Category: Health

Language: it’s child’s play! Part one   At university, for my degree in languages, I studied language acquisition and how this differs depending on whether it is your first or second language, and how old you are when you start learning. There are many theories about how we acquire language…

  If you had to hazard a guess, what would you say is the world’s most favourite food? Well, the charity Oxfam set out to answer that question by doing a survey of over 16,000 people in 17 different countries including the UK, USA, South Africa, Mexico and Germany. Perhaps…

  Throughout my life I’ve always been body conscious, aware of bodies portrayed in the media, those of my friends and my family. The latest celebrity bikini shot or fat picture are often front-page news, or magazine fodder so it’s hard not to compare your body shape to those in…

There is much discussion and debate on which nation has the best diet in the world. In the media we are often told that the Mediterranean diet is the way to go, or that the Japanese have the longest life expectancy so we should be doing more of what they…

Every year on 2nd June (unless it falls on a weekend) is ‘Leave the office early day’. Reportedly the day was created by an American employee productivity specialist, Laura Stack, to encourage employees to improve productivity in order to complete their tasks more efficiently to leave the office earlier. Many…

Most articles addressing social media and mental health focus on the possible consequences of Facebook addiction, such as anxiety and depression. This article, however, will focus on the potential function of social networking sites as a therapy-surrogate.   Social media and the internet can generally be a positive tool for…

Are we turning Santa into a mass murderer? Does he need to be stopped? Chinese Smog and its Consequences Autumn 2013 saw all-time record levels of recorded smog across the Eastern Seaboard of China. Levels of PM2.5 particulates, an often-used short-cut for expressing smog, rose to beyond 1000 micrograms per…

We all know it – Christmas equals food. No one can resist the variety of delicacies we eat only once a year and wait for them with impatience. They might be more or less fattening or unhealthy, depending on your country’s tradition, but one thing is certain: you cannot leave…

New beginnings. For most people the expression refers to a new relationship status, a new flat, a new office, and symbolises the hope for a brighter future. For some people, the change that has been experienced goes beyond a few new items of furniture or a new job, and are…

Many foreigners visit Thailand not only to see the beauty of the culture and the country, but also to undergo cosmetic surgery and sex change operations. As a matter of fact, Thailand has made a name for itself around the world as a major center for cosmetic/plastic surgery, any dermatological…