
Complications

Nocturia and Obesity

Nocturia is waking at night to pass urine - common in people carrying excess weight, and frequently improved by losing it.
Conditions

Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH)

The inflammatory, progressive form of fatty liver disease that can lead to cirrhosis — weight loss of 7–10% is the most effective treatment.
Psychological

Non-Scale Victories (NSVs)

Non-scale victories, or NSVs, are signs of progress that do not involve the number on the scale.
Body Composition

Normal-Weight Obesity

Normal-weight obesity means a healthy BMI but excess body fat and low muscle — a pattern that still carries metabolic risk.
Nutrition

Nutri-Grade Labelling

Nutri-Grade is the mandatory Singapore nutrition label for drinks, grading beverages A to D by sugar and saturated fat content and banning advertising of the least healthy grade.
Nutrition

Nutrient Density

Nutrient density describes how many beneficial nutrients a food contains relative to its calories — nutrient-dense foods give you more vitamins, minerals and fibre per calorie.
Foundations

Nutrient Sensing Pathways (mTOR and AMPK)

mTOR and AMPK are the sensors that tell a cell whether nutrients are plentiful or scarce, and in the brain the same machinery reads leptin, insulin, glucose and amino acid signals and adjusts appetite accordingly.
Nutrition

Nuts and Weight Management

Nuts are energy dense but regular eaters gain less weight over time, because they increase fullness and a meaningful share of their fat is never absorbed.
Conditions

Obesity

A chronic medical condition defined by excessive body fat that increases health risks.
Conditions

Obesity and Cognitive Decline

Midlife obesity is linked to a higher risk of cognitive decline and dementia later in life, probably through vascular damage, insulin resistance, inflammation and sleep apnoea.
Complications

Obesity and Dementia Risk

Carrying excess weight in midlife is linked to a higher risk of dementia decades later, most likely through vascular, metabolic and inflammatory pathways rather than through fat itself.
Conditions

Obesity and Osteoporosis

Extra weight was once thought to protect bone, but obesity plus rapid weight loss or weight-loss surgery can weaken bones and increase fracture risk.
Conditions

Obesity and Pregnancy

Carrying excess weight during pregnancy can raise the risk of complications such as gestational diabetes, high blood pressure and a larger baby.
Complications

Obesity and Stroke

Carrying excess weight raises the risk of ischaemic stroke through hypertension, atrial fibrillation, insulin resistance and inflammation, and it also worsens recovery afterwards.
Foundations

Obesity as a Chronic Disease

Obesity is a long-term medical condition, not a matter of willpower.
Foundations

Obesity Classification (Class I, II, III)

A BMI-based grading of obesity severity that guides which weight-loss treatments are appropriate.
Conditions

Obesity Hypoventilation Syndrome

A serious breathing disorder in people with severe obesity where excess weight restricts lung function.
Conditions

Obesity in Older Adults

After 65 the same body mass index carries different meaning, because muscle mass has already fallen - weight loss helps function only when it protects muscle and bone.
Foundations

Obesity Paradox

The observation that overweight or mildly obese patients with certain chronic diseases may have better survival.
Foundations

Obesity Phenotypes

Obesity phenotypes are clinically distinct patterns of obesity - such as hungry brain, emotional hunger, slow burn and hungry gut - which respond differently to treatment.
Conditions

Obesity-Related Glomerulopathy

Kidney damage caused by excess weight, leading to protein leakage and progressive decline in kidney function.
Foundations

Obesogenic Environment

A setting that promotes weight gain through easy access to unhealthy food and barriers to physical activity.
Hormones

Obestatin

Obestatin is a stomach hormone linked to appetite and fullness — the lesser-known partner of ghrelin, the 'hunger hormone'.
Hormones

Oestrogen and Fat Storage

Oestrogen influences where your body stores fat — and when levels fall, as after menopause, fat shifts from hips and thighs toward the belly.
Nutrition

Omega-3 Fatty Acids and Weight

Healthy fats found in fish and certain plant oils that reduce inflammation and support metabolism.
Hormones

Omentin

Omentin is an anti-inflammatory adipokine produced mainly by visceral fat tissue; its levels fall in obesity and rise with better insulin sensitivity.
Medications

Opioids and Weight Gain

Long-term opioid medicines are a recognised and often overlooked cause of weight gain, largely through suppression of the sex hormone axis and changes in food reward, with methadone and buprenorphine also producing measurable increases in body fat.
Medications

