MEDICAL MISCELLANY

WHY do we lose our appetite in hot weather? ALTHOUGH you may feel you eat less when it’s hot, in fact, there’s little scientific data to back this up, says Dr Gunter Kuhnle, an associate professor of nutrition and health at the University of Reading.

But there is some anecdotal evidence that people do eat less in hotter climates.

‘The thinking behind this is evolutionary — that if you’re slimmer it’s easier to lose heat because, compared with heavier people, you have a larger surface area in relation to your overall mass,’ says Dr Kuhnle.