Public Health England is targeting pizzas, ready meals, processed meat and takeaways, in a new obesity drive.

The government agency has also urged the food industry to start using healthier ingredients and encourage the public to opt for lower calorie foods.

It is all part of a drive to cut calorie consumption by 20% by 2024.

The target will apply to 13 different food groups, responsible for a fifth of the calorie intake of children.

It comes on top of:

• the sugar reduction programme, launched last year, which is targeting nine different food groups
• the sugar drinks levy, which comes into force next month

Combined, these three measures mean health officials are taking direct action to influence the consumption of foods responsible for half of children’s calories.

But PHE chief executive Duncan Selbie said the steps were as much about influencing the diets of adults.

“Britain needs to go on a diet. Children and adults routinely eat too many calories, and it’s why so many are overweight or obese.”

The popular foods being targeted

Food manufacturers, supermarkets, takeaways and fast-food outlets have been told to reduce the calories in the following foods:

• savoury biscuits and crackers
• speciality breads, such as ciabatta with olives
• cooking sauces and dressings
• crisps and savoury snacks
• egg products
• potato products
• meat products, such as pies, pastries, sausages and burgers
• pasta, rice and noodles
• ready meals and takeaways
• dips
• pizza
• food-to-go, such as sandwiches
• soups

If action is not taken, PHE said, it would be prepared to ask the government to legislate.

It would be strictly monitoring progress by looking at which products people were buying and would be prepared to “name and shame” individual companies not pulling their weight.

The agency is also launching a campaign encouraging adults to consume 400 calories at breakfast and 600 each at lunch and dinner.

It is being seen as a rough guide for consumers to follow when they buy meals away from home.

A quarter of food is now bought from cafes, restaurants, takeaways or as food-to-go from shops.

PHE said major groups such as McDonald’s, Subway and Greggs would be promoting foods that kept people within these guidelines.

Currently adults consume between 200 and 300 calories more than they should each day.

PHE chief nutritionist Dr Alison Tedstone said the 400-600-600 tip would make it easier for “people to make healthier choices” by being able to judge what they should be eating in each sitting.

“To get traction on this, the big-selling things need to change,” she said.

“A few healthy options on the end of a menu won’t help solve the nation’s obesity problem – we need the regular, everyday products to change.”

How many calories should we eat?

For children, it varies depending on age.

A four-year-old should consume no more than 1,300, while for males aged 17 and 18 it is about 3,000, but overweight and obese children are consuming up to 500 calories more than that.

The move has been backed by experts.

Prof Russell Viner, of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, said it was a “bold and necessary” move.

He said over the past 40 years there had been a “creep” in portion sizes, with pizzas and hamburgers “simply much bigger than they were in our parents’ time”.

“The availability of fast food at pocket money prices and the advertising of unhealthy food and drinks to children add to the problem,” he added.

Food and Drink Federation (FDF) boss Ian Wright said it was the right approach and industry was fully supportive.

“The FDF and its members take their responsibility in tackling obesity seriously,” he said.

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Source: BBC

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The study showed waist-to-hip ratio to be a better heart attack predictor than general obesity – 18% stronger than body mass index in women and 6% in men.

The report found a high BMI was linked to heart disease risk in both sexes.

The researchers interviewed nearly 500,000 UK adults aged 40 to 69.

The research has been published in the Journal of the American Heart Association and used the UK Biobank resource.

Dr Sanne Peters, the report’s lead author, from the institute, which is at the University of Oxford, said: “Our findings support the notion that having proportionally more fat around the abdomen (a characteristic of the apple shape) appears to be more hazardous than more visceral fat, which is generally stored around the hips (the pear shape).”

She said that “looking at how fat tissue is distributed in the body – especially in women – can give us more insight into the risk of heart attack than measures of general obesity”.

Dr Peters added: “Understanding the role sex differences in body fat distribution play in future health problems could lead to sex-specific public health interventions that could address the global obesity epidemic more effectively.”

The report said that body composition and fat distribution differed markedly between the sexes, with women having a predominance of fat mass and subcutaneous fat and men having lean mass and visceral fat.

