Health Update

Now, chocoholics have a justified reason to savour their favourite sweet, for a new study has found that eating chocolate can help stop bowel cancer.

Scientists say that the key is a naturally-occurring chemical in chocolate.

Nutritionists have found that feeding toddlers with too many fruit and vegetables can damage their health.

Sarah Almond, a consultant paediatric dietician said that diet includes high fiber and low fat, with hatful of fruit and vegetables, is good for adults but not suitable for children under five. This puts toddlers at risk of developing nutritional deficiencies.

Researchers from the US and Sweden have found in a study, funded by some of the world's biggest phone makers, that radiations emitting from mobile phones cause headaches and interrupt vital sleep patterns.

Contrary to popular opinion, expensive sunscreen creams will not provide protection against the sun but in fact increase the risk of skin cancer.

According to experts, expensive cosmetic sunscreens that can cost up to 10 dollars per teaspoon, are failing to provide adequate shield.

Christopher Zinn, spokesman of Choice, an Independent consumer group revealed that SPF couldn’t be substituted with sunscreen.

A recent study has revealed that short sleep times in patients with chronic medical diagnoses increases the risk of obesity.

The researchers surveyed 200 patients attending internal medicine clinics about their sleep habits, lifestyle characteristics, and medical diagnoses.

The findings revealed people with a sleep time of less than seven hours had a notably increased possibility of obesity defined by a body mass index compared to the reference group of eight to nine hours.

Britain’s Minister for Children, Beverly Hughes, has warned that the problem of obesity is on the rise among kids because they are spending less time in playgrounds and more before computers and social networking websites.

Hughes urged parents not be over-protective and to encourage their kids to take up outdoor activities.

A study has found that women who gained weight throughout adulthood instead of maintaining a stable weight might have an increased risk of breast cancer.

The study, conducted by Jiyoung Ahn, Ph.D., of the National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Md. and colleagues, observed the finding among women who had not taken hormone therapy after menopause.

A new study has shown that the obesity epidemic among Australian children has been grossly overstated, and that the problem is concentrated among poorer families and some ethnic groups.

The study has revealed that children from low-income families are twice as likely to be obese as children from high-income families.