Both low-fat and low-carb diets work equally well to help people lose weight over two years, new research has shown.

There are many things that can affect your cholesterol level.

‘This will be fun,” I say to Gus, my husband, as I prepare to puncture his skin with a lancet to see if he is harbouring an evil chemical that might make him peg out with a heart attack before his time.

There are many reasons why schoolchildren are becoming fatter, less fit and less active: most are driven to school; they eat more junk food, consuming ever more fat, salt and sugar; parental fear means many young people stay indoors, and they devote more hours to watching TV and playing computer games than to playing sport.