Oral GLP-1 Tablet

A daily oral GLP-1 receptor agonist tablet used in type 2 diabetes and, where clinically appropriate, weight management. Prescription only.
Screening

Oral Glucose Tolerance Test

The oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) checks how well your body handles sugar after a glucose drink — the most reliable way to catch prediabetes and diabetes early.
Screening

Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT)

The oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) measures how well your body handles a standard dose of sugar over two hours — the gold standard for diagnosing prediabetes and diabetes.
Procedures

Oral Hydrogel for Weight Management

An oral hydrogel is a capsule taken with a large glass of water before meals that swells into a gel in the stomach, adding volume and fullness; it is a non-systemic device used alongside diet and exercise.
Foundations

Orexigenic Signals

The body's natural eat-more messages — hormones and brain chemicals that drive hunger and food intake.
Hormones

Orexin

Orexin is a brain chemical that regulates wakefulness and appetite, linking poor sleep with increased hunger and weight gain.
Medications

Orforglipron

An oral GLP-1 receptor agonist in development that mimics natural hunger-regulating hormones without injections.
Medications

Orlistat

Orlistat is a weight-loss medication that blocks the absorption of about a third of the fat you eat, helping create the calorie deficit needed to lose weight.
Psychological

Orthorexia Nervosa

Orthorexia nervosa is an unhealthy obsession with eating only foods a person considers pure or healthy, to the point that it harms their wellbeing and daily life.
Complications

Osteoarthritis

Joint degeneration worsened by excess weight, particularly in knees and hips.
Hormones

Osteocalcin

Osteocalcin is a protein made by bone-building cells that also behaves like a hormone, improving insulin sensitivity and energy use - levels are lower in obesity and type 2 diabetes.
Screening

Overnight Pulse Oximetry

Overnight pulse oximetry is a simple test worn on the finger during sleep that measures blood oxygen and heart rate, and the dips it records are a first-line screen for obstructive sleep apnoea.
Foundations

Oxidative Stress and Obesity

Oxidative stress is the imbalance between damaging free radicals and the body's antioxidant defences; obesity raises it and weight loss brings it back down.
Medications

Oxyntomodulin

A gut hormone that reduces appetite and is being developed as a new injectable treatment for obesity.
Hormones

Oxytocin and Appetite Regulation

Oxytocin is best known for labour and bonding, but it also acts on appetite circuits: a single intranasal dose reduced how much healthy men ate at a test meal by about 122 kilocalories.
Nutrition

Paleo Diet

The paleo diet centres on foods presumed available to early humans — lean meat, fish, eggs, vegetables, fruit, nuts and seeds — while excluding grains, legumes, dairy, refined sugar and processed food.
Body Composition

Pancreatic Fat Deposition

Fat can accumulate inside the pancreas as well as the liver, and pancreatic fat is closely linked to type 2 diabetes and to loss of insulin-producing beta cell function.
Complications

Pancreatitis and Obesity

Pancreatitis is inflammation of the pancreas; obesity raises the risk of both gallstone-related and fat-triggered forms, and makes attacks more severe.
Procedures

Panniculectomy

A panniculectomy is surgery to remove the hanging apron of excess skin and fat over the lower belly that can remain after major weight loss.
Conditions

PCOS

Polycystic Ovary Syndrome — a hormonal disorder common in women, linked to weight.
Hormones

Peptide YY (PYY)

A gut hormone released after eating that signals fullness to the brain and reduces appetite.
Psychological

Perfectionism and Weight Management

Perfectionism means holding yourself to all-or-nothing standards, so one slip can feel like total failure and derail an otherwise good weight-loss plan.
Body Composition

Pericardial Adipose Tissue

Pericardial adipose tissue is the fat sitting directly on and around the heart, and it behaves harmfully like visceral fat rather than like fat under the skin.
Complications

Periodontal Disease and Obesity

Obesity raises the risk and severity of gum disease, and the two conditions share inflammation and insulin resistance, so treating one helps the other.
Complications

Peripheral Neuropathy and Obesity

Peripheral neuropathy is damage to the nerves supplying the feet and hands, causing numbness, burning or tingling - obesity, prediabetes and diabetes are its biggest drivers.
Body Composition

Perivascular Adipose Tissue

Perivascular adipose tissue is the fat wrapped around blood vessels; far from inert padding, it releases signals that affect how arteries relax, stiffen and become inflamed.
Foundations

Personal Fat Threshold

The personal fat threshold is the idea that each person has a limit of fat storage — once exceeded, fat spills into organs and can trigger type 2 diabetes.
Body Composition

