Can skiing help you lose weight?

An Italian father made headlines last week after forcing his daughters to do "intensive skiing" and follow a macrobiotic diet to lose weight.

The man, 53, was found guilty of mistreating his two daughters between 2008 and 2011 and sentenced to nine months in prison.

According to Italian newspaper Repubblica, he told his daughters, now aged 17 and 21: “You’re fat, you have to do more sport; you will never achieve anything in life.” In 2011 the girls complained to their mother that their father was mistreating them by forcing them to do intensive skiing, and she reported him to the police.

Harsh parenting aside, was the father even on the right track? Does skiing actually help you lose weight?

Dr Graeme Close, a sports nutrition consultant who works with the British ski and snowboard team, says nordic skiing would be preferable to alpine, but both can help: "Any exercise that increases your heart rate has the ability to contribute to a drop in body fat.

"Cross country skiing is one of the most demanding of all sports and would certainly increase energy expenditure plenty and thus contribute to reduced body fat. Downhill skiing wouldn't do this as much, but as part of a fitness regime it's a good thing if done in a balanced and controlled manner. The key thing is balance, and getting the nutrition correct around the training."

Physiotherapist Andy Curtis, co-founder of physiotherapy service YourPhysioPlan.com, agrees that skiing can aid weight loss – but only with the right nutrition.

He says: "Most people going on a snowsports holiday won’t have weight loss as a main focus for their time away. They're more likely to be looking forward to the off slope delights as much as fresh powder. However, the physiological demands of downhill skiing are vast, and weight loss will occur not only from fluid loss (which should be replenished throughout the day) but also if calories burnt are not replenished; which is not generally an issue for those taking part in a little après."

Studies have shown that six hours' skiing a day can burn 2,500-3,000 calories on top of a person's normal daily expenditure. However, with a plate of tartiflette or raclette coming in at almost 1,000 calories, it can be easy to negate the fat-burning benefits of a day on the slopes.

According to Andy, tackling more difficult terrain will aid weight loss: "The faster and steeper the skiing, the more calories you will burn, as you work harder to perform a controlled skiing technique.

"We all understand that working our bodies hard will aid weight loss, as this increased effort will burn more calories. However, the action of working your muscles and increasing their strength will also use up extra calories.

"The harder your muscles work, the more muscle bulk you will carry, and so the more calories your body requires just to ‘stay alive’. Over the course of one to two weeks of skiing, your muscles will strengthen and grow slightly, as they try to adapt to the increased physical demands. This aids weight loss, because as you increase your muscle mass, the more calories you burn, even at rest."

It's not only the exertion of snowsports that burns calories – the cold mountain weather can also be beneficial to weight loss. "When our bodies are cold, we increase our body temperature at the expense of extra calories to maintain our core temperature and avoid hyperthermia," says Andy. "If these calories are not replaced, the effects of the cold weather on our bodies will result in us losing weight."

Olympic snowboarder Jamie Nicholls says nutrition is key to his performance on the slopes

What should you eat on the slopes to fuel your body while also receiving the weight loss benefits of exercising all day? Andy recommends foods with complex carbohydrates such as porridge, flapjacks, yoghurt, nuts, seeds, apples or pears. These slow-release carbs have many advantages over their simple sugar counterparts, including providing a long lasting source of energy, which helps you feel fuller for longer so you don't need to binge on hot chocolate and fondue come après time.

John Noonan, personal trainer to Team GB snowboarder Jamie Nicholls, agrees: "When regularly active in snowsports it's important to fuel your body with quality sourced whole foods, with a balanced range of proteins (meat, fish, eggs), carbohydrates (potatoes, rice, vegetables) and good fats (oils, avocado, nuts)."

Jamie's typical diet plan when training on the slopes consists of porridge and fresh fruit for breakfast, almonds, walnuts and fruit to snack on, diced chicken, rice and salad for lunch, an afternoon snack of a banana and chocolate milk, and a dinner of chicken fillet, sweet potato and broccoli.

Despite snowsports being a good way to keep fit and shift a few pounds, Andy stresses the importance of refuelling: "Once you have asked high demands of your body on the slopes, ensure you refill the tank. Try and avoid alcohol until you have fully rehydrated, as alcohol can reduce the recovery rate of soft tissue. Make sure you remember your complex carbohydrates at dinner time to replenish your muscle and liver glycogen, giving you the energy to do it all over again tomorrow; but don’t neglect your protein."

So, can skiing really help you lose weight? Yes, particularly cross-country; but only if you're loading up on the right foods, and only if you spend more time on the slopes than in the bar. And you probably shouldn't force your teenage daughters to do it – but that goes without saying.

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