Drink More Water: The #1 Most Important Back-to-School Resolution

With your kid's gearing up to go back-to-school, Dr. Maoshing Ni (Dr. Mao), a highly acclaimed wellness expert, Yahoo Health's top medical contributors and the author of best selling health books, has teamed up with Aquasana to provide parents with water Q&A and tips to get your children to drink more water at an early age. In our society, kids are being raised and literally bombarded with sugary drink choices such as juice, soda and chocolate milk. The problem is, many parents just don't know any better!

Q:  Why is drinking water so important for school-age kids?

DR. MAO:  Water keeps our internal systems running properly, which is particularly important for kids because their bodies are still growing.  Drinking water also helps kids perform better in school. Without enough water, kids can become dehydrated, which can lead to headaches, irritability, lack of concentration and sleepiness, all of which impact a child's mental and physical performance at school.

Q:  How much water do my kids need to drink every day?

DR. MAO:  A common myth is that kids need less water than adults because they're smaller.  Kids need to drink as much or more water than adults do because they're growing and at greater risk of dehydration. Kids should drink at least eight to 10 glasses of water per day.  

Q:  My kids HATE the taste of water! How can I get them to drink that much water?

DR. MAO: What your kids are reacting to is the aftertaste that comes from the chemical traces in tap water. Filtering your water is the first step to getting them to drink more water. I like Aquasana filters because they make tap water taste really clean by removing the chlorine, lead and other contaminants that are in tap water. Aquasana filters also leave in all the healthy, natural minerals—like calcium, potassium, magnesium and iron—that growing bodies need.  Another great trick is to add fresh slices of orange, watermelon, honeydew melon or another fruit to water.  

Q:  How can I get my kids to drink water while they're at school?

DR. MAO:  Letting your kids design their own, one-of-a-kind, 20-ounce stainless steel water bottle makes drinking water fun and an opportunity for kids to express themselves. You can find some good options at www.siggskins.com andwww.littlemissmatched.com. Send your kids to school each day with their water bottle filled with ice-cold, filtered, fruit-infused water.  Also, take the time to educate your kids about the role water plays in their performance at school. Every kid wants to have an edge, especially in sports.

Q:   What about plain old tap water? Isn't that good enough?

DR. MAO:  Studies show that even the best tap water has toxins in it that give water a chemical aftertaste and present short- and long-term health risks. That is actually the reason why the President's Cancer Panel came out with a recommendation in May that American families install water filters in their homes. In fact, if your child has asthma or a chronic skin condition, you may find that having your child shower or bathe in filtered water will help.

Q:   What about bottled water?

DR. MAO:  I don't recommend it generally. Not only are plastic bottles a huge pollution issue, but 60 to 70 percent of all bottled water is exempt from the FDA's bottled water standards, so you can't be sure about the quality of the bottled water you're drinking. Bottled water is also very expensive—90 percent of the cost is in the plastic bottle, making it economically impractical for most American families.  

Q:  How can I find out what's in my family's tap water?

DR. MAO:  It is required by law that a drinking water quality report, stating where your water comes from and what's in it, be available to you upon request and free of charge. The reports are usually mailed out by your water supplier in July. If you didn't receive a copy, contact your water company or visit the EPA web site at www.EPA.gov and ask for a copy.

Q:  What should I look for when buying a water filter?

DR. MAO:  I have long recommended Aquasana filters because they remove 99 percent of the chlorine, lead, pesticides and other toxins in tap water while leaving in the calcium, potassium, magnesium and iron. This is important because those minerals are vital for a child's growth and development. I tell all my patients that installing a water filter at home is one of the easiest, most cost-effective and beneficial things they can do for their family. We even use filtered water to feed our pets and water our plants.

For additional information about water, visit http://www.aquasana.com/water_faqs.php

Pine Nut Oil - A Remedy For Arterial Hypertension?

A clinical study on the effectiveness of using pine nut oil in the comprehensive treatment of patients with arterial hypertension, was released by Pinenutoil.org recently and I found it quite interesting.

