iblog

Kayleigh: The government has proposed that parents might be told if their child is obese at a young age in a bid to tackle childhood obesity. Almost a third of children are now overweight, and this situation doesn’t look to be getting any better, with experts predicting that half of the UK will be obese in 25 years. According to Louise Diss, Operational Director of The Obesity Awareness and Solutions Trust (TOAST), obese children are more at risk of developing serious long term life threatening illnesses, “The possible medical dangers for obese children include type two diabetes, high blood pressure, strokes and coronary heart disease. Other dangers also include malnutrition, kidney and liver problems”, she said. But the medical risks are not the only problem. Louise says children suffer in other ways too. She said: “Psychologically, obese children can suffer from depression and anxiety, and can suffer from low self esteem and feel low self worth. Children may also be bullied because of their size, or alternatively they may become the bully.” It can also seriously have an impact on their future lifestyles. According to the School Food Trust, overweight or obese teenagers tend to leave education earlier, and once they become adults are likely to earn an average household income of £3,500 less than individuals of a healthy weight. They are also 20% less likely to marry. So why are so many children becoming obese at such a young age? Obesity is caused because of an unhealthy diet, which is mainly made up of sugar and fats, and not doing enough exercise to burn off the calories consumed. But it’s not just a case of eating too many sweets and cakes. A lot of the time it is down to family lifestyle. These days, it’s all too easy to order fast food or eat a ready meal at home, with parents not having the time to cook a dinner from scratch. The problem with this is these “ready meals” are full of salt and can be seriously bad for you long term. However, getting the portion size right is also a big factor, as parents need to remember that children do not need as much calories as adults do, in fact the government recommends they need around 1700 calories a day, compared with 2000 for women and 2500 for men. Louise Diss says this isn’t the only reason why children become obese. “Less family time and less family activity and a more sedentary lifestyle can all lead to obesity. However food may also be used as a control, for example as a reward or punishment. Parents may also give children what they want to eat in order to have a quiet life. Food however can also be used as a comfort in times of stress and anxiety” she said. Parents seem to be a big factor in childhood obesity, as children with two obese parents statistically have an 80% chance of being obese themselves. The rise in obesity has also had a knock on effect on other factors too. Reports from the BBC show the NHS is seriously struggling with the costs of obesity, and it was made one of the key priorities in the 2004 public health white paper. Research published in the British Medical Journal stated that obesity could actually bankrupt the NHS, showing the severity of the epidemic. The government are attempting to tackle the problem though. The Department for Education and Skills (DfES) announced last year that it would spend £220 million on rebuilding school kitchens until March 2008 since Jamie Oliver began his school dinner campaign in 2005. Practical cooking lessons and tuition about healthy eating were also made compulsory for 11-14 year olds. Other things are also being done. New government guidelines released by Education Secretary Alan Johnson last year meant that schools could only serve pupils chips twice a week. They also had to give them at least two portions of fruit and vegetables with every meal they had. Low quality meat products, fizzy drinks, crisps, chocolate and other confectionery were also banned from the school canteen in a bid to make children eat healthier. Food labelling has also been introduced recently, with food organisations having to provide calorie and salt information on their products. Junk food adverts were also band around the time of children’s programs earlier this year. There are also other ways to tackle obesity. At current, there are weight loss drugs available that are mainly anophetamine based. These drugs increase the amount of noradrenaline and dopamine hormones in the blood, lowering hunger levels. However, weight loss drugs are not suitable for long term use as the side effects can include high blood pressure, anxiety and restlessness. However, the simple solution to tackling obesity is the simple way, to do more exercise and eat a healthier balanced diet. The problem is this seems to be easier said then done, as only 51% of obese people manage to keep their weight down when they try. However, more realistic expectations of weight loss can help make the change permanent.

Rushda: It's official: organic food really is better than non-organic food. A new study funded by the European Union has found startling differences between the nutritional content of the two types. The study which cost £12m and lasted four years is the biggest ever study into organic foods and it has found that not only is organic food "more nutritious" than ordinary produce but eating it may actually lengthen people's lives. It is hoped that these results will finally settle the long debate over whether organic food really is what government calls "a lifestyle choice" or actually something scientifically shown to be better for you. The research found that organic fruits and vegetables contain as much as 40% more antioxidants than ordinary food. Antioxidants have long been known to protect against killer diseases such as cancer and heart disease. Not only that but they also have higher levels of important minerals such as iron and zinc. In fact, head researcher on the project Professor Carlo Leifert said that the difference was so great that eating organic would even compensate for not eating the five recommended portions of fruits and vegetables a day. He says:

"If you have just 20% more antioxidants and you can’t get your kids to do five a day, then you might just be okay with four a day."

Furthermore, the study has also found that even in milk, the antioxidants from organic herds were up to 90% higher than milk from ordinary herds. These results show that the government was most likely wrong when it claimed that there was no significant effect of having organic foods. Now the Food Standards Agency has confirmed that it is reviewing the above evidence before considering changing its official advice to consumers.