Phase Angle

Phase angle is a number measured during a body composition scan that reflects the health of your body’s cells and muscles.
Medications

Phendimetrazine

A short-term prescription appetite suppressant used as part of a medically supervised weight loss programme.
Medications

Phentermine

A short-term prescription appetite suppressant used alongside diet and exercise for medically supervised weight loss.
Screening

PHQ-9 (Patient Health Questionnaire-9)

The PHQ-9 is a nine-question depression screen scored out of 27 - a score of 10 or more detects major depression with about 88% sensitivity and specificity - and it is used routinely in weight-management and bariatric assessment.
Complications

Pilonidal Disease and Obesity

Pilonidal disease is a painful hair-containing sinus in the cleft between the buttocks; being overweight raises the risk modestly but raises the risk of recurrence after surgery more usefully.
Screening

Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI)

The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) is a standard questionnaire that measures sleep quality over the past month and helps screen for sleep problems that can affect weight.
Nutrition

Plant-Based Diet

A plant-based diet emphasises vegetables, fruit, whole grains, legumes, nuts and seeds, with little or no animal food.
Nutrition

Plant-Based Diets for Weight Management

Eating patterns centred on plant foods that support weight loss through lower calorie density and higher satiety.
Complications

Plantar Fasciitis and Obesity

Plantar fasciitis — a sharp pain under the heel, worst with the first steps in the morning — is strongly linked to carrying extra weight.
Screening

Polysomnography

Polysomnography is an overnight sleep study that records breathing, oxygen levels and brain activity to diagnose conditions such as obstructive sleep apnoea.
Hormones

POMC (Pro-Opiomelanocortin)

POMC is the parent molecule that appetite-controlling brain cells cut into smaller signals - including the one that tells you to stop eating - and when that pathway fails, severe early-onset obesity follows.
Body Composition

Ponderal Index

The ponderal index divides weight by height cubed, giving a body-size number that is less distorted by height than BMI, though it still cannot tell fat from muscle.
Lifestyle

Portion Control

Managing the amount of food you eat at each meal, a proven behavioural strategy for reducing calorie intake.
Lifestyle

Portion Distortion

Portion distortion is the growing tendency to see oversized servings as normal, which makes it easy to eat far more calories than we realise.
Conditions

Post-Bariatric Hypoglycaemia

A complication of weight loss surgery where blood sugar drops too low after eating.
Conditions

Postpartum Weight Retention

Postpartum weight retention is the weight still carried above pre-pregnancy weight months after birth, and it is one of the strongest predictors of long-term weight gain in women.
Conditions

Prader-Willi Syndrome

A rare genetic disorder causing constant extreme hunger, slow metabolism, and lifelong weight management challenges.
Medications

Pramlintide

A synthetic amylin analogue injection that slows gastric emptying and promotes satiety.
Complications

Pre-eclampsia and Obesity

Pre-eclampsia is a serious pregnancy complication marked by high blood pressure and protein in the urine, and obesity significantly increases the risk of developing it.
Nutrition

Prebiotics and Weight Management

Non-digestible fibres that feed beneficial gut bacteria and may support weight management through the gut-brain axis.
Conditions

Prediabetes

Blood sugar levels higher than normal but not yet diabetic — a critical window where weight loss can reverse the trend.
Hormones

Preptin

Preptin is a small hormone made by the pancreas and released together with insulin that helps build bone and influences glucose handling; levels are raised in obesity and insulin resistance.
Medications

Prescription Appetite Suppressant

A short-term prescription treatment that reduces hunger signals, used under medical supervision as part of a wider weight management plan.
Procedures

Prescription Digital Therapeutics

App-based therapy programmes prescribed by doctors to support weight loss through behavioural change.
Procedures

Primary Obesity Surgery Endolumenal (POSE)

A non-surgical, incisionless endoscopic procedure that reduces stomach capacity to help you feel full sooner.
Nutrition

Probiotics and Weight Management

Beneficial live bacteria that support gut health and may aid weight management by influencing appetite hormones.
Hormones

Prolactin and Weight Gain

Prolactin is a hormone that, when present at abnormally high levels, can cause weight gain and make weight loss difficult.
Nutrition

Protein Leverage Hypothesis

The idea that the body overeats calories from fats and carbs to meet a fixed daily protein target.
Nutrition

Protein Timing

The strategic distribution of protein intake across meals to preserve muscle mass and enhance satiety.
Foundations

Protein Turnover and Weight Management

Protein turnover is the daily balance between building and breaking down muscle protein - the balance that decides how much of your weight loss comes from fat rather than muscle.
Complications

