Southland dietitians are asking people to stay away from the barrage of trends on social media when it comes to health.

Southlanders have been dealing with various health concerns ranging from fatigue to obesity, some of which are a result of the misleading messages on social media, they’re saying.

Aimee Hall, an Invercargill-based NZ registered dietitian said, “this year, people [were] really confused about nutrition from being bombarded by misleading messages on social media.”

People were “quite unprepared” with what they ate throughout the day, “leading to aimless eating. So they fall into the trap of eating what they want versus what they really need,” Hall said.

She also noticed that people were skipping meals, possibly from the trends of fasting seen on social media.

“People are left pretty hungry. They’re often craving a lot of extra sugar, or [are] pretty tired, lethargic, and in a poor mood. This can increase risks of injury and also illness.

“They tend to grab poor quality options when going to fill up petrol, or they might pop into a café next door to their work, because they’re having long periods without food basically,” she said.

Hall said that the cost of food was also a challenge with trying to eat healthily, given the price of food items at the moment.

Bariatric and upper gastrointestinal surgeon Dr Mark D Smith said that more than three in 10 New Zealand adults suffered from obesity, according to data before Covid.

He said that in Southland, the demand for bariatric or weight loss surgery was running at capacity in both the private and public health sectors.

“We are unable to meet the demand with the resources available in our health care system,” Smith said.

He said this situation seemed widely prevalent across the country.

Smith said that food energy was cheap, abundant, heavily promoted and marketed, and processed to make people want more.

However, they needed to expend only small amounts of energy to obtain food.

“Our bodies, genes and brains are those of our hunter-gatherer ancestors, but we now live in a very unhealthy environment with respect to food and activity,” Smith said.

To start the new year on a good note when it came to health, both dietitians suggested different ways people could look after themselves.

To ring in the new year, do not overcomplicate nutrition, Hall said.

She suggested listening to one’s body and being honest with oneself about why they keep tripping up, and looking inwards for a solution.

Instead of being restrictive about their choices, people should flip their mindset into a one that nourishes, fuels and optimises their performance and function, not just physically but also mentally, at home, life and work, Hall said.

People should eat more regularly, like every three to four hours, focusing on high quality foods including fruits and vegetables, whole grains, low glycaemic index carbohydrate sources and lean proteins.

If they didn’t eat often or skipped meals and snacks, they were more likely to eat treat foods, takeaways and drink alcohol more frequently.

“I tend to focus on what you can add in rather than what you can take out,” Hall said.

Renee Mackintosh, a registered dietitian, said that in the new year, people needed to avoid following any restrictive diet or meals when approaching a healthy lifestyle.

“When modifying your food and exercise habits to improve your health, you really need to align [your health goals] with your family and lifestyle goals. They have to work with your normal life, rather than doing something for two or three months and then struggling to continue on,” Mackintosh said.

She said that people should make small but consistent changes to their food intake, which may seem minimal at the start, but added up in the end.

“Once you’ve achieved one of those as a habit, then you can work on something else rather than trying to do it all at once,” Mackintosh said.

She suggested that people should focus on fibre and fluids, which would make them feel full and keep them hydrated, “which makes you feel amazing.”