Almost everyone who has tried to lose weight has tasted the bitter pill of failure. That feeling you get when, despite all your desires to be healthier, to fit into sassier clothes or to shimmy through life (and into aeroplane seats) with greater ease and comfort, you just can’t stick with your diet and exercise […]
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Health Check: why kids don’t like vegies and how to change it
So little Harry won’t eat his vegetables? Well, he’s not alone. Poor Harry is just protecting himself from the danger of alkaloid toxins – although he doesn’t actually know this. At the tender age of four, Harry is neophobic (fearful of new things) and facing “the omnivore’s dilemma”. The dilemma is that humans need to […]
Half of Australia’s kids not getting enough omega-3 brain foods
Only 50% to 60% of Australian children are eating enough omega-3 fatty acids, which are commonly found in fish and crucial for brain development, a University of Wollongong study has found. Researchers from the University of Wollongong’s School of Health Sciences and Metabolic Research Centre examined data on the dietary habits of 4486 children aged […]
Health Check: are saturated fats good or bad?
Dietary guidelines cite the fact that saturated fats can increase LDL cholesterol, which is also known as bad cholesterol because it’s a major risk factor for heart disease. Others claim saturated fats are not a problem. So is saturated fat a saint or sinner? Or could the search for a single culprit miss the inevitable […]
Explainer: what is nutrigenomics?
“Eat your five-a-day” is a health slogan that has been kicking around since the 1980s. The UK government made it an official campaign in 2003. But understanding the exact benefits (and harms) that our daily diet has on our health is only starting to become clear now. The field of nutrigenomics studies how different foods […]
Poor diet linked to teen mental health problems
Adolescents who eat unhealthily are more likely to develop mental health problems than those with good diets, a new study has found. However, switching to a better diet could improve mental health, according to the Deakin University study, which was published today in the journal PLoS One. The researchers analysed the diets and mental health […]
Eating well before pregnancy linked to lower birth defect risk
Women who stick to a healthy diet in the year before falling pregnant may be less likely to have a baby with birth defects, a new study has found. Doctors have long counseled pregnant women to consider taking multi-vitamins containing folic acid to reduce the risk of neural tube defects (NTDs) like spina bifida and […]
Fat free and 100% natural: seven food labelling tricks exposed
If you’re confused by food labels, you’re not alone. But don’t hold your breath for an at-a-glance food labelling system that tells you how much salt, fat and sugar each product contains. Australia’s proposed “health star rating” labelling scheme was put on hold in February, following pressure from the food industry. And it’s unclear whether […]
Vitamin supplements for kids: what are we really treating?
Australian parents spend $40 million each year on vitamin supplements for their children. It’s a big number; much smaller is the number of children who actually need them. In 2009, a large American research survey found that, in industrialised countries, the children most likely to be given vitamin supplements were the ones least likely to […]
There’s no debate: lowering salt cuts strokes and heart attacks
The salt debate has filled the pages of health magazines and newspapers for years. From John Swales’ original scepticism in 1988 to the Godlee’s sharp call to reality in 1996, the debate has transcended the scientific arena into public opinion and media campaigns with increasingly passionate tones. Now a new study, published in BMJ Open, […]
Health check: do bigger portion sizes make you eat more?
Faced with a portion of food twice as big as what you normally consume will lead you to eat about a third more food than usual. This portion-size effect helps explain how growing serving sizes may be contributing to the growing prevalence of obesity. There’s a lot of research showing larger portion sizes lead people […]