Category Archives: 3. Good Health and Well-being

Taxes on sugary beverages are not enough on their own to halt march of obesity in Asia

Asit K. Biswas, National University of Singapore and Kris Hartley, Cornell University Facing declining markets in Western countries, multinational food companies are targeting Africa, Asia, and Latin America as new consumers of packaged foods, in a move that may worsen the global epidemic of chronic illness related to diabetes. Governments are striking back at obesityContinue reading “Taxes on sugary beverages are not enough on their own to halt march of obesity in Asia”

Climate change affects mosquito behaviour. This may make it harder to end malaria in South Africa

Shüné Oliver, National Institute for Communicable Diseases and Jaishree Raman, National Institute for Communicable Diseases Changes in climatic factors – such as higher temperatures and increased rainfall – affect the developmental, behavioural and distribution patterns of insects like mosquitoes. These changes have serious implications for the effective control of insect-borne diseases such as malaria. Worryingly,Continue reading “Climate change affects mosquito behaviour. This may make it harder to end malaria in South Africa”

Lockdowns had a huge impact in the mental health of the elderly

Ariadna Garcia-Prado, Universidad Pública de Navarra; Paula González, Universidad Pablo de Olavide, and Yolanda Rebollo Sanz, Universidad Pablo de Olavide In Spain we suffered one of the strictest lockdowns in the world in response to the COVID pandemic. For a time, we were only allowed to go to the supermarket, the bank and the pharmacy.Continue reading “Lockdowns had a huge impact in the mental health of the elderly”

Lockdown babies behind on communication milestones: to help toddlers’ language skills, just talk and listen

Katie Alcock, Lancaster University Research has found that babies born during lockdown have been later to meet some language and communication milestones. During this time, babies met fewer new people and had fewer chances to socialise with other adults and babies, whether in baby groups or in family and friends’ homes, and parents had workContinue reading “Lockdown babies behind on communication milestones: to help toddlers’ language skills, just talk and listen”

Has the pandemic changed our personalities? New research suggests we’re less open, agreeable and conscientious

Jolanta Burke, RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences For many of us, some personality traits stay the same throughout our lives while others change only gradually. However, evidence shows that significant events in our personal lives which induce severe stress or trauma can be associated with more rapid changes in our personalities. A newContinue reading “Has the pandemic changed our personalities? New research suggests we’re less open, agreeable and conscientious”

Disabled people are already cutting back on costs more than others – for many, the £150 cost of living payment won’t do much to help

Sharon Collard, University of Bristol and Jamie Evans, University of Bristol Even before the current cost of living crisis, disabled people were much more likely than non-disabled people to be in poverty and living on inadequate incomes. Now, spiralling living costs are adding to years of financial disadvantage. Our new analysis of YouGov survey dataContinue reading “Disabled people are already cutting back on costs more than others – for many, the £150 cost of living payment won’t do much to help”

Obesity costs South Africa billions. We did the sums

Micheal Boachie, University of the Witwatersrand Globally, it is widely acknowledged that obesity-related conditions and their complications add hugely to healthcare costs and productivity losses. In turn this adds a large burden on individuals, their families and on governments. One estimate suggests that of the total health expenditure on the continent, 9% is attributed toContinue reading “Obesity costs South Africa billions. We did the sums”

How safe is it to drink rainwater?

Ian Cousins, Stockholm University; Bo Sha, Stockholm University; Jana H. Johansson, Stockholm University; Martin Scheringer, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, and Matthew Salter, Stockholm University In many parts of the world, including Africa, people rely on rainwater as a source of drinking water, as well as for other household and livelihood uses. One ofContinue reading “How safe is it to drink rainwater?”