Steps in the right direction
Even just a little exercise, such as a brisk walk a few times a week, can significantly improve the overall fitness of healthy but sedentary people, researchers at Queen's University in Belfast have found. A 12-week study of more than 100 people aged 40 to 60 showed significant reductions in systolic blood pressure and waist and hip girth among those who walked briskly for 30 minutes three times a week, healthday.com reports.
Pollution linked to heart disease
Urban pollution can trigger subtle changes linked to heart disease in young, healthy adults, according to a study of students at Fu-Jen Catholic University in Taipei. Exposure of one to three days is enough to adversely effect four key heart disease indicators, including coagulation in blood vessels, the National Taiwan University study found. 'They can hardly feel the effects,' says team leader Chan Chang-Chuan. 'But there are changes.' The pollution levels involved were typical of major cities, Reuters reports.
School's out for obese children
Obese primary schoolchildren miss about two more days of school a year on average than their normal-weight classmates, a University of Pennsylvania study has found - putting them at risk of problems later such as drugs and teen pregnancy. Socioeconomic status, age and gender were assumed to be the key predictors of absenteeism, but researchers say weight tops them all, AP reports. 'Missing school is such a major set-up for big-time problems,' says team leader Andrew Geier. It's not clear why, but underweight children are absent significantly less often.