Tuesday, January 13

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4 Activities That Will Help You Start Exercising
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4 Activities That Will Help You Start Exercising

Fitness is a process. One does not simply “decide” to improve their health one day. Rather, the only way to experience meaningful fitness progress is to diet and exercise effectively for a sustained period of time. Of course, doing that is much easier said than done. As such, many people with good intentions struggle to get started with a new workout routine. With that in mind, today we’ll share a few fun activities that can help people new to exercising develop good habits and “get in the groove”  –– so to speak. Check them out here: Short Walks It’s difficult to overstate the benefits of a brisk walk. Walking is a mild exercise that many people find particularly refreshing. Plus, you can take a walk basically anywhere, any time, and with anyone. Note, if you have difficulty walking f...
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Around The World Weight Stigma Is A Burden – And Has Negative Consequences Everywhere
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Around The World Weight Stigma Is A Burden – And Has Negative Consequences Everywhere

Lazy. Unmotivated. No self-discipline. No willpower. These are just a few of the widespread stereotypes ingrained in American society about people who have a higher body weight or larger body size. Known as weight stigma, these attitudes result in many Americans being blamed, teased, bullied, mistreated and discriminated against. There is nowhere to hide from societal weight stigma. Decades of research confirm the presence of weight stigma in workplaces, schools, health care settings, public accommodations and the mass media, as well as in close interpersonal relationships with friends and families. It’s everywhere. I’m a psychologist and researcher at the Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity at the University of Connecticut. For 20 years my team has studied weight stigma. We’ve ex...
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Do You Need To Floss More Or Are Your Parents Responsible For Your Cavities?
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Do You Need To Floss More Or Are Your Parents Responsible For Your Cavities?

To “cry poor mouth” is an expression used to habitually complain about a lack of money. A literal poor mouth, however, represents one of the most widespread global diseases: tooth decay. Cavities resulting from poor oral health can drive everything from emotional issues to low self-esteem and health concerns. The health of your teeth has a major effect on your body. Rudy Fargo/Unsplash, CC BY Even more critical is the socioeconomic impact of tooth decay. Cavities are a “hidden cost” across a person’s lifespan. They can affect the ability of children to learn, result in absenteeism and a loss of productivity for employees and employers, and increase health costs for retirees. Untreated tooth decay can result in health complications including poor nutrition, if it is painful to chew; sever...
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Teens Use Viral Trend TikTok To Speak Out About Their #MeToo Sexual Harassment Experiences
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Teens Use Viral Trend TikTok To Speak Out About Their #MeToo Sexual Harassment Experiences

A recent TikTok video that has been liked by almost half a million people encourages girls to record themselves putting one finger down for every time they have been sent unsolicited dick pics, begged for nudes, catcalled, repeatedly asked out after already saying no, and forced to do something sexual when they didn’t want to. Similar videos about sexual assault posted by young women became popular in 2020. The new video is aimed at teens and focuses on sexual harassment. By calling attention to how common sexual harassment is for teen girls, the “Put a finger down: Sexual harassment edition” video has become the 2021 TikTok teen version of the #MeToo movement of 2017. This trend brings together two nearly universal realities in the lives of teen girls: the ubiquitous presence of social ...
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Online Communities Are Important Sources Of Support, But They Also Pose Risks For Young People
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Online Communities Are Important Sources Of Support, But They Also Pose Risks For Young People

Aristotle called humans “the social animal,” and people have recognized for centuries that young people need to be in communities to develop into healthy adults. The ongoing pandemic has caused concern about the effects of isolation on children and teenagers’ social and psychological growth. But while young people today may not be able to gather in person as often as they’d like, they aren’t necessarily isolated. They have long used online communities to explore their identities and conduct their social lives. They’re involved in anonymous hip-hop discussion forums, ADHD support groups on Facebook, biology class group chats on Instagram and comments sections under popular YouTube videos. There are many of these online communities, and collectively they cover a wide range of subjects. The...
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Some Types Are Better Than Others – But Too Much Sitting Is Bad For You
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Some Types Are Better Than Others – But Too Much Sitting Is Bad For You