In patients with arterial hypertension who are receiving basic hypertension treatment, the consumption of a 17.5 g daily dose of Siberian Pine Nut Oil demonstrated a cholesterol lowering effect, was accompanied by the normalization of the lipid spectrum of the blood and systolic pressure, and a decrease in excess body mass.

The prime objective in treating patients with arterial hypertension is to lower patients’ elevated blood pressure and thereby reduce the risk of the onset of cardiovascular complications that occur, as is well known, on the background of an elevated level of cholesterol in the blood and general obesity.

In the study medical professionals used Siberian Pine Nut Oil in their testing.

Results:

In patients of the first group, after one month, a substantial lowering of the level of LDL cholesterol, triglycerides, and the atherogenic index was detected (Table 3), after three months the lipid reducing effect of Siberian Pine Nut Oil under Siberian Pine Nut Oil trade mark was even more pronounced. The level of HDL cholesterol in patients who received Siberian Pine Nut Oil under Siberian Pine Nut Oil trade mark reliably increased after one month by 35%, and after three months, by 29% from the initial point. As a result, indicators, such as the level of total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol and triglycerides reached the target value, while the level of LDL cholesterol was close to it. The atherogenic index, although decreased by 40%, did not reach the target value (2.6), but came to 2.9.

In the control group after three months only a tendency to the lowering of the level of total cholesterol (p=0.06) was observed, without substantial changes in the remaining indicators. As can be seen from Table 4, in patients of the basic group the lowering of the systolic pressure was more pronounced (by 19.5%) than in the control group (by 10.6%), in this case the diastolic pressure became lower in the groups approximately in equal measure. The lowering of the body mass index was also more pronounced in patients in the first group.

You can view the complete study here.

Teens Say "Take a Stand, Don't Tan!" During Melanoma Awareness Month

The Melanoma Research Foundation has launched a new campaign to educate teens about the dangers of tanning during the Melanoma Awareness month. The "Take a Stand, Don't Tan!" campaign provides teens with the facts about the health risks associated with tanning through media tools such as Facebook and YouTube.

Melanoma is one of the fastest growing cancers worldwide, Exposure to UV radiation such as sunlight and indoor tanning beds, is one of the major risk factors for most melanomas.

“This isn’t a cancer that waits for people to grow old before it strikes and teens need to understand the health risks before they get in a tanning bed,” said Tim Turnham, executive director of the MRF. “Melanoma is the second most common type of cancer in teens and young adults and the leading cause of cancer death in women 25 to 30 years old.“

"Recent research has shown that using tanning beds before age 35 increases your risk of developing melanoma by 75 percent and occasionally using tanning beds can triple your chances. Last year, 69,000 Americans were diagnosed with the disease, resulting in one death every single hour."

The importance of addressing sun safety in the youth population was recently further reinforced by a new partnership between the MRF and "Cosmopolitan" magazine to raise awareness and funds for melanoma research. "Cosmo" readers will receive an awareness bracelet with a $10 donation to the MRF. The fundraising drive is part the magazine’s ongoing “Practice Safe Sun” campaign to combat the high rate of skin cancer among young women.

More information is available at www.melanoma.org.

Additional Links:


Facebook Page, YouTube and Twitter 


TED: Jamie Oliver Speaks On Our Diets & Child Obesity

Jamie Oliver spoke at TED earlier this month talking about obesity in our society and the lack of proper nutrition and poor diet. It is evident throughout this talk that Jamie is extremely passionate about teaching and informing others on the importance of healthy living.

During a recent trip to an elementary school, Jamie asked the kids to identify vegetables and the scary part? Most of them couldn't!
I found his talk to be very informative and hope it is a wake up call to us all. Do you think he was able to get his message across?

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RECALL: Beef Products From National Steak and Poultry

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Oklahoma company National Steak and Poultry began a voluntary recall of approximately 248,000 pounds of beef products due to possible e. Coli bacteria contamination.

