Pettman, Tahna Lee2025-12-172025-12-172008https://hdl.handle.net/1959.8/50746EN-AUSCan we reduce obesity and chronic disease risk factors without "going on a diet?" Appropriate management of obesity and metabolic syndrome (MetS) remains a challenging issue for public health. Interventions demonstrating reductions in weight generally rely on labour-intensive, individualised counselling and usually feature highly prescriptive diet/exercise plans which are time and cost-intensive to deliver, and potentially unsustainable at the community level. Moreover, there is limited evidence from randomised trials on the importance of active follow-up following initial intervention. This thesis describes the effectiveness of a 1-year randomised controlled trial incorporating an initial 16-week active lifestyle modification program on body composition and cardio-metabolic health.endiet;metabolic syndrome;chronic diseasethesis