In the news this week there were two main stories on diabetes. First up was the news that rates of diabetes have doubled since the 1980′s. The big question is, why have rates of diabetes increased so much? Is the rise mostly in Type 2 Diabetes or has Type 1 Diabetes also increased? The other big story is the news that some people have managed to “lose” diabetes with a strict diet and exercise plan....
Today there was a new warning to couch potatoes – watching too much television raises the risk of developing Type 2 Diabetes and heart disease. This latest research is a reminder that really we should add “watch less television” to our rules to lose belly fat. In the latest study which was reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association it was found that watching television for 2 hours a day increased the chances of developing Type...
A diet that is rich in a variety of plants, vegetables and fruits has been shown to improve health and ward of disease. There is a lot of debate over what proportion of your diet should be dedicated to plants to have the maximum health benefits. Research has shown that eating a wide range of different colors increases the diversity of nutrients consumed. Many plants help to reduce cholesterol levels and some can actually...
The Internet seems to have a bad reputation when it comes to health information, especially weight loss information. The general feeling is that all weight loss information is really trying to sell something - and often it is. So here we provide some guidance to using the Internet to find reliable and accurate weight loss advice.
Today the BBC started promoting a new health and fitness initiative called The Bug Splash. The Big Splash is a campaign to encourage more people to take up swimming as a healthy hobby. British Swimming, who are the national governing body for swimming activities, have developed this initiative. They have partnered with British Gas and received sponsorship from swim-wear company Speedo. The BBC plans to run several campaigns in 2011 and will be working with Sports Relief...
Today is “Fat Monday”. Apparently, according to as yet unconfirmed reports, today is the day that women feel fattest. It is also about now that most people start to give up on their new year weight loss plans. A dark time indeed for everyone. Why is today Fat Monday? Well, now is the time that many people who ate excessive amounts of food over the Christmas period are just starting to think about their weight again....
Don’t you just love tabloid headlines? This is from The Sun, from 17th January 2011. The story is about the successful weight loss of a group of overweight residents of Rotherham, as town that was declared as one of Britain’s most obese towns. The success started after a new NHS drop-in slimming centre was opened in Rotherham. Statistics for the town showed that 1 in 3 people were either very overweight of obese. Rotherham...
The BBC reported today that Parents ‘do not recognise obesity in their children’. This is a surprisingly common problem, and part of the reason why schools started sending letters to the parents of overweight children in 2005 as part of the National Child Measurement Programme. There is still an idea that anyone under the age of 16 can carry “puppy” fat an be healthy, and that as soon as a child reaches adulthood the weight will...
Fitness DVD’s have been around for years now. Many people mock them, but they are really a good way to exercise. Today’s fitness DVD’s provide energetic workout routines which are well structured and also provide goon instruction on how to perform the exercises. Generally they are pitched at more than one level too, from beginner (unfit), to moderate (been exercising for a couple of months) to fit (generally fit people that want to get...
Love them or hate them, the tabloids always get straight to the point. Today Emma Morton, the Sun’s Science Editor, asks “Why Are British Women So Fat?”. This is a question that nutritionists and health researchers have been asking for a few years now. What is the real cause of obesity? We all know that eating too much food and not exercising leads to obesity, but why are some people more likely to eat...
Walking is a great way to stay in shape. If you walk for a hour every day you will exercise your cardiovascular system and burn a few calories too. But that is not all. Recent research carried out by scientists at the University of Pittsburgh and published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences shows that a regular walk can help ward off dementia and age related memory loss in some people. Walking...
Another sad story in the news today. The ongoing obesity problem now means that many people cannot be transported to hospital by ambulance as they are simply to big. The more overweight a person is, the more likely they are to need emergency hospital treatment at some point in their lives. The ambulances are being resigned to accommodate larger patients. Modifications to ambulances include improved lifting apparatus, reinforcing vehicles and fitting wider stretchers. Bariatric Ambulances Some ambulance services have bought...
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