Breakfast eaters make slimmer teens
Teenagers who eat breakfast regularly typically weigh less, exercise more and have healthier diets than those who skip the meal, say University of Minnesota researchers, based on a five-year study of more than 2,000 teens. And the more regularly they eat breakfast, the lower their body mass index, whereas those who routinely skip breakfast weigh almost 2.5kg more, on average. An estimated one in four US teens regularly doesn't eat breakfast, Reuters reports. Team leader Mark Pereira says those who eat it tend to eat less and healthier food through the rest of the day.
China's stroke rate on the rise
The incidence of the most common type of stroke has risen almost 9 per cent a year in China during the past two decades and, although the number of fatalities has decreased, it remains a leading cause of death on the mainland. The study, funded by the government and the WHO, involved almost 14,600 reported ischemic strokes (involving blood clots) among people aged 25 to 74 across Beijing from 1984 to 2004, WebMD reports. The decrease in fatalities is attributed to better health care, says researcher Dong Zhao.
... along with fatal food poisonings
The number of reported cases of fatal food poisoning in China rose by more than 30 per cent last year to 258, according to the Ministry of Health, which offered no explanation. However, the total number of food-poisoning cases, with 13,280 people reportedly falling sick, declined by about 25 per cent, Reuters reports, quoting the Ministry's Health News. Most cases occurred in the third quarter of the year, 'when there is a rather obvious impact from the weather', the newspaper reported, although it did not elaborate.
To sleep, perchance to procreate