Officials from the U.S Department of Agriculture said that so far there have been illnesses reported in six states including Iowa, Kansas, Colorado, South Dakota, Washington, and Michigan.

The types of beef included in the recall consisted of beef shoulder, tender medallions, philly steak, sirlion steak, boneless beef tips, sirlion tips, and others. The brands include Carino's Boneless Beef, EGN, KRM, Moe's Beef Steak and various National Steak and Poultry products.

All of the recalled beef had packages labeled with EST. 06010T and were all labeled National Steak and Poultry. For more information call 866-439-7348 or visit www.nationalsteak.com for a list of the recalled products and their case codes .

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Antioxidants Help To Lower Risk Of Premature Births

Researchers have found that pregnant women who eat a wide variety of antioxidant rich fruits and vegetables have lower risks of giving birth prematurely.

In a study of over 5,300 women who gave birth in Canadian hospitals, those with higher levels of certain carotenoids where less likely to give birth prematurely.

Carotenoids are pigments that give yellow, orange and red hues to a variety of fruits and vegetables, like tomatoes, carrots, red peppers, watermelon, oranges and orange juice. They also act as antioxidants -- meaning they help protect body cells from damage that can lead to disease.
The protective nutrients included alpha- and beta-carotene, lycopene, and alpha- and beta-cryptoxanthin.

In contrast to the case with carotenoids, Kramer's team found that high blood levels of another antioxidant -- vitamin E -- were linked to an increased risk of preterm birth.

Similarly, women with the highest blood levels of certain dietary fats, including unsaturated fats, showed a somewhat higher risk of preterm birth. Omega-3 fats, found largely in fish, were unrelated to preterm delivery.

The reasons for those connections are also unclear, and the findings could have been due to chance, the researchers note. Kramer said the results are too preliminary to make any recommendations.

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Sudbury District Health Unit Breast Feeding Commercial

Love this!

"Fat Camp" Introduced For Britain's Overweight Children

A Government plan to tackle obesity is planning on sending hundreds of thousands of Britain's overweight children to a "fat camp". Some of these children as young as four years old!

School students who are labeled as overweight will be offered a place in this state funded camp. Parents can refuse at any time, however the ministers are hoping most will attend. Children who are obese could be sent to specialists for treatment, drugs or surgery.

Parent groups said the Government had moved ''beyond a nanny state, to a dictatorship''.

Experts said the public branding of children as fat could damage their confidence, expose them to bullying and trigger eating disorders. But pediatricians welcomed the move.

Under existing regulations, children are weighed when they start primary school and again as they leave. Parents receive a letter saying whether their children are healthy, overweight, underweight or very overweight. The latest figures show that by the time they leave primary school, one in three children is overweight.

Margaret Morrissey, the founder of the family lobby group Parents Outloud, said it was ''unforgivable'' to promote schemes that would encourage humiliation to be heaped on those children sent to fat camps. ''This has gone beyond a nanny state, beyond Big Brother,'' she said.

''To label young children as overweight because they are carrying a few extra pounds makes them so vulnerable to bullying and increases the risk of developing eating disorders, especially among the girls.

''Obviously it is unfortunate if parents feed their children badly, but this Government appears to have forgotten that we do not live in a dictatorship.''

However, the pediatricians don't agree and said that because of the scale of this crisis, drastic action was necessary.

Dr David Vickers, from the Royal College of Pediatrics and Child Health, said: ''It seems to me that it is more outrageous to tell parents that their child is overweight then do nothing about it, than to … offer some support.''

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Canada's dangerously high salt intake is a serious concern

A new article in the Canadian Medical Association Journal is saying that Canada's dangerously high salt intake is "One of our most urgent public health matters."

80 percent of the sodium in the diet of Canadian's comes from processed food. 30 percent of the high blood pressure cases in adults can be traced to the high sodium diets we consume.

"Although voluntary action by the food industry may be the preferred option to initiate sodium reduction, its absence calls for governments to use their regulatory capacity to bring about change," the article urges.

