David Altshuler, a professor of genetics at Harvard Medical School: “When it comes to obesity, for the vast majority of people, there’s no one gene that makes a difference. There’s many, many genes, dozens, perhaps hundreds … each of which has a small effect on the obesity in the population, but which add up to a susceptibility when exposed to this environment we live in, for getting more overweight or not.

“There’s no doubt that genetics, the DNA that we inherit from our parents, affects how much we weigh. There’s also no doubt that the environment we live in affects how much we weigh. There’s no nature vs. nurture. There’s nature and nurture.

“When it comes to smoking or drinking, people generally have to go cold turkey. But fundamentally we have to eat. You know, people can’t stop eating. This calls for a somewhat lonely journey of self-control. We underestimate how hard it is to change your behavior, not once, not for a week or a month till you’re cured, but to change it every day for the rest of your life.”

Thomas Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: “If you go with the flow in America today, you will end up overweight or obese, as two thirds of Americans do. The weight of the nation is not healthy. And to get it healthy, we’re all going to have to do our part.

“We are seeing changes. They’re not gonna be overnight, they’re not quick, but they’re happening. And they are going to help control the weight of the nation.

“Fifty years ago, tobacco was ubiquitous. And I think in 50 years we’ll see the ubiquity of unhealthy foods today in a similar light.”

Kelly Brownell, director of the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University: “There’s this relentless and powerful marketing of foods. You’re basically taught that you can eat everywhere, you can eat every hour of the day and that there’s something gloriously wonderful about eating foods that are high in sugar, fat and salt.

“They (food companies) have so many billions of dollars at stake in their profits that they’ll do everything they can to fight the changes that are really necessary to help address the world’s obesity problem.

“You might despair at this and say, ‘Well, what can we do about it because these companies are so powerful?’ That’s what was said about the tobacco companies 30 and 40 years ago and look what happened to them. … So if the tobacco industry can be taken on successfully by the public health world, then I don’t see any reason why the food industry can’t be the same.”

Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health: “If we don’t now take this as a really serious, urgent national priority, we are all of us individually and as a nation gonna pay a really serious price.”

Chavez made his remarks Friday to thousands of his supporters at a rally to mark the 10th anniversary of his return to power after a two-day coup.

The Venezuelan leader, who has been traveling to and from Cuba for his latest rounds of radiation, says the treatments have affected his physical strength, but he is doing well.

He travels to Cuba Saturday for a radiation treatment.  Chavez told the crowd he is considering staying in Cuba for an entire week, longer than his recent trips. He said to wanted to avoid “coming and going.”

Little is known about the 57-year-old socialist leader’s condition.  Chavez has endured two surgeries since being diagnosed last year for what is believed to be an aggressive cancer.

He says the latest surgery was successful and that he will be fit to win a new six-year term in October.  He has been in office for 13 years.

Chavez underwent an operation in February in Cuba to remove a tumor from his pelvic region.  A tumor was removed from the same area last year.

Even if they eat a healthy diet when they are pregnant, their babies will develop in an unhealthy environment that places the infants at risk for future health problems, researchers behind the study said.

“We can see fat sequestered in the placentas of obese mothers when it should be going to the baby to support its growth. The nutrient supply region in the placenta of an obese mother is half the size of that of a normal-weight mother, even when both are eating the same healthy diet,” said Yuan-Xiang Pan, a U of I professor of nutrition.

Pan blames what he calls the obesogenic environment of the mother, which includes increased triglycerides, high levels of the hormone leptin, and elevated amounts of non-esterified fatty acids (NEFAs) circulating in the obese expectant mother’s body.

Triglyceride and NEFA levels are nearly twice as high in obese mothers, even when they consume healthy diets during pregnancy, he said.

“My advice is, lose weight well before you become pregnant,” Pan said.

In the study, the scientist compared the placentas of obese rats fed a healthy diet throughout their pregnancies with the placentas of obesity-resistant rats fed the same diet.

“Although the obese females didn’t gain much weight on the healthy diet, the obesogenic environment remained, and it affected nutrient transport regulation in the placenta,” he said.

As a result, obese mothers gave birth to babies that were up to 17 per cent smaller than they should have been. The consequences for those infants may be lifelong, making them more susceptible to disease, he noted.