Psoriasis and Obesity

Obesity fuels the inflammation behind psoriasis, making it more common and harder to treat — weight loss measurably improves the skin.
Psychological

Psychological Flexibility and Weight Management

Psychological flexibility is the capacity to notice difficult thoughts, urges and feelings without being driven by them, and to keep acting in line with what matters - the skill that lets a person ride out a craving and still choose their plan.
Nutrition

Pulses and Weight Management

Pulses are the edible seeds of legumes such as lentils, chickpeas and dried beans, and their protein and fibre content makes them unusually filling for their calories.
Procedures

Radiofrequency Body Contouring

Radiofrequency body contouring is a non-surgical treatment that uses heat energy to reduce stubborn pockets of fat and tighten skin.
Complications

Refeeding Syndrome

A dangerous shift in blood salts that can occur when food is reintroduced too quickly after severe calorie restriction — why medical supervision matters on very low-calorie diets.
Psychological

Relapse Prevention

Relapse prevention is the pre-planned set of skills that keeps weight off: spotting high-risk situations early, having a specific response ready, and treating a slip as information rather than failure.
Body Composition

Relative Fat Mass (RFM)

Relative fat mass (RFM) is a simple formula using your height and waist size that estimates body fat percentage without any special equipment.
Psychological

Resilience and Weight Management

Resilience is the ability to keep going and restart after setbacks; it supports weight management, but research warns it is not the willpower test patients fear it is.
Lifestyle

Resistance Training

Building muscle through exercises like weight lifting, boosting metabolism and supporting sustainable weight loss.
Lifestyle

Resistance Training and Weight Loss

Resistance training — weights, bands or body-weight exercises — preserves muscle during weight loss, so more of what you lose is fat.
Nutrition

Resistant Starch

A carbohydrate that resists digestion, feeding beneficial gut bacteria to improve blood sugar control and appetite regulation.
Hormones

Resistin

Resistin is an inflammatory protein that is elevated in obesity and linked to insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes.
Foundations

Respiratory Quotient

Reveals whether your body is burning carbohydrates or fats for energy, helping tailor your weight management plan.
Foundations

Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR)

The energy your body uses at complete rest — understanding it helps create personalised weight management plans.
Medications

Retatrutide

An investigational triple-hormone agonist that achieved substantial body weight loss in clinical trials.
Hormones

Retinol-Binding Protein 4 (RBP4)

Retinol-binding protein 4 is the carrier protein for vitamin A, released by the liver and by fat cells, that rises in obesity and insulin resistance and is one of the molecular links between excess fat and type 2 diabetes.
Procedures

Revisional Bariatric Surgery

A second weight loss operation to address inadequate weight loss or weight regain after initial bariatric surgery.
Nutrition

Rice and Weight Management

Rice is the staple of Singaporean eating, and it is the portion, the type and what comes with it that decides its effect on weight and blood sugar.
Medications

Rimonabant

The first CB1 receptor antagonist for weight loss — withdrawn due to psychiatric side effects but historically significant.
Procedures

Robotic Bariatric Surgery

Weight-loss procedures performed with a surgeon-controlled robotic platform for enhanced precision and smaller incisions.
Lifestyle

Rock Climbing for Weight Loss

Rock climbing is an interval-style, whole-body workout that burns energy at a rate comparable to running while building grip, back and core strength.
Lifestyle

Running for Weight Loss

Running burns more energy per minute than almost any common exercise, but trials of running or aerobic training without dietary change produce only about two kilograms of weight loss over several months, because appetite and daily activity compensate.
Procedures

SADI-S Procedure

A modern bariatric surgery combining sleeve gastrectomy with bowel bypass for significant, lasting weight loss in severe obesity.
Body Composition

Sagittal Abdominal Diameter

Sagittal abdominal diameter measures the front-to-back depth of the abdomen, a strong indicator of hidden visceral fat.
Screening

SARC-F (Sarcopenia Screening)

SARC-F is a five-question screen - strength, assistance walking, rising from a chair, climbing stairs and falls - that flags people who may have lost muscle.
Conditions

Sarcopenia

Sarcopenia is the progressive loss of muscle mass and strength with age — losing weight without protecting muscle can worsen it.
Conditions

Sarcopenic Obesity

Excess body fat coexisting with low muscle mass, requiring careful weight loss strategies to preserve strength.
Procedures

SASI Bypass

A newer metabolic surgery combining sleeve gastrectomy with intestinal bypass for significant and sustained weight loss.
Nutrition

