Blog posts for ‘Health’ 
-
Stating the obvious...
Monday 14 May 2012
Categories: Education, Family Relationships, Health, Media Influence, Parenting
Yes I know that a great deal of research is extremely useful but sometimes when I read newspaper headlines I just want to scream “Well obviously!” And at other times I seriously doubt the intelligence of the headline writers.
Two recent examples illustrate the cause of my frustration. The most recent concerned people who stay on in education longer. This, the newspapers report, “makes people smarter” and “results in superior memory skills later in life”. Isn’t it more likely...
-
Dealing even-handedly with controversial subjects...
‘The Independent’ last week reported that Michael Gove, the Education Secretary, was under pressure to publish guidance on how to approach the subject of abortion in schools, following the claim that groups campaigning against abortion are giving children false information. Such misinformation is, according to groups including the British Humanist Association, the National Union of Teachers and some Christian churches, spreading alarm amongst children.
Teaching sensitive subjects is...
-
The family that eats together...
Tuesday 1 May 2012
Categories: Family Relationships, Health, Parenting, Role Models
The Telegraph last week reported research from nutritional experts in the United States which found that children from homes where the family regularly sits down to eat together tend to eat more healthily than in homes where mealtimes are not considered family events. Such children are also less likely to be overweight, and tend to do better at school.
The research from Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, analysed results from 68 separate studies before coming to these...
-
Heavy schoolbags risk 'deforming' our children
Wednesday 21 March 2012
The Daily Mail reported last week on a survey run by the organisation BackCare which warns that some children are carrying as much as a quarter of their body weight in their huge schoolbags. This is causing a significantly increased risk of spinal problems. Bags carried on one shoulder or the crook of the arm cause particular health risks. Schools are criticised for not allocating sufficient storage space for their pupils and parents are urged to keep an eye on the situation. Sean...
-
Body image - it's all about perception
Friday 27 January 2012
Categories: Health, Media Influence, Self-esteem
Young people have always been concerned about their appearance, but this generation is under greater pressure to look good than ever before. On average British children are spending between six and eight hours a day looking at screens, during much of which they are being bombarded with images of the “beautiful”. Men’s and women’s magazines present distorted images of human perfection. At present the average model weighs 23% less than the average British woman, so it is no surprise that at...
-
Seeking role models for women's sport
Wednesday 14 December 2011
Categories: Extra curricular, Health, Media Influence, Role Models
I am encouraged by the recent press coverage in response to the BBC Sports Personality shortlist, particularly concerning the responsibility the media have for raising the profile of women’s sport.
Last week I turned to the section in a Sunday newspaper laughingly entitled sport. Of the 20 pages dedicated to sport I found no mention of women other than an article in which an American skier in her twenties had accompanied a much younger skier to his high school dance. The point? ...
-
The end of the cotton wool era?
Saturday 30 July 2011
Categories: Education, Health, Personal Safety
There’s a nursery school in Liverpool where children spend all day playing, learning and having fun in six acres of land. They climb trees, build dens and go pond dipping. They eat outside, nap outside and learn outside whatever the weather. They slide down mudhills, getting wet and dirty, and then warm themselves by the fire pit. It’s called Sandfield Natural Play Centre. Initially some parents were nervous but now they are seeing how their children have become more confident, how...
-
Does my bum look big in this?
Friday 15 July 2011
Categories: Family Relationships, Health, Role Models, Self-esteem
If you have ever wondered whether your daughter listens to you take a moment to read Arabella Weir’s piece in last Saturday’s Telegraph.
Despite being a highly successful comic actress with a luscious figure and an astute take on life, Arabella grew up knowing that her glamorous mother was disappointed by her “chunky” if longed- for daughter. Her mother’s favourite put-down was “watching you eat is like having knives stuck into my eyes”. This led to years of low esteem...
-
One sports day a year simply isn't enough!
Thursday 7 July 2011
Categories: Education, Extra curricular, Health
Sports days are as much a part of summer as barbecues and beaching. There is a quintessentially British feel about pupils competing against each other in a variety of sporting challenges whilst relatives watch beside the track, making polite conversation and cheering their support (while sometimes dodging the rain showers).
Parents naturally want their child to win but, as the old adage goes, it’s the taking part that counts. Young people have different talents and whilst some have...
-
Healthy eating and education...
Wednesday 22 June 2011
Categories: Education, Health, Media Influence
Over the 30 years and more during which I have been a secondary school teacher and parent of two girls and two boys, I have seen a number of fads and fancies in nutritional advice and in the pattern of childhood eating. Having grown up myself in the days of a well-balanced midday school lunch, perhaps overcooked but nutritionally sound, I was surprised to find fairly early on in my teaching that a canteen junk food culture had taken over.
In the early 1970s, staff and children sat...
-
Categories
- Careers (13)
- Drugs and Alcohol (3)
- Education (62)
- Extra curricular (11)
- Family Relationships (21)
- Growing up (20)
- Health (13)
- Higher Education (6)
- Homework (6)
- Letting go (5)
- Literacy (1)
- Media Influence (33)
- Parenting (33)
- Personal Safety (10)
- Role Models (25)
- Self-esteem (9)
- Sexual Relationships (5)
- Technology & the Internet (7)
- Teenagers (17)