Pan, an epigeneticist, was able to demonstrate for the first time that the DKK1 gene regulates certain aspects of lipid metabolism in the placenta through the WNT signaling pathway.

“Understanding this process should help us identify some biomarkers that would allow a potential mother’s doctor to say yes, you’ve lost weight, the chemical conditions that were created by your excess weight are gone, and this is a good time for you to become pregnant,” he said.

Biomarkers could also be useful in testing new babies. If doctors can see that the mother’s pre-pregnancy and pregnancy diets were deficient, there might be ways to compensate for that poor prenatal environment, he said.

“The point I’d like to get across to women of child-bearing age is that they must pay attention to their weight well before they become pregnant if they want to have a healthy baby. Obesity creates unhealthful conditions in the mother’s body that take time to correct. A healthy mother will give birth to a baby that is more resistant to disease,” he said.

Kepenek, based in Unit 23, Wulfric Square, Bretton, Peterborough, has been served with a Hygiene Emergency Prohibition Notice by Peterborough City Council to temporarily stop it from trading.

The firm makes yoghurts and juice drinks that are sold in newsagents across the country.

Following an investigation, the council found the products were not produced in line with food safety guidelines and could have harmful bacteria in them.

Samantha Olive, the council’s principal environmental health officer, said: “Anyone who has these items should throw them away immediately and not drink them.

“They were not produced in line with food safety requirements and could be contaminated with harmful bacteria which has the potential to make people ill.”

The alarm about the drinks and yoghurts was first sounded by Hull City Council, which received a complaint from a member of the public about the quality of Kepenek’s Quzwan Kurdish Style Yogurt and Nazanin Kurdish Style Juice.

Officials thought the drink could cause illness and, because the business had a Peterborough address on each bottle, contacted Peterborough City Council.

The council’s environmental health department investigated the concerns and found that although the business was based in the city, it was not on the database of Peterborough Food Registered Premises.

As a result, in addition to the health concerns about its products, the business was not trading legally.

Inspectors visited Kepenek on February 17 and issued the owner with a Hygiene Emergency Prohibition Notice to temporarily close it down.

This was later supported by a Hygiene Emergency Prohibition Order granted by Peterborough Magistrates’ Court.

The three shops in Peterborough that stock Kepenek products have been told to stop selling them, as have Kepenek’s customers who sell the products in shops in Manchester, Leicester, Birmingham, Coventry, Hull and Wolverhampton.

The firm will remain closed until the health risks are addressed.

Mrs Olive said the council was working to help the business so that it could re-open and continue in the future with improved standards.

The council recommends anyone who has drunk the Nazanin juice or eaten the Quzwan yoghurt to seek medical help if they have any health concerns.

Established in Australia in 2006, the innovative Men’s Shed project could be adopted by Nailsworth Community Workshop, which already runs various groups.

It offers a comfortable environment for men to talk about health issues while banging nails, welding metal, shaping wood, tinkering with engines and drinking tea.

The idea was originally part of a drive by the Australian Government to improve men’s health and well being.

It came to Britain last year following an article in the British Medical Journal.

Since then more than 20 Men’s Sheds have sprung up around the UK.

Now the skilled men of Nailsworth are being invited to set up their own group.

Pam Brown and Gavin Pond are hosting an informal meeting at 2pm on Tuesday, March 13 at Nailsworth Community Workshop in the Old Boys Club to generate interest.

“At the heart of this, is an opportunity to use our well-equipped workshop to make or restore things,” said Pam. “But instead of men working alone in their garden shed, the Men’s Shed will encourage interaction, banter and learning from each other, all of which play an important role in making people feel good.”

The Shed will welcome men of all ages who enjoy making things.

Unfortunately, President Obama and his allies are once again putting their political agenda ahead of sound policy and the delivery of cost-efficient health care. They are trampling on the rights of states like Texas to create programs like the Women’s Health Program and to administer it for Texans by Texans.

Why would the Obama administration take away access to health care for low-income Texas women? Because this administration puts funding for abortion providers and affiliates ahead of funding for women’s cancer screenings and other preventive health care. Texas, operating under the direction of an overwhelming and bipartisan majority of legislators, prohibits abortion providers and affiliates like Planned Parenthood from receiving taxpayer money.

