Tag Archives: health

Jacob Lund/Shutterstock David Comerford, University of Stirling The benefits of breastfeeding are wide-ranging and life-changing. Breast milk contains antibodies that reduce the risk of asthma, allergies, diarrhoea and ear infections. Breastfed infants are hospitalised less frequently than infants who are not. In later life, breastfed children and less likely to be overweight and have higher IQs. And women who have …

Primary and secondary school students who ate five servings of fruit or veg daily had better mental wellbeing. Monkey Business Images/ Shutterstock Ailsa Welch, University of East Anglia and Richard PG Hayhoe, Anglia Ruskin University Around 10%-20% of adolescents globally suffer from a mental health condition, such as anxiety or depression, according to the World Health Organization. It’s also been …

Lindsay Bottoms, University of Hertfordshire A cold shower in the morning is a pretty unpleasant way to start the day. Yet many have been tempted to take up the habit because being immersed in cold water has many purported health benefits, both physical and mental. Cold showers were first administered for health reasons in the early 19th century when doctors …

shutterstock Markos Klonizakis, Sheffield Hallam University One of the most common New Year’s resolutions is to stop smoking. Quite rightly so, considering smoking is the biggest leading, preventable cause of death, worldwide. In fact, tobacco is the only legally-available product that kills up to one in every two users, when used as intended. There are a number of ways to …

Fruitarianism is one of the most restrictive diet choices available. Julia Zolotova/unsplash James Brown, Aston University Plant-based diets have become increasingly popular in recent years, both for health and ethical reasons. One extreme form of plant-based diet is “fruitarianism”, a diet based largely on consumption of raw fruit. At first glance, this may sound healthy, but what effect will this …

Claire Pierson, University of Liverpool and Liza Caruana-Finkel, University of Liverpool If accessing abortion in countries where it’s criminalised wasn’t hard enough before the pandemic, lockdowns and COVID-19 travel restrictions have made the process that much more difficult. In fact, the issue became so pronounced at the start of the pandemic that the European parliament and the Council of Europe’s …

Weight stigma occurs in many developed countries, not just the U.S. and often has devastating consequences. SIPhotography/Getty Images Rebecca Puhl, University of Connecticut Lazy. Unmotivated. No self-discipline. No willpower. These are just a few of the widespread stereotypes ingrained in American society about people who have a higher body weight or larger body size. Known as weight stigma, these attitudes …

The Food and Drug Administration on May 10, 2021, granted the first emergency use authorization of a COVID-19 vaccine for adolescents. FG Trade via Getty Images Kristine Bowman, Michigan State University With the first COVID-19 vaccine now authorized for adolescents, ages 12 and up, a big question looms: Will students be required to get the vaccine before returning to their …

New infectious diseases come with all kinds of risks for women during pregnancy and childbirth. https://www.pexels.com/, FAL Catherine Thornton, Swansea University and April Rees, Swansea University COVID-19 vaccines are proving highly effective in pregnancy, according to a newly published study in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. It has also found that mothers who have been vaccinated are passing …

Pollen can suppress how the body’s immune system responds to viruses. Callista Images via Getty Images Lewis Ziska, Columbia University Exposure to pollen can make you more susceptible to COVID-19, and it isn’t just a problem for people with allergies, new research released March 9 shows. Plant physiologist Lewis Ziska, a co-author of the new peer-reviewed study and other recent …