Rushda: Art enthusiasts will be excited to see that one of Leonardo da Vinci's most famous paintings, The Last Supper, has been put up on the internet at a 16 billion pixel resolution. The 15th-century artwork can now be seen here in fine detail, 1,600 times more detail than traditional 10 megapixel cameras. The work, which is displayed in Italy's Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie and viewed by 350,000 tourists a year, can now be seen by experts on their computers as though it were mere centimetres away. The picture can be seen without all the graininess associated with zooming in on ordinary photographs. As art curator Alberto Artioli explains:

"You can see how Leonardo made the cups transparent, something you can't ordinarily see. You can also note the state of degradation the painting is in."

Perhaps now Da Vinci code enthusiasts will be able to analyse the painting for themselves and put their minds to rest at last - or perhaps bring to light a further conspiracy.

Virgil: Yesterday saw the release of Apple's latest operating system, codenamed "Leopard" and more formally known as Mac OS X Version 10.5. The sixth major release of Apple's flagship core product, and successor to the widely acclaimed "Tiger" (Version 10.4), the £85 piece of software hopes to rival the much-slated arch enemy Windows Vista. With over 300 improvements on its predecessors (but most of them merely enhancements and improvements on the familiar) it is understandable why veteran technology writer Walt Mossberg dubbed the operating system "evolutionary, not revolutionary." He goes on to say:

"I believe it builds on Apple's quality advantage over Windows. In my view, Leopard is better and faster than Vista, with a set of new features that make Macs even easier to use."

Apple has sold 2.2 million of its desktop computers (Macs) in the last 3 months, and hopes that this new release will boost sales even further. Nik Rawlinson, editor of MacUser magazine, optimistically writes that "when Tiger was launched it earned Apple $120m very quickly and all the expectations are that sales will be double that." Nevertheless, one Mac user interviewed at the MacLiveExpo, held in London, commented that:

"I never buy any operating system when it first comes out. I normally wait until it has been out for six months or a year. Tiger does what I need it to do right now. I've not seen anything in Leopard to make me want to buy it immediately."

Whether Leopard will have what it takes to outdo rival operating system Windows Vista from Microsoft remains to be seen. Whilst the market for Macs is still far below that of desktop PCs, 99% of which come pre-installed with Windows software, the abundance of handy features that Apple's new super-user-friendly system provides may begin to tip the balance. As Rawlinson writes:

"Vista has been quite a disappointment for many people and Leopard could be the reason many people make the switch to Macs."

Unfortunately, if only the "switch to Macs" didn't necessitate switching so very much more too, Apple might have more luck - but as usual they uphold a silent policy of making sure that if one thing you own is from Apple, so is everything else too.

Rushda: Pro-lifers will be dismayed to hear that Health Minister Dawn Primarolo recently defended the current regulations that abortions are permissible up till 24 weeks, saying there is no scientific evidence to lower this upper limit. The issue has once again become a hot topic, as many are angry at how women who have been pregnant for 6 months can still be allowed to abort their babies at such a late stage. One of the key reasons for keeping the limit as it is, according to the British Medical Association, is that the number of babies capable of surviving at 24 weeks is "extremely small." Any change in abortion laws is most likely to consider medical advances rather than moral issues, and so there is no reason, according to the Health Minister, to lower the limit at this stage. As she explains:

"The medical consensus still indicates that whilst improvements have been made in care that at the moment that concept of viability cannot constantly be pushed back."

And when she was criticised by Conservative MP Nadine Dorries, a former nurse, for not having a fair view towards the act and being far too committed to the liberalisation of abortion, she said that the Department of Health are not supporting delayed abortions and that if they are to be done, the quicker the better. However, she maintains any bid to lower the limit, also saying:

"I am not here to discuss my personal views. I'm here as the minister to answer the questions the committee puts to me about the information the department has."

Ms Dorries also asked the Health Minister:

"If the evidence shows that a foetus could feel pain at 20 weeks or less, would the department consider altering its guidelines or making amendments to the Act?"

However, no specific response has been given to this question except that research would still be continued. Needless to say, many people will be disappointed with what could be described as a very dogmatic stance on such a controversial issue. It certainly seems that there are very few considerations which would cause the regulations of the Act to change in the less liberal direction. In fact, recent news suggests the opposite: that MPs are planning the "most extensive liberalisation of abortion laws for 40 years" by allowing women to have abortions with one doctor's signature rather than two and performing the second stage of the medical termination at home rather than in hospital.

Rushda: Over the last 4 days, wildfires have destroyed many parts of California with a staggering 500,000 people being evacuated from their homes in what is now officially a state of emergency. Though so far the fires have claimed few lives, they have been devastating - 1,500 homes have been destroyed and damage is estimated to be £1bn. As you can see from this video, firefighters are desperately trying to calm the monster but the scale of the disaster is so great that there has been little progress, especially as the strong winds have been sweeping the fires along all the way from Santa Barbara to Mexico. Indeed 400,000 acres have been scorched - "an area bigger than New York City." Thankfully the winds are now slowing down so the fires will be more easy to control in the next few days. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Governor of California, has praised the efforts of the hundreds of firefighters who are trying to control the fires. Similarly, President Bush has made a speech in which he announced the signing of the disaster declaration for 7 California counties, which will mean government funds will be available to help residents to recover after the fires have died down. He says:

"I will continue to make sure that our efforts are coordinated, and that we are responsive to the needs of people... we offer our prayers and hopes that all will turn out fine in the end."