"I think the government need to increase the pressure on the food industry to voluntarily reduce the sodium they're adding," Willis told Canada AM. "And that needs to be backed up by regulation and legislation to make sure there's an even playing field for all of the companies."

Canada also needs "a massive public education campaign" to inform Canadians on how dietary sodium causes disease and how simple it is to cut our intake. Doctors, too, should be trained in counseling patients about reducing sodium.

Willis would also like to see changes to food labels, so that people can more easily understand which foods are higher in sodium.

While the recommended intake in Canada is set at 1,500 mg a day for people between the ages of nine and 50, the average daily intake in Canada is more than double the recommended level.

If Canadians could cut their sodium intake to the recommended levels, we would decrease the rates of high blood pressure by 30 per cent, cut high blood pressure-related heart attacks and strokes by 8.6 per cent and save about $2 billion annually in health care costs, the analysis says.

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What happens to your body when you stop smoking?

* In 20 minutes your blood pressure will drop back down to normal.
* In 8 hours the carbon monoxide (a toxic gas) levels in your blood stream will drop by half, and oxygen levels will return to normal.
* In 48 hours your chance of having a heart attack will have decreased. All nicotine will have left your body. Your sense of taste and smell will return to a normal level.
* In 72 hours your bronchial tubes will relax, and your energy levels will increase.
* In 2 weeks your circulation will increase, and it will continue to improve for the next 10 weeks.
* In three to nine months coughs, wheezing and breathing problems will dissipate as your lung capacity improves by 10%.
* In 1 year your risk of having a heart attack will have dropped by half.
* In 5 years your risk of having a stroke returns to that of a non-smoker.
* In 10 years your risk of lung cancer will have returned to that of a non-smoker.
* In 15 years your risk of heart attack will have returned to that of a non-smoker.

Incredible isn't it! Click here to view a full graphic presentation.

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New ad campaign asks New Yorkers if they are "Pouring on the pounds"

The New York City Health Department is facing New Yorkers with a bold question: Are you pouring on the pounds? This new campaign which includes multilingual Health bulletin and posters being put up in the subway system is set to run for three months.

The image shown above is a reminder on how sugary drinks such as soda, sweetened ice tea and sports drinks can turn into fat, leading into obesity and other health related issues. A 20 oz bottle of soda contains 16 1/2 teaspoons of sugar and zero nutrients whatsoever. It is truly liquid fat.

On average, Americans now consume 200 to 300 more calories each day than we did 30 years ago. Nearly half of these extra calories come from sugar-sweetened drinks.

Below is a chart from the campaign showing the amounts of sugar in various drinks.


So now the question is, Are you pouring on the pounds?

Source

Thank you to Lisa for sharing this information!

Poll shows that Australians are not ready for public breastfeeding

According to a new poll, one third of Australians do not believe women should breastfeed their babies in public. A third also think that mothers should stop breastfeeding their babies within six months.

Although 65% of people agreed that babies who had been breastfed had a higher survival rate, only 29% agreed that they should be allowed to do so in public.

Up to 36 per cent said breastfeeding was unacceptable in a cafe or at work and the survey also found it was young adults - those aged 18 to 24 - who were the least supportive of public breastfeeding.

"It is unacceptable to expect that women should be locked inside their houses to breastfeed,'' Dr Jennifer James, lecturer in Midwifery and Breastfeeding & Human Lactation at RMIT University said.

"Part of the issue why young mothers wean their babies too early is societal pressure and isolation from other mothers experiencing the same difficulties.''

"While nearly 90 per cent of Australian women initiate breastfeeding, one per cent of Australian children are breastfed for the minimum duration recommended by the WHO,'' Dr James said.

The poll showed the most unacceptable places to breastfeed in order of opposition.

Church 29%
Work 27%
Restaurant or cafe 26%
Shopping mall 19%

(3% of people found breastfeeding unacceptable at a friend's house.)