It added: “Our study has several strengths, including the prospective design, large sample size, and direct measurement of general and central adiposity on all participants.

“However, the UK Biobank is a largely white population, and further analyses are needed to determine the generalisability to other populations.”

Heart attack symptoms

• chest pain – a sensation of pressure, tightness or squeezing in the centre of your chest
• pain in other parts of the body – it can feel as if the pain is travelling from your chest to your arms (usually the left arm is affected, but it can affect both arms), jaw, neck, back and abdomen
• feeling lightheaded or dizzy
• sweating
• shortness of breath
• feeling or being sick
• overwhelming sense of anxiety (similar to having a panic attack)
• coughing or wheezing

Although the chest pain is often severe, some people may feel only minor pain, similar to indigestion. In some cases, there may not be any chest pain at all, especially in women, the elderly and people with diabetes.

Source: NHS Choices

Ashleigh Doggett, senior cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation, said: “Considering the large amount of UK participants, this is a very interesting study which highlights that obesity remains a risk factor for heart attacks in both men and women.

“Interestingly, it suggests that those of us who are ‘apple’ as opposed to ‘pear’ shape, especially women, may be at higher risk of a heart attack.

“We know from previous BHF research that women are often misdiagnosed initially when having a heart attack so how we store fat and our body shape may be an important factor for medical staff to consider when making a diagnosis.

“The study highlights the need for similar research amongst more diverse populations, and for further research into sex differences which could lead the way in treating patients on an individualised basis.”

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Source: BBC

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A study of more than 2,000 young men in India showed more who had coronary artery disease were prematurely bald or grey than men with a full head of hair.

The European Society of Cardiology’s study will be read at the Cardiological Society of India’s annual conference.

But the British Heart Foundation said other risk factors were important.

Dr Mike Knapton, associate medical director at the BHF, told the BBC: “This study suggests that identifying men with premature hair loss and greying may help identify those with an increased risk of developing heart disease.

“However, this isn’t something that people can change, whereas you can modify your lifestyle and risk factors such as high cholesterol and blood pressure. These are far more important things to consider.”

Prematurely grey

The research, to be presented at the CSI’s 69th annual conference in Kolkata, studied 790 men under 40 who had coronary artery disease and 1,270 healthy men of a similar age, who acted as a control group.

A clinical history was taken of all the participants, who were then marked on their levels of male pattern baldness – the common type of hair loss that develops in most men at some stage – and hair whitening.

The researchers correlated the findings with the severity of heart disease symptoms.

They discovered that the men with the heart condition were more likely to have gone prematurely grey – 50% compared with 30% of the healthy group – more than five times the risk of the control group.

The heart condition group were also more likely to have male pattern baldness – 49% against 27% of those in the healthy group – a 5.6 times greater risk.

Yet obesity was associated with only a fourfold increased risk of the disease.

Dr Kamal Sharma, the principal investigator on the study, said: “The possible reason could be the process of biological ageing, which may be faster in certain patients and may be reflected in hair changes.”

Prof Alun Hughes, professor of cardiovascular physiology and pharmacology at University College London, said similar correlations had been made before.

“People have speculated that it may be an indicator of DNA damage associated with ageing,” he said.

“Also, since hair follicles are a target for androgens – for example testosterone – it has been suggested that early male pattern baldness could reflect differences in responses to androgens that might influence the risk of heart disease.”

A study of nearly 37,000 people in Japan in 2013 said balding men were 32% more likely to have coronary heart disease.

And Prof Hughes said a study of 10,885 Danish people in 2014 reported that grey hair predicted future heart disease, but said it could be explained by taking account of other cardiovascular risk factors.

How to improve your heart health

• Eat five portions of fruit and vegetables a day
• Give up smoking
• Get active
• Manage your weight
• Eat more fibre
• Cut down on saturated fat
• Cut down on salt
• Eat fish
• Drink less alcohol
• Pay attention to labels on food and drink packaging

Lead study author Dr Dhammdeep Humane, of the UN Mehta Institute of Cardiology and Research Centre in Ahmedabad, said men with male pattern balding or premature greying “should receive extra monitoring for coronary artery disease and advice on lifestyle changes, such as healthy diet, exercise, and stress management.”

