According to a study published in Archives of Disease in Childhood journal, two thirds of obese children exhibit a problem with their health which is a contributor to heart disease. High cholesterol, blood sugar and high blood pressure may already be present by 12 years of age.
read moreA recent study from Canada has shown that the number of hours spent watching TV between two years and four years old can have a detrimental effect on the size of a child’s waistline by the age of 10. The study, which was published in a BioMed Central journal, looked at the television habits of 1,314 children. One extra hour of TV viewing each week at age four could affect the muscle fitness of a child aged 10 and also increase the size of their waste by half a millimetre.
read moreThe education secretary has announced that a review is to be carried out on school lunches served by schools in England. Michael Gove has selected the men responsible for the Leon chain of restaurants, John Vincent and Henry Dimbleby to carry out the review. The review is being launched as concerns continue about the standards of school food. However, Jamie Oliver believes that a review will delay progress for at least a year and has called for immediate action from the government.
read moreThe mother of a 17 year old girl from South Wales, is left feeling guilty as her daughter reaches 40 stone. Georgia Davis has trouble walking even a few yards, getting out of breath easily. Experts don’t expect her to live past the age of 20 if she stays at her present weight.
Georgia’s mum Lesley, aged 56 and weighing 18 stone, feels tremendous guilt for her daughters size, saying that she has made changes to their diet, such as (more…)
Keeping the children occupied at February half term is difficult, not to mention costly, as the weather is usually cold, wet and miserable. Playing outdoors is great for a few hours, but not every day. On days when the weather is cold but dry, wrap up warm and head off to the local park for a game of football, or rounders. A day at the local leisure centre is fun for all ages, with a cup of hot chocolate as a treat. For days when the weather is really bad, use some (more…)
It’s a basic human instinct to want to protect you and yours. You want to protect your car from vandals, your property from trespassers and your home from burglars. Of course, you also want to protect your family being harmed or frightened, and home security systems these days can be so advanced that you can very easily, if left unchecked, turn your home into Fort Knox.
The question is of course, should you? Home security for your safety may seem like a great idea, but does it actually breed fear within your family, and how far should you go? Yes, an alarm system is probably a good idea, and often essential for reducing your contents insurance premiums, but there are other security measures that could be a little too ‘big brother’ or frightening.
For example, CCTV systems are now fairly cheap, and easy to install. You can pick up a CCTV system for under £100, fit it yourself and begin recording people who go near your home, near your car or visit when you are not present. You can go further again and install bars on the windows, something that it is very common in some US towns. While having bars on your windows mean that you’ll never have to worry about someone breaking in and stealing your TV set, you of course will make your house look like a prison – and this could, in turn, really upset your children as they wonder why they need bars on their windows and cameras on the walls.
How far should you go to protect your family and your posessions?
A study carried out by the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children has revealed that 20 percent of children attending secondary school are suffering severe abuse or neglect. The survey of 2,275 children aged between 11 and 17 years old and 1,761 adults between 18 and 24 follows a previous survey which was conducted by the NSPCC in 1998-99.
In the last thirty years, research has revealed that some types of neglect and abuse have lessened, although the level of abuse which still occurs is much too high. The reduction in levels of abuse is thought to be attributed to rising public awareness of attitudes and behaviour towards children. With approximately (more…)
One of the biggest problems with the health of children in the UK, and an underlying cause of child obesity, is the fact that many children today just don’t seem to be that active anymore. Whereas in days gone by (and we don’t mean this to sound like a rant on how things were better in our day) children would go out to play in the street, ride bikes, play in the park and generally run around from morning ‘til dusk, children today are more intent on playing ‘virtual’ games via their games consoles.
The games consoles are, sadly, a big contributor to child obesity. Before the 1980s, and the Nintendo and Sega revolutions, homes didn’t feature games consoles and children didn’t know what a video game was. If you wanted to play games like (more…)
A £1000 ‘fat tax’ is being considered by local councils in the United Kingdom, to fight against the rising levels of child obesity. Oldham will launch the scheme, as levels of child obesity there are much higher than the average in the UK. The ‘fat tax’ will be charged to any new business which plans to open and sell takeaways.
The money raised from this scheme will be (more…)
We reported only yesterday that babies in the UK were being brought up on a diet of junk food, setting them up for a life of dependency on eating rubbish. However, how much of this is due to the very slick, polished marketing campaigns that many fast food establishments are able to run?
We’ve all seen the adverts, the branding and the promotional merchandise, the food photography that makes the burgers and fries look mouth-watering, and the price points that make the meals seem almost irresistible, so can we (more…)
Nutritionists and kids health experts are shocked to find that children as young as three months are being weaned onto junk food such as pureed chips and bags of crisps. One dietician from Rhondda, Sioned Quirke, was horrified to see a five month old baby munching a bag of crisps that were totally unsuitable for a child of that age. Research in the United Kingdom and United States has revealed that (more…)
In a bid to reduce the huge number of fillings and extractions in children as young as three, dentists are calling for toothpaste and toothbrushes to be provided free of charge to families. They are also urging parents not to give sweet drinks to babies in their feeding bottles, and to stop school age children sharing birthday cakes. Children as young as three years of age are requiring tooth extractions which can be a painful experience for them. Experts believe that a range of measures should be taken to prevent the rising tooth decay problem, which can have an adverse effect on a child’s health.
Among the measures which were suggested, experts want childminders and staff in nurseries to ensure that children brush their teeth twice a day, whilst schools are asked to stop giving chocolate as rewards to pupils. Dental public health specialists, Dr Gill Davies and Dr Colette Bridgman, are asking parents to influence their children’s dental hygiene routine by limiting sugary foods and drinks, combined with regular brushing of teeth.
Although the level of tooth decay has fallen in children aged 12 to 14, the problem in five year olds has got much worse. Caring for a child’s teeth should start at the breastfeeding stage, followed by the avoidance of sugary drinks in feeding bottles, which encourages a sweet tooth. A scheme in Manchester has provided 200,000 families with free toothpaste and brushes since 1999, which the dental experts believe should be introduced for everyone in the UK. Avoiding sugary sweet foods would also play an important role in the prevention of other child health issues, such as child obesity.