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U.S. health system spends $147 billion dollars a year on obesity

The U.S. health care system spends an estimated $147 billion every year on obesity related diseases.

The United State's obesity rate has risen 37 percent from 1998 to 2006. The 89 percent increase is being spent obesity related illnesses and diseases such as heart disease, arthritis, diabetes and various other conditions.

"It is critical that we take effective steps to contain and reduce the enormous burden of obesity on our nation," CDC Director Dr. Thomas Frieden said in a statement."

"What we found was the total cost of obesity increased from $74 billion to maybe as high as $147 billion today, so roughly double over that time period," Finkelstein said in a telephone interview.

Obesity accounts for 8.5 percent of health costs among people on Medicare, the federal program for the elderly and disabled, and 11.8 percent of costs from Medicaid, the joint state-federal program for the poor.

An obese Medicare beneficiary spends an $600 more per year on drug costs than a normal weight person on Medicare, the team found.

Diabetes alone counts for $180 billion dollars being spent each year. There is evidence that most of the diabetes in the U.S. is caused by excess weight," Finkelstein said.

The CDC has devised 24 obesity prevention plans that are currently being tested in Massachusetts and Minnesota. Environmental issues, sedentary lifestyles and the lack of healthy food in poor neighborhoods are some of the issues that will be addressed as those contributing to the nation's problem.

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"BPA free" leading brand baby bottle contains high traces of the toxic chemical

Health Canada recently tested "BPA free" baby bottles and discovered that Dr. Brown's Natural flow bottles showed trace amounts of 0.9 parts per billion after being in water for 238 hours at 60 C.

Dr. Brown's Natural flow bottle has been one of the leading names in baby bottles over the past five years.

Other "BPA-free" brands with detectable levels under these conditions, ranging from 0.002 to 0.025 part per billion, included Gerber, Medela, Whittlestone, Nuby and a house brand sold at a dollar store in Canada.

There were no detectable levels found in the BornFree and Thinkbaby bottles after 238 hours. The Green to Grow brand was not analyzed at the 238-hour mark after Health Canada found no detectable levels after 94 hours.

Thinkbaby bottles showed no detectable levels after two hours, 22 hours and 94 hours, while BornFree showed minute traces at the two-hour mark, but came up completely clean after that.

Health Canada did not include the Adiri Natural Nurser bottle — pitched to parents as "100 per cent BPA free" — in the water migration survey.

Surprisingly in a second test using 10 % ethanol, Health Canada found small levels of the chemical in one of the four time-specified readings. Those brands were Adiri, Dr. Brown and Whittlestone.

Shelley Aronoff, co-founder of Green to Grow, said in the case of her branded bottles, the results just don't add up.

While Health Canada found minute trace — 0.0014 part per billion — after two hours at 60 C, there were no detectable levels after 94 hours. All studies involving polycarbonate bottles show an upward tick in leaching over time and with higher temperatures.

"I just don't know how you could go from detected to non-detected," Aronoff said Friday. "I just don't have faith in these test results."

Health Canada does say however that the trace amounts should be of no concern to parents.

"Bottles made from non-polycarbonate plastic may contain very low level, trace amounts of BPA resulting from cross-contamination caused by the ubiquitous nature of BPA. Detection of BPA in the non-polycarbonate plastic bottles may also be due to improved sensitivity of instruments in laboratories. There is often no such thing as absolute zero due to cross-contamination and prevalence of many substances in the natural environment," Health Canada told CBC News in an email.

According to records released under the Access to Information Act, these test results surprised all of the Health Canada scientists involved. No kidding! A company who claims their product is "BPA free" when it in fact is not, is either not paying enough attention to the production or is putting out false claims.

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Source #2

Yoga therapy offered to Cancer survivors in Calgary

It is so encouraging to see this! Canadian cancer survivors will soon have access to a therapeutic yoga program known as "The Yoga Thrive project" which originated from Calgary. Since the project started in 2002, hundreds of cancer survivors have attended. The classes are specially designed to help with mental and physical needs.