Because Texas refuses to fund abortion providers and their affiliates, the federal government has announced that it will cancel the Women’s Health Program. To me, this reflects a twisted set of values, not to mention a continued disregard for the basic concept of states’ rights.

Under federal law, Washington leaves it to state leaders to administer the Medicaid program and set criteria for who is, and is not, a qualified provider. Consistent with state and federal law, the Texas Health and Human Services Commission developed a program that would ensure continued access to care by qualified providers across Texas and asked the Obama administration for approval.

However, the Obama administration apparently is unwilling to allow the exclusion of organizations like Planned Parenthood, as Texas law requires, even though that organization represents less than 2 percent of enrolled providers. Texas has more than 2,500 qualified providers in 4,600 sites across the state, ready to deliver care.

If this debate were really about health care, the Obama administration would allow the Texas Women’s Health Program to continue.

Instead, the administration’s stated intention to reject the Texas program reflects nothing more than its pro-abortion agenda, and is a blatant pander to the president’s liberal base, which has made Planned Parenthood’s abortion services a celebrated cause.

Texas is an easy target for such attacks because we value life and have worked hard to preserve and protect its sanctity over the years. We’ve passed laws requiring that parents be notified and give consent before their minor daughters abort a child, ensuring parents will be involved and ready to provide much-needed guidance and advice at the most critical of moments.

We’ve funded and promoted alternatives to abortion, and provided counseling for women on these other options, including adoption, which – in addition to saving a child – is one of the greatest gifts anyone can give a waiting mother and father.

We also created a law that will prevent abortions in Texas until the mother has a sonogram because we believe women deserve to have all the information before making such a life-ending decision.

At our nation’s founding, the architects of our constitution clearly spelled out precisely which powers were enumerated to the federal government and left the rest – explicitly – to the states.

While Washington has steadily undermined and weakened the authority of states and local communities to govern themselves, it wasn’t until the last few years when states – especially more conservative states – were actively targeted by a presidential administration.

The Obama administration has seized control of Texas’ air-permitting process, put radical new interpretations of the Clean Air Act into effect and, worst of all, imposed a health care mandate on individual citizens and state governments that threatens to bankrupt us all.

The Texas women who face the prospect of losing access to preventive health care are only the latest to be caught in the crossfire of the Obama administration’s ongoing efforts to seize more control over the actions of every state, every town and every household.

Here in Texas, we will continue to fight back against all manner of federal encroachment into our lives, and any and all efforts to destroy or dilute the protections we’ve put in place for our unborn. President Obama, please abandon this misguided and unhealthy course of action and allow the Texas Women’s Health Program to continue providing preventive health care and cancer screenings for Texas women.

There are nearly an average 650 deaths per annum in the UAE due to ambient air pollution – a leading contributor to premature mortality, study by University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill researchers showed.

Ambient air pollution can cause or exacerbate asthma and contamination of drinking water and seafood supplies can contribute to various illnesses including cancer.

The objectives of the study were to quantify the illnesses and premature deaths in the UAE attributable to 14 environmental pollutant categories; prioritize these 14 risk factors; and identify interventions.

Doctors in the UAE have advised patients suffering from asthma to stay indoors during the dust storms – which have been engulfing the whole region. The doctors have also reported increase in the number of patients suffering from eye and respiratory diseases.

“The UAE environmental disease burden is low by global standards.

Ambient air pollution is the leading contributor to premature mortality (approximately 650 annual deaths). Risks leading to more than 10,000 annual healthcare facility visits include occupational exposures, indoor air pollution, drinking water contamination, seafood contamination, and ambient air pollution,” Environmental Health Perspectives journal said quoting the report.

The research team prepared quantitative risk estimates and then worked with dozens of stakeholders, including leaders of businesses, government agencies, health-care facilities and universities.

Fifty-six stakeholders submitted rankings of 14 risk factors in order of priority. They almost unanimously agreed that outdoor air pollution is the greatest risk. Most stakeholders also ranked indoor air pollution as the second most important risk and occupational exposures in industry as third.

Majority of stakeholders unanimously agreed that outdoor air pollution is the greatest risk. Most stakeholders also ranked indoor air pollution as the second most important risk and occupational exposures in industry as third.