The COVID-19 pandemic has introduced a number of new behaviours into daily routines, like physical distancing, mask-wearing and hand sanitizing. Meanwhile, many old behaviours such as attending events, eating out and seeing friends have been put on hold. However, one old behaviour that has persisted, and has arguably been amplified due to COVID-19, is sitting — and it is not surprising to see why. Whether sitting during transportation, work, screen time or even meals, everyday environments and activities are tailored nearly exclusively to prolonged sitting. As such, sedentary behaviours, like sitting, make up the vast majority of our waking day. Pre-COVID-19 estimates place the average Canadian adult’s sedentary behaviour at around 9.5 hours per day. Current daily sedentary time is likel...
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No, Old Age Is Not A Bitch
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No, Old Age Is Not A Bitch

Many women age 70 and above often complain to me, "Old age is such a bitch". Usually, my response is, "Well, yes, old age may be a bitch, but it doesn't have to be.. " You've heard the expression, "Life is what you make it"? It's not just a saying, It's true. Old age may seem to be a bitch because of poor health, loneliness, financial problems, or you don't look like you used to look, but here's the reality: if you still can complain, you can change things. You may not be able to do a lot, but often you can do more than you think you can if you make up your mind to TRY. Just the act of trying is energizing. Let's think about things said to plague older people -- and what to do about it. "I'm a victim": There may be more than a few of us who are noncompos mentis, but if we are smart eno...
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Human Nature Means You’re Both Selfish And Selfless
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Human Nature Means You’re Both Selfish And Selfless

Looking out for number one has been important for survival for as long as there have been human beings. But self-interest isn’t the only trait that helped people win at evolution. Groups of individuals who were predisposed to cooperate, care for each other and uphold social norms of fairness tended to survive and expand relative to other groups, thereby allowing these prosocial motivations to proliferate. So today, concern for oneself and concern for others both contribute to our sense of fairness. Together they facilitate cooperation among unrelated individuals, something ubiquitous among people but uncommon in nature. A critical question is how people balance these two motivations when making decisions. We investigate this question in our work at the Social Cognitive Neuroscience Lab...
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Why Women Shouldn’t Have To Risk Trading Their Freedom For Safety, The Sarah Everard Story
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Why Women Shouldn’t Have To Risk Trading Their Freedom For Safety, The Sarah Everard Story

Earlier this month, Sarah Everard was allegedly abducted and killed while walking home from a friend’s house in London. In response to her disappearance, women were reportedly advised to avoid going out alone. Yet at the same time, the Metropolitan Police commissioner, Cressida Dick, sought to reassure women that incidences of abduction and murder are rare. Heavy police presence and use of force during a recent gathering to remember Everard also raised issues about the way women are treated by authorities when demonstrating against sexual harassment and violence. It’s an issue which, in some circles, has led to demands for police reform and Dick’s resignation as commissioner. As one popular argument goes, penalising and physically handling women at a vigil didn’t just ignore some women’s ...
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New Research Finds – Staying Active Throughout Adulthood Is Linked To Lower Healthcare Costs In Later Life
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New Research Finds – Staying Active Throughout Adulthood Is Linked To Lower Healthcare Costs In Later Life

Exercise is good for your health at every age – and you can reap the benefits no matter how late in life you start. But our latest research has shown another benefit of being physically active throughout life. We found that in the US, people who were more physically active as teenagers and throughout adulthood had lower healthcare costs. These findings are especially relevant to people who live in countries without universal healthcare, such as the US. However, our findings apply indirectly to countries with universal healthcare, such as the UK, as a healthier population could result in lower costs for the healthcare system as a whole. For our study, we drew on data from the National Cancer Institute’s study on diet and health, which looked at over half a million adults. As part of this ...
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