Do your kids skip breakfast? Here’s how doing so puts their health at great risk

Is it “too early” to eat? Is there no time before school? Your children may be putting themselves at risk of malnutrition by skipping breakfast. A study by the King’s College London found that children who skip breakfast regularly may not be consuming the recommended daily amounts of key nutrients required for growth and development. Children who ate breakfast every day were deemed to have overall superior nutritional profiles compared to those who didn’t. While the study was unable to identify a causal link, these children were found to have…

Read More

Modi govt aims to revamp public health scheme, lower costs after criticism: Report

India’s health ministry has trimmed its cost estimates for extending its main public health programme by 25% after criticism from a federal think-tank over inefficiency and slow progress, according to government documents seen by Reuters. The new estimate of $25 billion for a three-year extension of the flagship health programme, down from an initial figure of about $33 billion, comes as Prime Minister Narendra Modi pushes a multi-pronged agenda to revamp health services. Planned reforms include streamlining spending and bureaucracy, slashing prices of life-saving drugs and medical devices, and nudging companies…

Read More

Fat shaming by docs likely to harm health

Discrimination at the doctor’s office based on size can take a toll on a patient’s physical health and mental well-being, a study has found. “Disrespectful treatment and medical fat shaming, in an attempt to motivate people to change their behaviour, is stressful and can cause patients to delay seeking healthcare or avoid interacting with providers,” said Joan Chrisler, a professor of psychology at Connecticut College in the US. “Implicit attitudes might be experienced by patients — for example, a provider’s apparent reluctance to touch a fat patient, or a headshake…

Read More

Study: Health costs of pollution in India 8 times of govt’s fuel subsidy

India spent $16.9 billion on oil, gas and coal subsidies in 2013 and 2014 but the health costs to meet the burden of air pollution-linked diseases was eight times more at $140.7 billion, says a report by an European environmental non-profit organisation. The Health and Environment Alliance (HEAL) assessed the spending of seven economically powerful countries on fossil fuel subsidies, and the health costs associated with fossil fuel subsidies. The report, `Hidden Price Tags’, said India can provide 375 million households with solar lamps or train nearly 32,000 extra doctors for rural…

Read More

Is eating Poha everyday in breakfast good for health?

1. Perfect dish to kick-start your day! Poha has traditionally been among India’s favourite breakfasts and no one treated it as unhealthy, till a few years ago, when the Indian market began to be flooded with ‘healthy’ grains from abroad like oats and quinoa. Call it the result of their brilliant marketing or our bad luck, our traditional breakfasts suddenly became unhealthy foods. But winds of change can already be sensed on the horizon with leading nutritionists speaking in favour of the native breakfast options. Here are some reasons why…

Read More

Everyone is confused about the health care vote — including Republican senators

There’s a sense of consensus among Republican senators: They will be voting on something health care–related next week. They just don’t know what exactly it will be. “I don’t even know what we are proceeding to next week,” Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) said Thursday. “I don’t know whether we are proceeding to the House bill, a new version of the Senate bill, the old version of the Senate bill, the 2015 ‘repeal and hope we come up with something in two years’ bill — I truly don’t.” After two more…

Read More