Q: I have been doing hit cardio and weight training for weeks now and have noticed my strength and stamina really improve as well as losing body fat. Although I'm not overweight I would like to lose the fat on my stomach area. What I have noticed is though I'm losing a pound of fat a week, it is going to many weeks, if not months to get a low body fat. It made me think If only I had been doing this all my life, I may not have gained the fat in the first place then have to spend ages losing it later in life. Prevention in this case has to be better than the cure.

This brings me to my question, do you think that all children should be taught about exactly which foods they should and should not eat and in addition be encouraged to take up sports that test them aerobically and exercise which involves maybe weights or at least weight bearing/resistance exercise. In other words, all kids to be taught what you have been advising for fitness and nutrition.

I?m suggesting this as there is a lot off ignorance out there ? me included. I?ve never been overweight or or eaten poorly, but I?ve learned a ton ? mostly in the last year - about how to improve my diet and exercise. I never learnt any of this stuff at school and my mum could not have taught me this as she was no wiser on this subject than me. Surely, our(particularly children?s)health and fitness in light of the obesity epidemic in the western world warrants all of us to be fully educated by authorities on this subject, so we do not have to suffer the problems associated with bad health and low levels of fitness.

A: Congrats on your recent success, sounds like you're doing everything right!! And I'm very glad I was able to help.

Prevention is of course always better than the cure. I am absolutely convinced that if everybody followed the general guidelines of healthy diet and staying active in one way or another, we as a society would save hundreds of billions of dollars in healthcare costs. Not to mention be much healthier and happier overall!

And really, much of what I say on this site is already common knowledge! Everybody already knows that physical activity is good and lack of it is bad. Everybody knows that fresh veggies are good and pizza is bad. There are certainly finer points about diet and exercise which are not commonly known, but virtually everybody knows the basics and those basics are enough by themselves to make a huge difference in people's lives.

The problem is that most people are simply not willing to change their lifestyles even if they know that it would greatly benefit them. It takes most people a special event or a deep realization to even start taking charge of their health and it usually takes several such starts until one of them actually sticks for good.

I've thought much about how this situation can be improved and have plenty of ideas if any politician is willing to listen. I would tax junk food for example, the same way as cigarettes are taxed -- extra tax revenues can go towards healthy lifestyle popularization and to cover healthcare costs. I would certainly also add more healthy eating education to the gym and health classes in schools (not to mention change the standards for cafeteria foods). But we all know these things won't happen easily or soon, if at all. So in the meanwhile it's up to all of us to provide the best advice and help to our friends and children and other family members to help them live healthier and happier lives.