Welcome  to  Public  health  moment from  the  University  of  Minnesota. It's  been  a  long  winter  and  if  you're  the  average  person, you've  likely  noticed  that  your  clothes are  fitting  a  bit  tighter. Why  is  that?  We  seem  to  gain  weight  in  the  colder  months. We  ask  Jamie  Stang, a  nutrition  expert  at the  University  of  Minnesota,  for  advice. Some  people  say  it's  just  an  adaptation  to  the  cold  that, you  know,  we  put  on  body  fat  to  keep  us  warm. But  the  reality  is,  it  happens  in both  warm  and  cold  climates  such as  ours  Here  in  Minnesota  and  the  upper  Midwest, we  tend  to  think  it has  to  do  with  the  fact  that  people  are  less physically  active  in  the  winter  and  they tend  to  be  indoors  more where  they  have  more  opportunities  to  eat. Staying  provides  advice  on  what we  can  do  to  keep  the  pounds  off. Overall,  I  think  it's  a  combination  of both  reduced  physical  activity and  people  eating  more  than  they're  used  to. Some  of  the  tips  that  you  can  have  are  to find  places  where  you  can  become  more  physically  active, like  local  malls,  community  centers, even  walking  around  your  house  or  your  office. In  terms  of  eating,  you  can  try  to  avoid second  helpings  or  only  have a  second  helping  if  you're  still  hungry, 10  min  after  you've  finished  your  first. And  then  to  really  watch  the  portion sizes  so  that  you're  only  eating a  reasonable  portion  size  for  the  first  helping  and a  smaller  for  the  second with  another  public  health  moment. I'm  John  Finnegan.