Category:Health

It appears from anecdotal evidence that school cafeterias in the US have made a concerted effort to facilitate better diets: fewer fried foods, smaller servings and no cupcakes.  Growing awareness of increasing obesity and federal guidelines have encouraged a administrators to take steps to make food in schools healthier.  For example California school districts have …
Continue reading US schools cleaning up the menu

Stop giving drugs to infants is the thrust of recommendations made in the US by safety experts for the Food and Drug Administration who urged an outright ban on over-the-counter, multisymptom cough and cold medicines for children under 6.  This recommendation is underpinned by the recognition that warnings about their use on infants just do …
Continue reading Stop giving drugs to infants

IHL consulting polled 1,000 shoppers in the US on what they grab while waiting in the check-out line, from nothing to chocolates. I have a regular battle with my sweet tooth and children while paying for groceries because of the raft of delights staring me in the face. None of those sweets are good for …
Continue reading Gaining calories impulsively

In early September, the UK government’s Food Standards Agency took the significant step of issuing revised guidance to consumers recommending that they steer clear of products containing certain E-numbers if their children are showing signs of hyperactivity or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. The release of the new public health advice follows the results of the …
Continue reading Another report exposing the dangers of food additives

Recent genetic studies reported in Nature Genetics suggest that human’s ability to digest starchy foods, like the potato, may explain our success on the planet.   Compared with primates, humans carry extra copies of a gene, called AMY1, which is essential for making the salivary enzyme amylase that digests calorie-rich starches.  The University of California …
Continue reading Starchy veg, not meat, is the key to human’s brain development

The US FDA has caved into “pressure” from the powerful sugar and artificial sweetener lobby and issued a warning letter to Celestial Seasonings for using a popular natural sweetener in some of its teas. The letter indicates the FDA classifies the herb stevia as “unsafe”, even though it is a main staple sweetener in countries …
Continue reading US FDA takes another swipe at natural ingredients

Yes, we are. It seems only fair to note that children’s poor diet is a direct consequence of what they are fed by their parents. And if you don’t believe it’s a life or death issue, have a look at this story of the death of a 16-year-old boy who collapsed and died during a PE …
Continue reading Parents are the problem with children’s diets.

Its a nasty word, isn’t it? But most of us face it sooner or later. When its not really a problem we tend to ignore it, but once it starts to get out of control its sooo difficult to rein it in. It becomes a disease, both physiological and psychological. Whether for interest or use, …
Continue reading Obesity 101

As we’ve said before “Many health and happiness problems today are related to stress“. A World Health Organisation report (published in the Lancet) on the largest population-based worldwide study that explores the effect of depression in comparison with four other chronic diseases on health state found that  depression is more damaging to everyday health than …
Continue reading Stress worse for health than disease (again)