Q&A: Professor Annie Anderson

Published on Wednesday 26 November 2008 20:41

The director of Dundee University's centre for public nutrition research agrees with calls for increased action to protect the public from "quack" weight-loss products.

Is there a problem with people buying products that claim to help them lose weight or imply other health benefits?

It is certainly an issue. The fact that there is a market in it is very clear. You don't have to go very far. You can go into the local chemist, send away for these things … there are a million ways you can get them. It's a bigger issue in that we are not very good at dealing with obesity and we need to try to put more energy into that rather than trying "quack" products that don't work.

Are there any of these products that do work?

There might have been the odd product in research papers which have slipped through suggesting weight loss. But very often it's a bit of a novelty. People think they are trying new things and so it would not matter what you told them. But the idea there is some kind of pill that will make obesity disappear? It doesn't exist.

Will the new European Union regulations to prevent products making such claims help tackle the problem of "quack" remedies for obesity?

They have to be enforced. We have to look at who sells these products. A number are sold over the counter in chemists, and they may say, 'If people want to buy them, we will sell them'. So maybe there are health professional regulations that could help tighten up on this as well.

So what is the best way to lose weight? Is it really as simple as eating less and exercising more?

It sounds simple to decrease food and increase activity, but for most people it is incredibly difficult. We are surrounded by the temptations of food. If a government is serious about reducing obesity, it needs to address the easy access to food that is high in calories. We also need to make more lifestyle programmes available to support people to make healthy food choices.