“On average, UAE stakeholders ranked outdoor air pollution as the highest priority and indoor air pollution as the second-highest priority among the 14 risks considered. The resulting strategic plan identifies 216 potential interventions for reducing environmental risks to health,” EHP said.

“The goal was to assess and prioritise strategies to reduce the pollution-related health risks being made inevitable by growth and development,” Jacqueline MacDonald Gibson, Ph.D., the project’s principal investigator and UNC assistant professor of environmental sciences and engineering, was quoted as saying.

“This is believed to be the first time a nation has commissioned a comprehensive model of the national burden of disease from environmental health risks. They are taking a long-term perspective in a world too often focused on short-term thinking.”

There was disagreement on some issues. For example, risk from water pollution was ranked second most important by five stakeholders and least important by four. Those who ranked it least important stressed the nation’s drinking water is highly treated with advanced desalination systems and that many people drink bottled water, Science Codex said quoting report.

Russell, who has practiced child psychiatry at CMC since 1991, is presently authoring two books on mental health issues among children and adolescents. He noted that early intervention can save children from turning violent and unstable, and in turn, becoming a burden to families and society. “There is a huge need for resources, infrastructure and manpower to tackle the situation, as the ratio of expert help available in the country is only 0.03 for a population of one lakh individuals as against the ideal 2 per 60,000 recommended by WHO,” said Russell. He added that there were only 15 qualified specialists in child psychiatry in the whole country. While four of these specialists practice at CMC, the others work at National Institute of Mental Health and Neurological Sciences (NIMHANS), Bangalore, Zion Hospitals in Mumbai and Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Chandigarh.

Studies indicate that a majority of children develop psychological problems due to family circumstances, the educational system and the school environment, which are currently in volatile states. This causes children to suffer from problems of psychosis, mood swings, anxiety disorders, autism, intellectual disability and other development and emotional disorders. However, it is important to identify children with such issues early.

Parents, fearing social stigma, complicate the situation by hesitating to seek help for their children. “This, coupled with the lack of government attention on the issue cause bottlenecks,” admits Russell.

“Since over 40 per cent of the country’s population is below the age of 19, managing the mental health needs of such a huge population is going to be a huge task,” he warned. While one way is to produce more experts which is time consuming and expensive, an alternative is to train teachers who can play a vital role in identifying disorders among children.

Instead of using corporal punishment, teachers, who sometimes spend more time with children than parents, need to learn positive behavioural correction techniques to handle problem-children.

The three lady attendants looked at him in bewilderment. A moment later they all burst out laughing.

Remaining persistent he repeated his request and got exactly the same reaction. Seeing that he was not giving up, they sobered up and asked him for whom was he buying the sanitary ware. He replied and that brought about another burst of laughter. (After the giggling died down he patiently explained that since his wife needed the sanitary ware it meant that he was also not going to get any action in bed.

So that in the long run her periods affect their romance. After the frank explanation the attendants became helpful and asked him if he knew what brand she preferred. Here he was clueless and the ladies now turned friendly explained the different brands and types depending on a lady’s monthly flow. Defeated he resorted to phoning his wife who patiently told him the brand and type. In the long run he learnt something new with regards to menstruation.

Deciding to push the boundaries; as I knew my 44 year old colleague has a teenage daughter I dared to ask him if he knew his daughter had started her periods. The look he gave was deadly. As far as he was concerned that was his wife’s business and he had nothing to do with it. He emphasised that under no circumstances could he bring himself to ask his spouse. “If she asks me why I want to know what will I answer?” He retorted.

Pushing harder I asked as to why he wasn’t curious to know he shook his head and said, “That is a women’s business and I, as the father have other responsibilities to handle and definitely not that.” World over there is a move to get more men involved in sexual and reproductive health as partners, spouses, and fathers. The 1994 International Conference on Population and Development ICPD in Cairo and the 1995 World Conference on Women in Beijing formally recognised the role of men in promoting equality and better reproductive health for men and women.

The ICPD programme of action states amongst other things: Special efforts should be made to emphasise men’s shared responsibility and promote active involvement in responsible parenthood, sexual and reproductive behaviour including family planning, prenatal and maternal and child health; prevention of sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV prevention, prevention of unwanted and high risk pregnancies. Shared control and contributions to family income, children education, health and nutrition and more.