Dr. Nicole Culos-Reed of the Tom Baker Cancer Centre said she's thrilled the program she founded is growing.

"We know physical activity is important for people with cancer and said we need to get this to rural Alberta," said Culos-Reed, who is also a researcher at the university of Calgary's faculty of kinesiology, "It just started snowballing."

There are plans for this program to begin accepting registration in eight other cities and towns in and around Alberta. Some of them include Canmore, Edmonton, Lethbridge, Medicine Hat and Grande Prairie.

Centres in B.C., Saskatchewan and Ontario are also set to open soon.

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Experts suggest eliminating sandwich meats from children's lunches

The World Cancer Research fund is suggesting that families eliminate processed meats from their school lunches and use poultry, fish, low fat cheese, hummus or lean meats as sandwich fillings as processed meats increase the risk of cancer. They aslo said that although the research has not specifically looked at the effect of eating processed meat in childhood, the 'convincing' evidence in adults makes it important to teach children to avoid it where possible.


Scientists estimate that in the UK about 3,700 bowel cancer cases could be prevented if everyone ate less than 70grams of processed meat a week, which is roughly the equivalent of three rashers of bacon.

''Including sandwich fillers such as ham and salami could mean children get into habits that increase their risk of developing cancer later in life,'' the charity said.

''It makes sense for children to adopt a healthy adult eating pattern from the age of five.'' The fund said it was best to avoid processed meat and ''many of the habits we develop as children last into adulthood''.

In 2007 the fund noted that there was convincing scientific evidence that the risk of bowel cancer increased due to consumption of processed meats. They recommended people eat no more than 70g of processed meat a week - the equivalent to three rashers of bacon.

They also said that curing, salting or adding preservatives to meat, can introduce carcinogenic substances.

Source & Source

Too much sodium in the average Canadian diet

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According to Statistics Canada, Canadians consumer far more sodium then what is recommended.

In July 2009, a report released by World Action on Salt — a British-based group established in 2005 to help gradually reduce global salt intake — found that sodium levels in a selection of processed and fast foods tended to be higher in Canada than in other countries.

Kellogg's All Bran, for instance, contains 0.65g of salt per 100g in the United States, and about 1.13g of salt per 100g in the United Kingdom. But in Canada, it contains 2.15g of salt per 100g in Canada.

That's about 620 milligrams per bowl -- or more than one-third of the daily recommended intake for people aged nine to 50.

A serving of Burger King onion rings has 1,500 milligrams of sodium per serving -- more than 100 per cent of the daily recommended intake. A serving of BK onion rings in the UK has just 500 mg -- even though the serving size in the UK is about 30 per cent larger.

A serving of KFC Popcorn Chicken has 2,271 mg of sodium in Canada; in Malaysia, a similar-sized serving has 1,690 mg.

Your body needs some sodium to function properly. It is the primary electrolyte that regulates fluid levels in the body. Sodium keeps your body hydrated by pumping water into the cell. In turn, potassium flushes the byproducts of cellular processes out of the cell, eventually eliminating these "wastes" from the body. Your kidneys help regulate the amount of sodium in your body. When levels are low, the kidneys conserve the mineral. When levels are high, the kidneys excrete salt in your urine.

If your kidneys can't get rid of enough sodium, it begins to accumulate in your blood. And that can cause problems because sodium attracts and holds water. More sodium increases blood volume, which in turn makes your heart work harder to move the blood through your body.

High sodium intake can push up your blood pressure and increase your risk of heart disease and stroke.

The Heart and Stroke Foundation suggests Canadian adults consume no more than five millilitres of salt (2,300 milligrams of sodium or a teaspoon of salt) per day. However, most adults consume far more than the recommended amount of sodium - a little more than 3,000 milligrams on average.

Your body needs only 500 mg of sodium per day to function under normal circumstances. Endurance athletes need more and should consume fluids that contain sodium if they are exercising for two hours or more.

More than three-quarters of the sodium people consume comes from processed foods. The StatsCan researchers did not even look at the salt that people added to their food when they compiled their numbers.