Satiety

The feeling of fullness after eating that helps control appetite — influenced by protein, fibre, and food volume.
Nutrition

Satiety Index

A scale ranking how filling different foods are for the same number of calories — high-satiety foods help you eat less without feeling hungry.
Screening

SCOFF Questionnaire

The SCOFF questionnaire is a five-question screening test for eating disorders: two or more yes answers means the person needs proper assessment before any weight-loss plan continues.
Lifestyle

Screen Time and Weight

Screen time is linked to weight gain through less physical activity, more snacking, disrupted sleep and constant exposure to food advertising.
Nutrition

Seaweed and Weight Management

Seaweed is a low-energy, fibre-rich food with a genuine place in a weight-management diet, but kombu can deliver dozens of times the daily iodine requirement in one bowl and hijiki carries inorganic arsenic.
Lifestyle

Sedentary Behaviour

Prolonged sitting or reclining with low energy expenditure, which independently increases the risk of weight gain.
Psychological

Self-Compassion and Weight Management

Self-compassion means treating yourself with the same kindness you would show a friend, rather than harsh self-criticism.
Psychological

Self-Determination Theory and Weight Management

Self-determination theory explains why weight-loss goals a person genuinely chooses last longer than goals driven by pressure, guilt or external reward.
Psychological

Self-Efficacy and Weight Loss

Self-efficacy is your belief in your own ability to carry out the behaviours needed to reach a goal — and it is one of the strongest predictors of lasting weight loss.
Lifestyle

Self-Monitoring

Tracking your food, activity, and weight — consistently linked to greater weight loss and long-term success.
Psychological

Sense of Coherence and Weight Management

Sense of coherence is how comprehensible, manageable and meaningful a person finds life - a personal resource that tracks with health behaviour and body weight.
Hormones

Serotonin and Appetite

Serotonin is a signalling molecule that helps switch appetite off after a meal, and its activity links mood and eating so closely that many medicines that act on it also change weight.
Foundations

Set Point Theory

The concept that your body defends a preferred weight range through hormonal and metabolic mechanisms.
Hormones

Sex Hormone-Binding Globulin (SHBG)

Sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) is a liver protein that binds testosterone and oestrogen in the blood; it is lowered by high insulin and is a useful marker of insulin resistance.
Medications

SGLT-2 Inhibitors and Weight

Diabetes medications that promote weight loss by causing the kidneys to excrete excess sugar through urine.
Screening

Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB)

The Short Physical Performance Battery is a ten-minute test of standing balance, walking speed and chair stands scored out of twelve that identifies mobility limitation, which matters because obesity lowers the score and a low score makes weight management harder.
Medications

Sibutramine

A satiety-enhancing weight-loss drug withdrawn in 2010 due to increased heart and stroke risk.
Screening

Six-Minute Walk Test

The six-minute walk test measures how far you can walk in six minutes on the flat - a simple, safe way to score fitness and daily function in obesity.
Body Composition

Skinfold Thickness Measurement

Skinfold thickness measurement uses calipers to measure the layer of fat just beneath the skin at several body sites, giving an estimate of body fat percentage.
Lifestyle

Sleep and Weight Loss

Sleep and weight are closely linked: short or poor sleep raises hunger hormones, lowers fullness signals and makes weight loss harder.
Conditions

Sleep Apnoea

A sleep disorder where breathing repeatedly stops and starts, often linked to obesity.
Lifestyle

Sleep Hygiene

The set of habits that promote quality sleep, which helps regulate hunger hormones and supports healthy weight.
Lifestyle

Sleep Quality and Weight

Insufficient sleep disrupts hunger hormones and insulin sensitivity, making weight loss more difficult.
Procedures

Sleeve Gastrectomy

A weight-loss surgery that removes about 80% of the stomach, reducing food intake and hunger hormone production.
Lifestyle

Smoking Cessation and Weight Gain

The modest weight gain many people experience after quitting smoking, and how to manage it safely.
Psychological

Social Comparison and Weight Management

Comparing your body and your progress with other people - especially the curated images on social media - reliably fuels body dissatisfaction and makes a sensible weight plan harder to sustain.
Lifestyle

Social Support and Weight Loss

The role of family, friends, and group programmes in improving weight loss outcomes.
Nutrition

Sodium and Weight Management

High salt intake does not itself cause fat gain, but it drives water retention, raises blood pressure and usually comes with processed food that is easy to overeat.
Body Composition