Let us hope that Californian residents will be able to get their life back together soon after such an unanticipated catastrophe.

Rushda: New research from the US into how we recognise others' emotions has found some remarkable things about human psychology. Apparently we are more sensitive to noticing fear than happiness as a look of horror will grab our attention many times quicker than a smile. The study, which was conducted at Vanderbilt University in the US and published in the journal Emotion, examined volunteers, found that fear is the emotion we pick up on the quicker than any other feeling such as joy. Furthermore, what is even more interesting is that this result remained the same even when volunteers were shown pictures of faces where only the eyes were showing, which means we are very perceptive when it comes to subtle facial changes. Indeed, it has been found that the brain responds to facial expressions at the rate of less than 40 milliseconds. The researchers believe that the results about detecting fear were as anticipated and can easily be explained by how we evolved to make instant decisions in life threatening situations. Smiles signal safety so they do not require immediate attention in the same way. As Dr David Zald, associate professor of psychology at the institution, explains:

"We believe that the brain can detect certain cues even before we are aware of them, so that we can direct our attention to potentially threatening situations in our environment."

Now the team will be doing research on how we respond to other emotions such as anger to find out the bigger picture.

Rushda: As part of a national scheme to cut obesity, the government has made new plans to send out warning letters to parents of overweight children. Obesity has been a serious concern for quite some time now, with numbers predicted to reach "dangerous levels" within the next decade. The fact that so many children barely past the age of 5 can already be considered obese is a huge issue that needs to be dealt with quickly, and by targeting parents this may be the best way. The new plans are controversial as many people believe that overweight children will be stigmatised by the new procedure. However, health officials are convinced that the procedure is in the best interests of the children as obesity is best tackled early on in life. Currently all children are being weighed at the age of 5 under the The National Child Measurement programme, but nothing much is happening with the results and in most cases the parents are not informed. Health Secretary Alan Johnson believes that by getting parents actively involved in restricting the diet of children and making sure they get enough exercise, childhood obesity need not become as widespread as predicted. Currently, however, he says that the statistics look grim. He says:

“More than 80% of obese 10 to 14-year-olds remain obese into adulthood.”

Furthermore, what is most worrying is that a recent report by the Commons Health Select Committee has suggested that if urgent action isn't taken soon, thousands of children will be dying before their parents and many suffering a variety of health problems early on in life.

Rushda: Regulators across Europe are strongly considering making it possible to make phone calls even when in a plane more than 3,000 metres in the sky. Indeed, technology is being developed which will allow mobile phone use without interfering with the aircraft systems. The plans are flexible as they will allow individual airlines to choose whether they use the technology. As a spokesperson from Virgin Airlines has said:

"We are monitoring customer demand and will act if they say they want to use their mobile phones. If we were to introduce this service in the future we want to ensure we do it in a socially acceptable way."

The costs of making calls from the sky would understandably be much higher than when on the ground. However, this would only be reasonable and Ofcom has said that it will make sure airlines don't charge extortionately for the privilege. Ofcom also says that there are still many different considerations to sort out before reaching a final approval, but it is still a likely development in the near future. It sounds like a great plan, especially for those people travelling on long flights that need to make urgent contact whilst in the air. To say "Hi, I'm on the plane now" to someone thousands of metres down on the ground certainly seems remarkable!

Rushda: A new case which has recently provoked much controversy is a government treatment plan carried out by many clinics to use drugs to reward those addicts who abstain from drugs. Many heroin and cocaine addicts who produce clean urine samples at regular tests are receiving extra doses of methadone (a heroin substitute) or anti-depressants just for being good. It is easy to see why the practice has been criticised - never before have drugs ever been used as an incentive to get off drugs and healthy. The government scheme costs The National Treatment Agency £500m a year and they admit that such a practice, if it exists, is unethical. Health Minister Dawn Primarolo is worried about the surprising number of clinics which offer such reward schemes, called "contingency management." Indeed around one-third of the 200 centres surveyed use such methods. As Primarolo says:

"It is unacceptable, unethical, it should not happen that prescription drugs and doses are used, or suggested that they should be used, as either incentives or withheld as sanctions as part of a treatment programme."

Furthermore, in many centres the patient themselves could choose the type of substitute they would like to receive, and if they so desire they can even get a cash reward instead. It is certainly difficult to know how unethical such a practice really is. On the one hand, offering treatment which isn't the result of "clinical need" seems wrong and potentially abusable and hence not serving the best interests of the patient. On the other hand, however, supposing this really is helping a drug addict by giving them a reason to stay off the drugs, then surely that could actually benefit the patient more.