5 Lessons I Taught My Children About the Food on Their Plates

Even when your garden is filled with a crop of sprouting grass, as ours is at this point in the season, you can still teach your children some of the basic principles of food production. Hard work, the complementary gifts of soil and water, and the disappointment of seeds that never produce food also yield valuable lessons. As parents, one of the most fundamental opportunities we can pass on to our children is that of experiential learning. Life is best lived hot (the beating noonday sun) or cold (the icy…

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Why I Didn’t Burst Crackers This Diwali (and Maybe You Shouldn’t Too)

I love festivals. Unabashedly so. The anticipation, dressing up, the traditions involved, the food (oh the food!!) and absolutely anything and everything about festivals. I dress like the demure Indian bride on Karwachauth, have my tree up every Christmas and love tossing popcorns into the bonfire on Lohri. But most of all, I love the month of Diwali. The period between Dussehra and Diwali is my favourite time of the year. The vibe of the Capital city changes completely. It is the month when the weather (thankfully) is sublime, there…

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Can Nutritional Deficiency Affect Teenage Behaviour?

Adolescence can get overwhelming. It is a phase marked by flux and emotional unrest. It is only natural for teenagers to exhibit the chaos that manifests within towards everyone around them. It then becomes imperative to ensure that adolescents get ample support and learn to handle the transition in a healthy manner. But did you know that the situation usually worsens when it is met by nutritional inadequacies? A recent study conducted by a team at the University of Oxford underlined the importance of nutrition in adolescents. According to the lead researcher,…

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Delhi Chokes on Toxic Smog After Diwali

New Delhi was shrouded in a thick blanket of toxic smog Monday after millions of Indians lit firecrackers to mark the Diwali festival, with authorities reporting record levels of pollution in parts of the capital. The reading for pollutants in the atmosphere breached the 1,000 microgram mark for the first time in one neighbourhood in south Delhi — 10 times the World Health Organization’s recommended level. It came on the same day that another United Nations body reported how some 300 million children live with outdoor air so polluted it…

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Expert Views: How can the World Outpace Resistance to Eradicate Malaria by 2040?

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, a global health and education charity set up by the Microsoft founder and his wife, has set a target of eradicating malaria by 2040. Yet efforts to end the deadly disease are under threat as mosquitoes become increasingly resistant to drugs and insecticides. To outpace rising resistance, the scientific community in the Gates’ home city of Seattle is developing innovations ranging from genetic modification to single-dose drugs. Here are the views of some of the world’s leading organizations that are working to eradicate malaria.…

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Increased Smartphone Use May Affect Sleep, Health of Kids

Does your child indulge in playing games or watching videos on a smartphone or tablet even during bedtime? Beware, he/she may be over double the risk of having inadequate sleep, which may lead to various health issues, a study has found. Sleep is an often undervalued but important part of children’s development, with a regular lack of sleep causing adverse physical and mental health consequences, including poor diet, sedative behaviour, obesity, reduced immunity, stunted growth and mental health issues, said the researchers from Cardiff University in Britain. Currently 72 per…

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