Somatotype

Somatotype describes body build as three separate numbers - endomorphy for roundness and fat, mesomorphy for muscle and bone, ectomorphy for linearity - each rated from about 1 to 7.
Hormones

Spexin

Spexin is a hormone made in fat tissue, the gut and the brain that reduces appetite - levels are typically lower in people with obesity and rise after weight loss.
Psychological

Stages of Change (Transtheoretical Model)

The stages of change model describes five steps people move through to change a behaviour - precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action and maintenance - and the support that helps is different at each stage.
Lifestyle

Stair Climbing

Stair climbing is a free and easy way to add exercise to your day.
Lifestyle

Step Count and Weight Loss

Counting steps is a popular and easy way to increase daily movement.
Screening

STOP-BANG Questionnaire

The STOP-BANG questionnaire is a quick eight-point screening tool that estimates the risk of obstructive sleep apnoea, a condition that is common in people with obesity.
Psychological

Stress Eating

Stress eating is eating in response to emotional or psychological stress rather than physical hunger.
Lifestyle

Stress Management

Controlling stress responses that can trigger weight gain through emotional eating and hormonal changes.
Hormones

Subclinical Hypothyroidism and Weight

Subclinical hypothyroidism is a mildly raised TSH with a normal free T4, and although it is common in people carrying excess weight, treating it with levothyroxine does not produce meaningful weight loss.
Body Composition

Subcutaneous Fat

The soft fat layer just under your skin, generally less harmful than deep visceral fat around the organs.
Nutrition

Sugar-Sweetened Beverages

Sugar-sweetened beverages are drinks with added sugar, such as soft drinks, sweetened teas, energy drinks and fruit cordials.
Medications

Sulphonylureas and Weight Gain

Sulphonylureas, the long-established tablets for type 2 diabetes, typically add one to two and a half kilograms in the first year of treatment, which matters when weight is part of the treatment goal.
Medications

Survodutide

A dual GLP-1/glucagon receptor agonist in development for obesity that aims to reduce appetite and boost energy expenditure.
Procedures

Swallowable Gastric Balloon

A swallowable gastric balloon is swallowed as a capsule, filled with fluid in the stomach and left in place for about four months to reduce portions without surgery or endoscopy.
Lifestyle

Swimming for Weight Loss

Swimming and water exercise burn energy with almost no load on the joints, and structured water-aerobic programmes have produced modest but real reductions in weight and waist.
Medications

Tesofensine

An investigational weight loss tablet that affects three brain chemicals to suppress appetite and support metabolism.
Hormones

Testosterone and Weight Loss

Testosterone supports muscle and metabolism — low levels are common in men with obesity, and weight loss itself raises testosterone.
Foundations

Thermic Effect of Food (TEF)

The thermic effect of food, or TEF, is the energy your body burns just to digest, absorb and store the food you eat.
Foundations

Thermogenesis

The body's process of producing heat through metabolic activity, influencing how many calories you burn.
Medications

Thiazolidinediones and Weight Gain

Thiazolidinediones are tablets that make the body respond better to insulin but typically add two to five kilograms in the first year, mostly as fluid and subcutaneous fat rather than harmful visceral fat.
Procedures

Thigh Lift (Thighplasty)

A thigh lift is body-contouring surgery that removes loose skin and fat from the thighs after major weight loss, giving the leg a tighter contour.
Screening

Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire (TFEQ)

The Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire is a validated set of questions that scores three eating styles - cognitive restraint, uncontrolled eating and emotional eating - which shape how a person responds to a weight plan.
Foundations

Thrifty Gene Hypothesis

The thrifty gene hypothesis suggests that genes which once helped our ancestors store fat efficiently during food shortages now make weight gain easier in today's food-rich environment.
Conditions

Thyroid and Weight Gain

Thyroid hormones control your metabolic rate — an underactive thyroid slows it and commonly causes modest weight gain.
Hormones

Thyroid Function

How well your thyroid gland produces metabolism-regulating hormones — an underactive thyroid can cause weight gain.
Nutrition

Time-Restricted Eating

An eating pattern where all daily meals are consumed within an 8- to 10-hour window to support metabolic health.
Complications

Tinnitus and Obesity

Tinnitus is the perception of ringing, buzzing or hissing with no external source, and people carrying excess weight report it more often - largely because the same vascular and metabolic problems that damage the inner ear are more common in obesity.
Medications

Topiramate

A medication originally developed for epilepsy, used off-label and in combination formulations for weight loss.
Body Composition

Total Body Water

Total body water is the fluid held in your cells and tissues — day-to-day scale swings are mostly water, not fat.
Foundations

Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE)

The total calories your body burns each day, used to set a personal calorie target for weight loss.
Procedures

Transoral Outlet Reduction (TORe)

A non-surgical endoscopic procedure that tightens the stomach-intestine connection to restore weight loss after gastric bypass.
Procedures

Transpyloric Shuttle

An endoscopic device that delays stomach emptying to promote fullness and support weight loss without surgery.
Lifestyle

Travel and Weight Management

Holidays and long trips disrupt eating, sleep and activity routines, so a simple travel plan keeps weight and habits on track while you are away.
Screening

Triglyceride-Glucose (TyG) Index

The triglyceride-glucose (TyG) index is a simple calculation from routine fasting blood tests that estimates insulin resistance.
Conditions

Type 2 Diabetes

A metabolic disorder where the body cannot effectively use insulin, often linked to weight.
Conditions

Type 2 Diabetes Remission

Type 2 diabetes remission means blood sugar levels return to the non-diabetic range and stay there for at least three months without glucose-lowering medication.
Nutrition

Ultra-Processed Foods

Industrially manufactured foods linked to overeating and weight gain, and why reducing them is a cornerstone of weight management.
Psychological

Urge Surfing

Urge surfing is a mindfulness technique for riding out a craving without acting on it, by observing the urge rise, peak and fall instead of fighting or feeding it.
Screening

Uric Acid

Uric acid is a blood marker of purine metabolism that rises with excess weight and is linked to gout, kidney stones and metabolic risk.
Complications

Urinary Incontinence and Obesity

Urinary incontinence — leaking urine by accident — is much more common with excess weight, and losing even 5–10% of your weight can substantially reduce leaks.
Procedures

Vagal Nerve Blockade (vBloc)

An implantable device therapy that intermittently blocks hunger signals between the brain and stomach.
Hormones

Vasopressin and Weight Regulation

Vasopressin is the body's water-conserving hormone, and a chronically high level tracks with abdominal fat, insulin resistance and a higher risk of type 2 diabetes.
Hormones

Vaspin

Vaspin is an adipokine released mainly by visceral fat that appears to improve insulin sensitivity - levels are abnormal in obesity and shift with weight loss.
Complications

Venous Thromboembolism and Obesity

Venous thromboembolism, or VTE, means blood clots that form in a vein, most often in the legs (deep vein thrombosis) or that travel to the lungs (pulmonary embolism).
Procedures

Vertical Banded Gastroplasty (VBG)

An older restrictive stomach-stapling operation now largely replaced by sleeve gastrectomy and gastric bypass.
Nutrition

Very Low-Calorie Diet (VLCD)

A very low-calorie diet, or VLCD, provides fewer than 800 calories a day, usually as meal-replacement shakes, and can produce rapid early weight loss.
Nutrition

Vinegar and Glycaemic Response

How the acetic acid in vinegar helps lower post-meal blood sugar spikes, supporting glycaemic control and appetite regulation.
Body Composition

Visceral Adiposity Index (VAI)

The visceral adiposity index combines waist circumference, BMI, triglycerides and HDL cholesterol into a single score estimating how much fat is stored around the abdominal organs.
Body Composition

Visceral Fat

Fat stored around internal organs — the most dangerous type of body fat.
Hormones

Visfatin (NAMPT)

Visfatin, also called NAMPT, is a protein made by fat tissue and other cells that was once thought to act like insulin; levels are often higher in obesity and insulin resistance, but it remains a research marker rather than a clinical test.
Nutrition

Vitamin D and Weight Management

A nutrient often low in people with obesity, important to check and correct during a weight loss journey.
Nutrition

Volumetrics Diet

A dietary approach focused on low-calorie-density foods that allow larger, more satisfying portions for fewer calories.
Screening

Waist Circumference

Waist circumference is a simple tape measurement that estimates how much fat is stored around your organs — a key marker of health risk, even when BMI looks normal.
Body Composition

Waist Circumference Measurement

Waist circumference is a simple tape-measure check around your belly that shows how much fat you carry around your organs.
Screening

Waist-Hip Ratio

A measure of fat distribution — central obesity indicates higher health risk.
Screening

Waist-to-Height Ratio

The waist-to-height ratio compares your waist circumference with your height, and a value above 0.5 signals excess belly fat and higher health risk.
Lifestyle

Walking for Weight Loss

Walking is the most sustainable form of exercise — free, low-impact and easy to fit into daily life in Singapore.
Screening

