Obesity remains a primary health concern across Australia with over one third of adults reportedly obese. While the majority attempt and at times succeed to shed the weight, obesity presents complex challenges which often result in a relapse. The 1:1 Diet Registered Nutritionist Mark Gilbert says 67 per cent of people are overweight or obese. Mr Gilbert noted we are living in a “obesogenic” environment. “We have these low nutrition, high calorie foods and they’re everywhere,” he told Sky News Australia.

The 1:1 Diet Registered Nutritionist Mark Gilbert explains the difference between being overweight versus being obese. Obesity remains a primary health concern across Australia with over one third of adults reportedly obese. “It all comes down to BMI – which is body mass index,” Mr Gilbert told Sky News Australia. “It’s basically a measure of your height versus your weight. “If you’re over 25 BMI, you’re overweight. If you’re over 30 BMI, then you’re considered obese.”

Canstar Group Executive Steve Mickenbecker reveals some tips to avoid making poor financial decisions. “It’s easy to make a poor financial decision if you make it fast,” he told Sky News Australia. “It’s easy to make it fast online today because you just click the button and you’ve paid, and it’s gone. “Now if you’re out and about, don’t travel with your credit cards ... that will make you think about it. “The same thing applies online – you’ve got a second chance if you don’t buy the first time you see it.”

Canstar Group Executive Steve Mickenbecker reveals the most common financial mistake people make. “The most common one is almost half of people have made a mistake with an impulse purchase,” Mr Mickenbecker told Sky News Australia. “Now it’s really easy – I’m surprised it’s only half to be honest. “But the problem is, of course, that these people made quite a big mistake, they’re saying this cost us a lot of money. “It’s just easy to make that mistake these days because you’re carrying a card around or a phone; you don’t have to go and find cash.”

US President Joe Biden is optimistic interest rates will begin to decline soon. The US President spoke at a campaign event. Biden announced plans to reduce the cost of housing in the United States. Biden says although he can’t guarantee it, he is confident the Federal Reserve will be cutting rates. “I can’t guarantee it, but I bet you those rates come down,” he said.

Optus Director of Network Operations Lambo Kanagaratnam has stepped down. This comes four months after the telco suffered a nationwide outage. He is the second senior employee to leave after the incident. Chief Executive Kelly Bayer Rosmarin resigned in November last year. The company is also still recovering from a major data breach in 2022.

Cypress College Political Science Professor Peter Mathews says the 2024 presidential election will be the “most consequential election” because Joe Biden and Donald Trump will take the United States in “different directions”. A rematch between Donald Trump and Joe Biden for the 2024 US election is becoming more likely, as Trump’s only major challenger, former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley, dropped out earlier this week after his Super Tuesday triumph. “It’s going to look different to 2020 because, this time, you’re looking at the moment consequential election,” Mr Mathews told Sky News Australia. “The differences are stark: the paths these men will charter, in different directions for the United States, is very different from each other, and it will make people feel my voice is going to count. “Even though some Biden supporters may not be as enthusiastic as perhaps others, they will still go to the polls and vote for him.”

Russia’s propaganda machine is in overdrive ahead of the March election. That’s despite there being no doubt as to who the winner will be. One popular talk show in Russia featured Joe Biden tripping while boarding a plane. Other reports regularly show off the wreckage of Western weapons from the war in Ukraine. “Putin benefits from this picture of the outside world as something hostile so that people would unite around him,” Russian Writer Boris Akunin said.

New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has inadvertently exposed the “unlivable” conditions of Premier House – the country’s official residence. It came as Luxon hosted the Australian and New Zealand cricket teams at the property. Luxon confided in Australian batsman Usman Khawaja that the residence is so bad he won’t live in it. The Prime Minister has now denied the comments, insisting there are “minor repairs” taking place. “That means I can’t go and move into there at this moment,” he said.

The newly elected Prime Minister of Tuvalu says he wants to rewrite his country’s landmark climate migration deal with Australia. The agreement would see up to 280 Tuvaluans per year migrating to Australia to escape rising seas. In exchange, the Australian government would be able to vet Tuvalu’s security arrangements, giving Australia a powerful voice in the Pacific to counter China. “That arrangement, which requires Australia and Tuvalu to mutually agree before Tuvalu embarks on discussing other security arrangements, is perceived generally as an encroachment on Tuvalu’s sovereignty,” Tuvalu Prime Minister Feleti Teo said. “I’m hoping that we will be able to agree on the way forward.”

