1. It is necessary to recognise genetic differences in body shape and composition and the implications of these for fat loss programming.

2. Factors which may indicate a genetic influence in fat loss response (i.e. parental body shape; early onset of overfatness; duration of effect) should be included in any pre-program screening.

3. It may be necessary in certain groups (i.e. the aged, pre-meno-pausal exercising females) to check the level of spontaneous physical activity being carried out outside a planned exercise regime and attempt to increase this through ‘incidental’ activity.

4. Individuals with a genetic predisposition to obesity may have difficulty limiting food intake and the taste for fatty foods.

5. Recognise the major gender differences in fat loss responsivity to both energy input restrictions and energy output and design fat loss programs accordingly.

6. Avoid severe restrictions of food intake or heavy exercise prescription in females as these may have a counter-productive effect on the biological propensity of females to conserve energy for reproduction.

7. Recognise the potential for excessive fat gains during and following pregnancy in some women and attempt to offer preventive prescriptions for this, particularly in those most likely to be at risk.

8. Avoid programming which involves unrealistic expectations about body image, particularly in females.

9. Extreme forms of body building with accompanying overeating disorders in men should be seen as the equivalent of anorexia in females—there are comparative body shape obsessions and distortions.

10. Programming should be modified to account for differences in responses that occur with ageing with both men and women, but particularly in post-menopausal women.

11. Monitor possible changes in eating patterns that occur with ageing, of which the client should be aware.

12. Use body fat and fat distribution measures such as BMI and waist-to-hip ratio cautiously in some racial groups (such as Pacific Islanders, Asian and Negroid women) for whom these measures are not necessarily appropriate.

13. Recognise racial differences in body shape and composition and the implications of this for healthy body weight and fat maintenance.

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