Recommended adequate sodium intake

* 1,000 mg for children aged one to three.
* 1,200 mg for children aged four to eight.
* 1,500 mg for people aged nine to 50.
* 1,300 mg for adults aged 51 to 70.
* 1,200 mg for seniors over 70 years of age.

Consuming more than 2,300 mg of sodium per day increases your risk of health problems.

Sources: World action on Salt & CBC Canada

Nuts cuts risk of heart disease and diabetes in women

A study of more than 6,000 women found those who ate lots of nuts or peanut butter slashed their risk of heart disease almost in half.

The women were asked to complete a food questionnaire every two to four years between 1980 and 2002.

The number of women suffering from conditions such as heart attack or stroke, or needing revascularisation treatment for heart disease, was also recorded.

Overall, there were 452 coronary "events" such as heart attack or revascularisation - surgery to improve bloody circulation - and 182 cases of stroke.

Women at the start of the study who consumed more nuts and peanut butter were leaner, more physically active, and tended to smoke less, the authors said.

After adjusting for those factors that could influence the results, the experts found that women who ate at least five servings per week of nuts or peanut butter had a 44 per cent lower risk of heart disease and events such as heart attack or stroke.

A serving was defined as 28g of nuts or 16g (one tablespoon) of peanut butter.

Many peanut products are full of salt and sugar which can cancel out any benefits so check your labels!

Ellen Mason, cardiac nurse for the British Heart Foundation mentioned that

"Eating more of one food in isolation will not make much difference to your health if you are inactive and don't have a balanced diet.

"Unfortunately, preventing heart disease is more complicated than just eating peanuts."

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Fast food linked to poor performance in school

The link between junk food and poor performance at school has been proved, say researchers.

There is a direct correlation between the amount of high fat and sugary foods pupils consumed and their academic results, according to a US study.

Researchers at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee, asked more than 5,500 ten and 11-year-olds to record how many times a week they ate at fast food restaurants. Just over half had eaten fast food between one and three times during the previous week.

Ten per cent had eaten it between four and six times and two per cent said they ate junk food four or more times a day.

The children were given literacy and numeracy tests. The average literacy score was 141.52 points and in numeracy, 115.24 points.

Pupils who ate junk food between four and six times a week scored 6.96 points below average in reading. Those who ate it daily dropped 16.07 points and pupils who indulged three times a day dropped 19.34 points.

In maths, those eating fast food between four and six times a week scored 6.55 points below average. Daily junk food led to a 14.82 point drop and a three-a-day habit led to a 18.48 point drop.

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Being a sun lover could make you smarter in later life and ward off dementia, claim scientists.

The findings suggest that retirement to warmer climes or taking dietary supplements could boost your brain's ability to stay active later in life.

Scientists at the University of Manchester discovered that higher levels of vitamin D are linked with improved mental ability in middle-aged and older men.

The study, published in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, compared the brain agility of 3,133 men aged 40 to 79 at eight test centres across Europe.

They were tested for memory and speed of recollection as well as for mood and physical activity levels, all of which add up to overall mental agility.

Blood samples were then taken to measure blood levels of vitamin D.

The researchers found that men with higher levels of vitamin D performed consistently better than those with lower levels.

Dr David Lee, lead researcher from Manchester's School of Translational Medicine, said: "Previous studies exploring the relationship between vitamin D and cognitive performance in adults have produced inconsistent findings.

"Interestingly, the association between increased vitamin D and faster information processing was more significant in men aged over 60 years, although the biological reasons for this remain unclear."

Vitamin D, produced by the body when skin is exposed to sunlight, is also found in certain foods such as oily fish. It helps cells absorb calcium and is important for bone health.

The researchers do not know exactly how vitamin D and mental agility may be connected but said possible suggestions include the vitamin's role in the protection of neurons in the brain.

But they stressed their findings should not spur people to bask in the sun, which can increase the risk of skin cancer.

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