Monthly Archives: January 2014

With the busy lifestyle we have today, looking after our heath and diet is indeed challenging. It’s vital that we don’t forget what is essential as, in the long run, having a good health is what greatly matters. A healthy lifestyle can be adopted in your life at any point, and there’s always a time for you to join the health wagon. It may seem daunting to you, but it isn’t really hard at all. Take it one step at a time, and you will see the huge difference.

Since adhering to healthy lifestyle can be challenging to some, here are some secrets to renew a healthy living.

You begin by evaluating your daily diet. Maybe small changes can benefit you most. Start your day right and healthy by consuming a nutritious breakfast, like cereal or oatmeal. You can make it healthier by adding some fresh fruits or dates. Keep in mind to eat healthy sets of food and forget about those fatty and high in cholesterol food items. Cut down on or, if possible, prevent yourself from eating processed and junk food, which are rich in preservatives. If you adhere to a balanced and healthy diet, you will begin to see good changes in your body.

Another vital secret to a healthy lifestyle is regular exercise. Being active will aid your body to have proper blood circulation. With that, supply of oxygen to your body will be well regulated. Plus, if you keep yourself active, you will burn and lose unwanted fats in your system. This will make your body fit and firm and will, moreover, make you feel better about yourself.

Lastly, have a positive state of mind. If you only see the good in every situation instead of seeing the negative, then nothing is impossible. Filling your mind with positive things will motivate you to pursue your goal in life. This is a healthy way of thinking.

According to public health experts, research suggests that there is a link between asthma and obesity, thus reinforcing the significance of having a healthy lifestyle starting from early age. Obesity and excess weight among children can fuel asthma epidemic, which is experienced in many countries. This has been found out by a joint study of UK and Australian research teams teaching peak asthma groups to stress the importance of a healthy lifestyle in kids.

The likelihood of developing the condition caused by chronic inflammation of the airways raises by 55% for each extra unit of BMI (body mass index), according to University of Bristol and University of Queensland researchers.

The study was made to almost 5,000 asthmatic kids aged seven and a half who were registered in a long-term study of children and parents in the United Kingdom. The score that the researchers gave to the kids was based on 32 independent body-mass-related DNA sequence variations, and connections with fat mass, body mass, lean mass, and asthma were estimated then.

Dr Raquel Granell, an allergy expert and the lead author of the study, said that there have been many studies exploring the influence of environmental factors like fumes and pollens on asthma in childhood. However, while the link between asthma and BMI has been suspected ever since then, up until today, there is no casual link that had been shown, she stressed.

She added, “[h]igher BMI in mid-childhood could explain some of the increase in asthma risk toward the end of the 20th century, although the continued rise in obesity but with a slowing in the rise in asthma prevalence in some countries implies that other non-BMI-related factors are also likely to be important." According to her, further research is required to confirm any casual link between asthma and BMI.

Based on a report of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, the UK, New Zealand, Ireland, and Australia have the highest prevalence rate of asthma in kids. There are more than two million Australians who have the condition. Though the prevalence of asthma among children and young adults in Australia has decreased, it is still considered high in international standards.

Dr Simon Bowler, a respiratory physician and the chair of Asthma Australia’s medical and scientific committee, said that the latest research had aided to define the link between childhood obesity and asthma. While it has been widely accepted that the amount of stored body fat affects our health and wellness, especially those who are asthmatic, this latest research emphasizes obesity as a marker of asthma among kids. Dr Bowler also stressed that one out of every nine children suffer from asthma in Australia.

Treating asthma is a long way off, but this is manageable with preventive measures and medications, and this includes managing your kid’s weight. This makes management of children’s weight in their early years vital for parents.

According to Dr Samantha Walker, research and policy director at Asthma UK, the research, issued in PLOS Medicine, a peer-reviewed medical journal, was in line with other studies made relating obesity to asthma. She added that asthma is a complex disease, especially in kids, and that “[k]eeping your BMI within normal limits bring all sorts of health benefits and may help reduce the risk of children developing asthma.”