Abstract
The role of physical activity in reducing obesity
The role of physical activity in reducing obesity has been the subject of ongoing debate. Research published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine argues that physical activity does not promote weight loss and criticises the food industry for its emphasis on how physical activity and sport can help prevent people becoming very overweight. Malhotra and co-authors emphasise that no amount of physical activity can counteract a poor diet.
However, others argue that a healthy lifestyle will include both a balanced diet and exercise. Professor Susan Jebb, Professor of Diet and Population Health at Oxford University, highlighted shortcomings of this research: weight loss programmes which combine diet and physical activity are the most successful route to weight loss.
While the Harvard School does not state that physical activity alone can counteract obesity, it does highlight activity as the most variable factor. Activity is something which may help people stay at a healthy weight but can also lower the risk of heart disease, diabetes, stroke, high blood pressure, osteoporosis and certain cancers, as well as reduce stress and boost mood. These are the wider benefits of physical activity as a strategy to reduce obesity.
General consensus is that although exercise can help promote weight loss and weight loss maintenance, it has been shown to work best when also combined with a reduced calorie eating plan. While physical activity has an important role in tackling the obesity epidemic and long term health of the population, it should not be seen as a sole approach.
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Flexibility in the workplace benefits employees
The modern day workplace is a stressful environment for many, with increasingly long working hours and tight deadlines. For some, this means reduced mental wellbeing and low job satisfaction. However, in a recent study of workers at a Fortune 500 company, the introduction of a pilot flexible work programme meant workers were more likely to voice higher levels of job satisfaction and reduced levels of burnout and psychological stress than peers in the same company who did not participate in the programme.
The research, conducted by researchers at the University of Minnesota and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), is the first randomised control trial that has been used to measure workplace flexibility in a US firm but adds to a wealth of research showing that flexible work arrangements increase mental wellbeing in employees while increasing productivity and reducing turnover.
In the study, which took place in the information technology (IT) department of a Fortune 500 company over the course of 12 months, half of the workers were involved in the scheme, while others continued to work to the normal policies of the company. Participants involved in the scheme were taught about practices designed to increase sense of control over their work lives, focusing on results rather than face-to-face office time. Managers in the pilot group also received training to encourage support for family and personal life and professional development. Employees implemented practices, including spending more time working from home, attending fewer meetings per day, increasing communication via instant messenger and making better predictions about times of high demand.
Employees involved in the pilot reported a decrease in psychological distress – the appearance of depressive symptoms that do not amount to clinical depression – compared to their control group counterparts. This coincided with an increase in job satisfaction and reduced burnout, with employees feeling less stressed, better supported by bosses and able to spend more time with their families – all leading to increased mental wellbeing. This study shows that with organisational-level initiatives, mental wellbeing can be improved in even the busiest workplaces.
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The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence publishes cold homes quality standard
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has issued a quality standard on preventing excess winter deaths and health problems associated with cold homes.
The standard focuses on aspects of health and social care that are commissioned locally. It sets out effective actions that should be taken to help people who are vulnerable to health problems linked with cold homes – such as those with cardiovascular or respiratory conditions, babies and children under age five and people aged over 65. There are around 24,000 excess winter deaths each year, and many more people are made ill by living in a home that is too cold.
The quality statements include the following:
Local populations who are vulnerable to the health problems associated with a cold home are identified through year-round planning by local health and social care commissioners and providers;
People who are vulnerable to the health problems associated with a cold home receive tailored support with help from a local single point of contact health and housing referral service.
The related NICE guideline (http://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng6) on reducing excess winter deaths and illnesses highlights that there is a huge untapped opportunity for health and care staff and other professionals to spot and help vulnerable people whose health is at risk because of living in a cold home.
Professor David Hunter, NICE Board member and Professor of Health Policy and Management at Durham University, commented,
Deaths and illnesses linked to living in a cold home are preventable. This NICE quality standard and the related guidance highlight the importance of partnership working across a range of organisations to address this issue. The guidance also recognises that professionals who are not health specialists, such as heating engineers, have an important role to play in spotting vulnerable people living in a cold home who may need help. This aspect echoes the Royal Society for Public Health’s work on the wider public health workforce, which highlights that there are a huge number of contact opportunities that can make a big difference in preventing illness and saving lives.
The quality standard is available at: http://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/qs117.
Staying socially active can reduce wellbeing decline in later life
A decline in wellbeing is common in later life, but new research published by the American Psychological Association has shown that this can be prevented by staying socially active throughout one’s life.
The study, led by Denis Gerstorf at the University of Humboldt, used data from 2,900 now deceased patients from the nationwide German Socio-Economic Panel Study – a nationally representative annual longitudinal survey of around 30,000 adults residing in the former West Germany and East Germany between the 1980s and 2013. Participants in the survey provided information on a number of factors from health and satisfaction to employment and earnings. The study asked participants to answer questions regarding their wellbeing, participation in social activities and social and family goals during the last few years of life.
The research showed that where family goals were not important in establishing a higher level of wellbeing in later life, social goals and being socially active were associated with higher wellbeing. Where low social activity and lack of social activity lowered wellbeing late in life, when combined, these had an additive effect, further reducing wellbeing. The researchers suggested that these positive effects were a result of involving one’s self in social interactions, increasing cognitive stimulation and often physical activity, which may protect the brain against cognitive decline.
As family life often involves a mix of happiness, worry and tensions, the researchers suggest that this is why family goals did not lessen the decline in wellbeing.
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http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/03/160308134919.htm