As regards to girls, their reproductive health needs are most vivid from menarche (the very first period). And over the years with better nutrition, girls start at an earlier age. On the contrary for centuries both religion and culture have made the inevitable monthly cycle necessary for healthy child bearing, a taboo topic for men whose only major interest in menstruation is when the partners are not bleeding.

Neither in some religions and cultures girls and women during their periods are not allowed to pray or enter the kitchen to cook as they are considered unclean amongst other restrictions. Is there anything that can be done to get fathers more concerned about the needs of their growing teenage daughters? For starters be an informed father or guardian. Much as you may not want to know the exact minute details of each of your daughter’s monthly cycle at least be aware of when your daughter starts. Where possible ask your spouse and have an informed grown up conversation.

Another gentleman in his mid fifties whose daughters are both in their early twenties said. “On both occasions my wife’s way of telling me was to say that they had grown up and that was the beginning and end of that discussion.” He knows that the money requested by his wife for shopping, covers the purchase of sanitary pads but it is never written as an item on the shopping list. Due to cultural and religious beliefs expect some resistance but do not give up.

The physical change also comes with an emotional baggage due to the hormone changes in her growing body. So that when your daughter goes into sudden mood swings at least you have an idea why. According to nutritionists, during the rapid growth of puberty, the body has increased need for calories and key nutrients including protein, calcium, iron, folate and zinc.

Iron and calcium are particularly important nutrients for her body during adolescence. Iron found in food like green leafy vegetables and meat helps her blood carry oxygen to all her muscles. It helps her brain function and helps her immune system fight disease. Menstruation increases a girl’s need for iron. Choosing iron-rich food sources can help keep your body working optimally. Her body will actually absorb more calcium from the foods she eats during puberty.

The increased need for skeletal growth signals her body to “grab” all the calcium it can. Much you may not be taken up by the change at this stage in her life your daughter especially if she attends a mixed gender school becomes more worried during her periods about going to school.

If the school toilets are not adequate she may end up opting not to go to school to avoid the inconvenience of not having a user friendly place to change. Researchers throughout sub-Saharan Africa have documented that the lack of sanitary pads, a clean, girls-only latrine and water for washing hands drives a significant number of girls from school. The United Nations Children’s Fund, for example, estimates that one in 10 school-age African girls either skips school during menstruation or drops out entirely because of lack of sanitation. Another issue to tackle at this stage is sexual and reproductive education.

Who would you like to teach her? Her mother? A close female relative? The school? Do not assume she will know everything. There is nothing more disturbing than starting puberty with no idea of what to expect. Above all knowledge on reproductive health should not end with male partners expertly timing their partners’ cycle. As a parent the reproductive health of your daughter will contribute towards the well being of your future grand children.

The program named Health Chunyun was held by Chinese Preventive Medicine Association’s Sterilization Branch, Shanghai Preventive Medical Association and Shanghai Railway Bureau’s disease control and prevention center, and was sponsored by Reckitt Benckiser China.

“During the Spring Festival peak travel season, the railway department’s work is not only to ensure passengers’ arriving on time but also to arrive healthily. The work of ensuring public health has long been an important part of the work at the railway station, especially during the transportation peak season,” official from the city’s railway bureau said.

Since a large number of people gather at railway stations during this time period, it would increase the risk of spreading disease. Thus, it’s very important and necessary to enhance the disinfection work at the railway station, the official said.

Under the program, special working teams will be dispatched to give disinfectants to passengers at the city’s railway station.

Meanwhile, pamphlets printed with information of keeping public health and avoiding contamination with bacteria will be sent to passengers. Warning posters will be also put up on the wall of the railway station’s waiting hall.

Washing hands is one of the most important methods to effectively prevent illness spreading. In this program, about 3,000 bottles of Dettol hand sanitizer will be distributed to the washrooms in the railway station for passengers.

As the most important traditional Chinese holiday, Spring Festival, or Chinese Lunar New Year is drawing near, tens of millions of passengers, mainly migrant workers and college students are on the move to return home for family reunions.

This year, a total of 3.16 billion passenger trips are expected during the 40-day peak travel season (from Jan 8 to Feb 16), up 9.1 percent from a year earlier, according to the National Development and Reform Commission.

This year, the Spring Festival falls on January 23.