Water Weight

Temporary fluid retention that can mask true fat loss on the scale.
Medications

Weekly GLP-1 Injection

A once-weekly GLP-1 receptor agonist injection used in type 2 diabetes that also supports meaningful weight loss. Prescription only, after medical assessment.
Body Composition

Weight Cycling

Yo-yo dieting — the repeated pattern of losing and regaining weight, which can slow metabolism.
Foundations

Weight Loss Plateaus

A normal phase during weight loss where progress stalls due to metabolic adaptation and reduced energy needs.
Foundations

Weight Maintenance

The long-term phase of weight management focused on sustaining weight loss through continued healthy habits and medical support.
Foundations

Weight Regain

Putting weight back on after losing it — driven by hormonal and metabolic defences that make maintenance hard; why ongoing support matters.
Foundations

Weight Stigma

Negative attitudes and discrimination based on body weight — a barrier to seeking healthcare that independently worsens health outcomes.
Lifestyle

Weight-Loss Plateau

A weight-loss plateau is a period — often several weeks — when weight stops falling despite doing the same things. It is a normal, expected phase.
Body Composition

White Adipose Tissue

White adipose tissue is the body's main fat store - an active organ that releases hormones and influences appetite, insulin resistance and inflammation.
Nutrition

Whole Grains and Weight Management

Whole grains keep the bran and germ, digest slowly and increase fullness, and swapping refined grains for them is linked to less weight gain over time.
Psychological

Willpower and Weight Loss

Willpower is the mental effort used to resist an immediate temptation, and research shows it is a limited, fluctuating resource - which is why relying on it alone rarely keeps weight off.
Complications

Wound Healing and Obesity

Excess weight slows wound healing - fat tissue has a poorer blood supply, inflammation stays switched on and infection is more likely, so wounds close more slowly.
Lifestyle

Yo-Yo Dieting

Yo-yo dieting — also called weight cycling — is the repeated loss and regain of weight through cycles of strict dieting and relapse.
Lifestyle

Yoga and Weight Management

Yoga combines physical postures, breathing and mindfulness, and it can support weight management in several ways.

Weight Management Library

24-Hour Dietary Recall

3D Body Scanning

A Body Shape Index (ABSI)

Abdominoplasty (Tummy Tuck)

Acanthosis Nigricans

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)

Active Commuting and Weight

Adaptive Thermogenesis

Added Sugars

ADHD and Obesity

Adipocyte Hyperplasia

Adipocyte Hypertrophy

Adipogenesis

Adipokines

Adiponectin

Adipose Tissue

Adipose Tissue Dysfunction

Adipose Tissue Expandability Hypothesis

Adipose Tissue Fibrosis

Adiposity Rebound

Adipsin (Complement Factor D)

Adjustable Gastric Band

Adolescent Bariatric Surgery

Adropin

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and Obesity

Agouti-Related Peptide (AgRP)

Air Displacement Plethysmography (Bod Pod)

Alcohol and Weight Management

Aldosterone and Obesity

All-or-Nothing Thinking

ALT (Alanine Aminotransferase)

Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring (ABPM)

Amylin

Anaesthesia and Obesity

Android and Gynoid Fat Distribution

Ankle-Brachial Index

Anorexigenic Signals

Anthropometry

Anti-Inflammatory Diet

Anti-Obesity Medications (AOMs)

Antibiotics and Weight Gain

Antidepressants and Weight Gain

Antihistamines and Weight Gain

Antipsychotics and Weight Gain

Antireflux Surgery After Bariatric Surgery

Antiretroviral Therapy and Weight Gain

Anxiety and Weight Management

Apelin

Apolipoprotein B (ApoB)

Appendicular Skeletal Muscle Mass Index (ASMI)

Appetite Regulation

Arterial Stiffness

Artificial Sweeteners

Aspiration Therapy

Asprosin

Asthma and Obesity

Atrial Fibrillation and Obesity

Bardet-Biedl Syndrome

Bariatric Endoscopy

Bariatric Prehabilitation

Bariatric Surgery

Basal Metabolic Rate

Behavioural Economics and Weight Management

Behavioural Therapy for Weight Loss

Beige Adipocytes

Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia and Obesity

Beta-Blockers and Weight Gain

Big Five Personality Traits and Weight Management

Bile Acids and Weight Regulation

Biliopancreatic Diversion

Bimagrumab

Binge Eating Disorder

Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis (BIA)

Blue Light and Weight

BMI

Body Adiposity Index (BAI)

Body Cell Mass

Body Checking

Body Composition Analysis