Another study author, Dr Sachin Patil, said there was an increase in coronary disease in young men which could not be explained by traditional risk factors and added that the hair conditions were “plausible risk factors”.

Prof Marco Roffi, head of the Interventional Cardiology Unit at Geneva University Hospital, said: “Assessment of risk factors is critical in the prevention and management of cardiovascular disease.

“Classical risk factors, such as diabetes, family history of coronary disease, smoking, sedentary lifestyle, high cholesterol levels and high blood pressure, are responsible for the vast majority of cardiovascular disease.

“It remains to be determined whether potential new risk factors, like the ones described, may improve cardiovascular risk assessment.”

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The Food Standards Agency says even if there is no leakage, packaging can harbour traces of harmful bacteria that can cause stomach bugs.

Shoppers should have separate bags for raw foods, ready-to-eat foods and household items such as detergent.

Reusable bags could be colour coded or labelled to avoid any mix-up, it says.

If there has been visible spillage, soiling or damage, plastic bags for life should be replaced, while fabric ones could be washed or cleaned.

“Even if there are no obvious spillages or staining after several uses, we would recommend that cotton/fabric bags for life be machine-washed regularly if they have been used for carrying raw items,” the FSA website recommends in an updated post.

Contaminated food

Although instances are rare, shop-bought chicken is a potential source of infection.

Tests by the FSA have shown chicken packaging can carry a bug called campylobacter – the most common cause of food poisoning in the UK.

Campylobacter poisoning usually develops a few days after eating contaminated food and leads to symptoms that include abdominal pain, severe diarrhoea and, sometimes, vomiting.

Eggs, fish and loose vegetables with soil on can also pose a food poisoning risk, says the FSA website.

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Source: BBC

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A total of 31 teenage pregnancy related deaths were also recorded during the period.

This was made known by Mr Simeon Kwabena Acheampong, the Ashanti Regional Manager of Marie Stopes International, Ghana, an international NGO, providing contraception and safe abortion services.

According to him, a total of 9,100 adolescents reportedly got pregnant in the Ashanti Region during the first half of this year.

He also said three teenage pregnancy related deaths were also recorded in the region during the period.

Mr Acheampong was speaking at a three-day adolescents’ camp meeting organized jointly by the Ghana Health Service (GHS) and the Ghana Education Service (GES) in Kumasi.

It brought together members of the adolescent health ambassadors clubs in senior high schools (SHS) across the country.

These ambassadors are being supported to create awareness on reproductive health in both their schools and communities as part of stepped up effort to prevent unwanted pregnancies.

The meeting was held under the theme “Equipping young people as health ambassadors for sustainable development”.

Mr. Acheampong expressed concern about the high rate at which many a young girl were getting pregnant and dropping out of school.

This, he indicated, was unhelpful to the fight to reduce poverty and asked that all combined their effort to give protection to adolescent girls.

Dr. Gloria J. Quansah Asare, the Deputy Director General of GHS, labelled the youth as valuable asset and said everything should be done to help them to avoid missteps and pitfalls.

He spoke of the need to reach out to them with reproductive health services to make the right choices and decisions.

Statistics show that majority of the Ghanaian adolescents are in school and she said that made the school a critical platform for providing adolescent and youth-friendly health services.

That, she indicated, informed the decision by the GHS to form the clubs to get to them, with the right health information and services.

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Source: GNA

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Calls to introduce a law banning companies from telling women to wear high heels at work were rejected by the government in April.

The issue was debated after one woman who was sent home for wearing flat shoes set up a petition.

The University of Aberdeen researchers recommended further investigation into the issue.

The review examined research into the physical damage and injury that can be caused, as well as the social and cultural aspects surrounding the wearing of high heels.

It found large amounts of studies showed a link between wearing high heels and an increased risk of bunions, pain and injury.

However, it found a lack of clear evidence of an association between high heel wear and osteoarthritis.

Risks and benefits

The authors drew a distinction between the UK – where the government has pledged to develop guidelines and raise awareness that female workers should not be forced to wear high heels without introducing new legislation – and the Canadian province of British Columbia, which has amended legislation to now prohibit employers from requiring staff to wear high heels.