Police shoot a Melbourne woman after she fatally stabbed her mother, Victoria's government is set to pay $67 million to delay construction on its airport rail, Australia's rental affordability drops to record lows, Optus' director of network operations steps down, three people have died in a helicopter crash in the US state of Texas, US President Joe Biden is confident the country's interest rates will begin to decline, and tens of thousands of Spaniards have taken to the streets to march for International Women's Day. See omnystudio.com/listener (https://omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information.

Surf Live Saving Australia Lifesaving Chair Chris Jacobson says “fatality numbers are up” over the summer period. 99 people died in Australian waters over the summer. The Surf Life Saving Drowning Report also shows there were more than 5,700 rescues across the country. “Unfortunately, this summer period, we saw 99 deaths occur across Australia,” Mr Jacobson told Sky News Australia. “[When] we look at previous years, we know that fatality numbers are up, particularly in the regional and remote areas.”

A coral bleaching event is unfolding in the Coral Sea as authorities continue to monitor conditions in the Great Barrier Reef. Researchers are becoming increasingly concerned with the warming ocean temperatures which are driving the event. “The aerial surveys are showing us that we now have widespread – often called mass coral bleaching across the surveyed reefs,” Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority Chief Scientist Dr Roger Beeden said. It is the fifth mass coral bleaching event the Great Barrier Reef has faced over the last decade. Coral bleaching occurs when corals are under thermal stress. Sea surface temperatures across much of the marine park have been above the average warmest temperature for longer than eight weeks, and forecasts show they are set to remain high through the rest of the month.

Racing Dreams provides an in-depth look into the Sydney Autumn Racing Carnival featuring some of the biggest events on the racing calendar including The Golden Slipper and The Championships. Tim Gilbert and Julie Snook have an access-all-areas pass to review the runners, jockeys, owners, and trainers to make sure you’re race day ready.

Melbourne and Adelaide under a heatwave warning, youth crime in Australia reaches a new peak, a missing Queensland woman has been found safe, calls for a pharmacy regulation overhaul as the cost of living crisis worsens, and Ireland votes to change 'sexist' terminology in its constitution.  See omnystudio.com/listener (https://omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information.

University of North Carolina Political Science Professor Martha Kropf says Nikki Haley “saw the writing on the wall” and “didn’t have much of a choice” but to end her presidential campaign earlier this week. 15 states across the United States went to the poll to vote on Super Tuesday – the single largest day of voting in the US presidential primary calendar. Nikki Haley won one state – Vermont – making it the second contest she had won in the Republican primaries, alongside Washington DC. Ms Haley ended her presidential campaign after her defeat but did not endorse Donald Trump for president. “What’s interesting with the Nikki Haley withdrawal is, also that right after that, Mitch McConnell endorsed Trump,” Ms Kropf told Sky News Australia. “There were many observers who thought Nikki Haley might actually stick it out until the end because former president Trump has so many legal issues, and maybe, at the convention, it would come back to her. “I think that she just saw the writing on the wall. “Trump has a lot of popularity here, particularly among primary voters, who tend to be a pretty small subset, but if you look across the Republican establishment, they seem to have decided that Trump is going to be their candidate, so I think Haley just didn’t have much of a choice.”

Thailand and the US have wrapped up Asia's biggest joint military drills. The exercise, called Cobra Gold, has brought together Southeast Asian forces, though the region remains divided over China. Almost 10,000 troops from 30 countries joined the 2024 military exercise. There is still deep division amongst several countries as they disagree with the West’s approach to China. Others share the West’s concerns over Beijing’s rising military power.

Donald Trump has posted a $138 million bond ahead of his defamation case appeal against E Jean Carroll. It will cover Ms Carroll's $125 million judgment plus interest if Mr Trump were to lose his appeal and refuse to pay. The bond prevents Ms Carroll from collecting on the judgment during the appeal, which could take years. In January, a federal jury ruled in favour of the writer who was claiming compensation for defamatory comments she alleged the former US president directed towards her. The jury awarded her damages over the defamatory statements it decided were indeed made by Mr Trump.

Figures released by PropTrack show only 39 per-cent of properties qualified as affordable for middle-income households. The data was tracked between July and December in 2023 and compared to the same period three years earlier. Just three per cent of all available rental properties nationwide were classed as affordable for households on incomes of $67,000. New South Wales has been named the worst state when it comes to affordable rentals. Experts believe rising immigration is making the housing situation worse.

It “feels like” Donald Trump is “pushing back on democracy” by running for president while facing legal charges, says University of North Carolina Political Science Professor Martha Kropf. “I’ll tell you that bothers me,” she told Sky News Australia. Ms Kropf expressed her astonishment at the former president’s rising popularity despite the legal cases. “And certainly, I’m surprised that he is coming back,” she said. Ms Kropf joined Sky News presenter Tim Gilbert to discuss the political layout in the United States ahead of the November presidential election.