The Thin End

As we come out of COVID-19 lockdown, many of us are looking to change our eating habits. Aubergines can be a great substitute for meat if you are adopting a vegetarian or vegan diet. Aubergine curry can also be great to have with a picnic, served hot or cold. Perhaps the tastiest takeaway meal I have had from a supermarket was an aubergine curry from Waitrose. My daughter also makes the most exquisitely tasty aubergine curry. Aubergines are a great source of nutrition and the essential fibre we need in our diet, and they taste great in a curry. One serving of aubergine can provide at least 5% of our daily requirement of fibre, but also vitamins and minerals. They are also a great source of phenolic compounds that act as antioxidants to eliminate those harmful free radicals that can damage cells. Food with antioxidants, such as tomatoes and aubergines, can help prevent a range of diseases. Staying healthy to be healthy is the best way of being healthy. Our diet and lifestyle comb...

We have argued in previous articles that growth and world trade are driving forces for climate change. Unless this driver is understood and dealt with, then talk of containing global warming is simply hot air. Politicians need to lead in efforts to get voters to realise that our lifestyles must change. If we want to tackle climate change and protect our future on the Earth, societies will need to adopt a degrowth model, in which we consume less, and use fewer materials and resources. Given how reliant we are on the growth model, this won’t be an easy transition. Now, two researchers in the UK and Sweden have been awarded the latest Atlas Award for examining this current and growing debate on the strategy to tackle climate change from the degrowth angle. The article by Dr Milena Büchs, University of Leeds, UK and Prof. Max Koch, Lund University, Sweden, appeared this month in Futures , published by Elsevier. While degrowth doesn’t mean going back to a prehistoric way of life, it does...

When I was growing up in the 1950s we didn't have Television. One or two of my school friends had one, and we would go round to their house after school and watch a bit of television with a tea of bread and jam. It was just a bit of TV. Mostly we played outdoors - running around playing cowboys, or reenacting exploits in WW2. The more I think back, I realise just how much more active we were as children in all types of weather. We never seemed to do things standing still. We now know that our lifestyles at an early age impact on our health and wellbeing in later life. Adhering to a healthy lifestyle at age 4 years is associated with a decreased risk of overweight, obesity, and abdominal obesity at 7 years, according to a study published in Pediatric Obesity . The study assessed five lifestyle behaviours—physical activity, sleep duration, television watching, ultra-processed food consumption, and plant-based food consumption—in 1,480 children when they were 4 years of age. Limi...

A new study says that children are less likely to be obese if mothers stick to a healthy lifestyle, but is it right to target mothers alone? The study says little to nothing about the role of fathers. The findings do highlight potential benefits of parent based strategies to curb childhood obesity. Healthy maternal lifestyle lowers risk Children of mothers who follow a healthy lifestyle have a substantially lower risk of developing obesity than children of mothers who don’t make healthy lifestyle choices, finds a study published in The BMJ. Is this yet another statement of the blindingly obvious, or does it give insight into obesity prevention? The findings show that risk was lowest among children whose mothers maintained a healthy weight, exercised regularly, did not smoke, ate a healthy diet, and were light to moderate drinkers. The researchers suggest that if both mothers and their children stuck to a healthy lifestyle this could result in an even further reduction in...