Dr Max Barnish, who led the research, said: “From our review it is clear that despite the huge amount of evidence showing heels are bad for individuals’ health, there are complex social and cultural reasons that make high-heel wearing attractive.”

Dr Heather Morgan, a lecturer at the University of Aberdeen, added: “Of course we are not trying to tell anyone that they should or shouldn’t wear high heels but we hope this review will inform wearers to help them weigh up the health risks with social benefits.”

She added that it was hoped the review would “put pressure on law makers to toughen up legislation so that no-one is forced against their will to wear them in the workplace or in licensed public social venues”.

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Source: BBC

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He said the two bodies needed to step up their supervisory and monitoring roles to make sure that the right things were done and check the recklessness.

He faulted the two institutions for not doing enough to properly supervise and monitor small-scale miners, particularly, those operating in the hinterlands.

“I am saddened by the extent to which our environment is being degraded on daily basis due to the activities of miners”, Otumfuo Osei Tutu said.

He said this when the management of the Minerals Commission led by its Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Dr Tony Aubynn, paid a courtesy call on him at the  Manhyia Palace, Kumasi.

The visit was to officially introduce the newly-appointed CEO to him and to seek his support.

The King said he found it disturbing that in spite of the many laws and policies put in place to promote safe mining to protect the environment the nation was far from achieving this.

He was also uncharitable in his criticism of chiefs who were aiding illegal mining in their communities, and said that was completely shameful and awful.

The Asantehene said as custodians, they had a responsibility to lead the campaign to safeguard the environment and maintain biodiversity.

Dr Aubynn pledged the determination of the Commission to do everything it could to tackle the illegal mining menace.

Source: GNA

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Forbes estimated Otumfuo’s net worth at $10 million dollars sourcing his wealth from his engagement in mining equipment, property and jewelry.

Otumfuo Osei Tutu II was ranked behind King Mohammed VI of Morocco whose wealth is estimated to be $2 billion dollars.

The Forbes report said Otumfuo after studying in the United Kingdom, worked briefly in private and public organizations in the United Kingdom and Canada before returning to Ghana in 1989 to set up Transpomech Ghana, a $12 million sales company that provides mining equipment to several large industrial companies in Ghana.

Otumfuo according to Forbes, also owns extensive real estates in Ghana and South Africa  as well as a collection of valuable gold crown jewels.

But Otumfuo’s $10 million is still peanuts compared to second place, Oba Obateru king of the Ibo Land in Nigeria with 300 million dollars.

Another Nigerian,Oba Okunade Sijuwade – the King of Ile Ife came third with an estimated net worth of at least 75 million dollars. 

While the popular King Mswati 111 of Swaziland ranked one place ahead of Otumfuo with an estimated 50 million dollars.

The research from Forbes however said the source of the wealth of the Kings excluded wealth held or controlled by the rulers in trust for their nations or territories.

By: Marian Efe Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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The Akwasidae Kesse is a festival celebrated by the Ashanti people and this year’s festival will climax the 15th anniversary celebration of the coronation of the Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II.

The Ashanti Regional Police Commander, DCOP Nathan Kofi Boakye in a press briefing at Kumasi on Thursday, stated that the police in the region are poised to instil stringent measures to ensure the safety of residents.

“Our objective is to ensure peace and order, so people can enjoy the festival in its entirety; because of this, we have made a lot of security arrangements,” he said

DCOP Boakye announced that some major roads in the metropolis will be closed to traffic during the festival saying, “it must be emphasized that because of the number of people who will throng the stadium, it is imperative that some roads are blocked.”

15th anniversary of Otumfuo Osei Tutu

The 15th anniversary of the reign of the Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II began last month to mark over a decade since the king was enstooled on the Golden stool.

The Manhyia Palace announced a 20-day festival to mark the celebrations. Numerous events in the region have taken place to honor the Asantehene.

He recently celebrated his 64th birthday on Tuesday, 6th May 2014.

The Asantehene is the 16th King of the Ashanti Kingdom. He ascended the Golden Stool on 26 April 1999.

By: Afua Kesewa Akoto/citifmonline.com

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