public health

Alcohol Industry Subverting Science To Prevent Greater Regulation

The alcohol industry makes claims to governments that contradict and obfuscate science in an attempt to influence marketing regulations and prevent more stringent controls on products, an Australian study has found. An author of the paper, Prof Kypros Kypri, said the findings showed that alcohol industry lobbying of politicians and involvement in discussions about policy [...]

What Finland’s Plan To Be Tobacco-free Can Teach The World

The Finnish government has set an ambitious goal for residents in a bid to benefit their health -- and their bank balances. Officials plan to make the country tobacco-free by 2040, meaning they want less than 2% of their adults to consume tobacco -- in any form -- by that deadline. So that's more than [...]

Alcohol Policies Contribute To Suicide Prevention

Restrictive alcohol policies, such as those limiting liquor store density or imposing taxes on alcohol, have been shown to have a "protective effect" in reducing suicides, according to a newly published review led by Boston University School of Public Health researchers. "Consistent with the conclusion that alcohol policies are among the most important population-level interventions [...]

Temptation Grows To Use Drugs To Stay Awake In The Workplace

The US military's drug of choice for helping people stay awake while working long hours is finding its way into the 24/7 workplace, researchers warn. Billable hours and the pressure to perform is tempting workers to risk their own health to gain a competitive edge. Leading psychiatrists and drug experts in the US and Australia [...]

The Problem With Our Drinking Culture Is There’s No Culture

It’s a simple but beautiful dream: a fine Burgundy with lunch, a few post-work Belgian beers, some rosé with dinner, then maybe a dram of peaty Scotch to end the night. But while a European lifestyle may appear more elegant than another game of ‘Edward Scrumpy Hands’, drinking in this way isn’t necessarily healthier.“It’s wrong [...]

Light-intensity Walk, Every 30 Minutes Could Increase Energy Levels

Standing desks may not be the answer. Photo: Rohan Thomson Are you sitting down right now? How long have you been sitting? If it's been longer than 30 minutes, you should probably stand up. Taking as few as 15 steps every 30 minutes could be the difference between feeling tired and sluggish and feeling energised [...]

Widespread Exposure To BPA Substitute Is Occurring From Cash Register Receipts, Other Paper

alamy People are being exposed to higher levels of the substitute for BPA in cash register thermal paper receipts and many of the other products that engendered concerns about the health effects of bisphenol A, according to a new study. Believed to be the first analysis of occurrence of bisphenol S (BPS) in [...]

FSANZ Detects ‘Potentially Concerning’ Amounts of Phthalates in Food from Packaging

FSANZ found half of 30 packaging chemicals studied were at detectable levels in food. Photo: Wayne Taylor Fresh bread, takeaway hamburgers and meat pizzas are some of the foods the national regulator has found contain hormone-disrupting chemicals that have leached from plastic packaging, a report reveals. Food Standards Australia New Zealand has detected [...]

Children Bullied by Peers ‘at Greater Mental Health Risk’

Children who are bullied are at greater risk of mental health problems in later life than those who are maltreated by adults, according to research. The authors of the study say it is time that bullying is taken more seriously. They found children who were bullied were five times more likely to experience anxiety and [...]

The latest DrinkWise Ad is a Beer Commercial, Not Public Health Message

There is an art to creating a faux public health ad that, far from damaging your bottom line, actually enhances it. That’s a win for the alcohol industry, but a big loss for the rest of us. So what is wrong with the DrinkWise advertisement? - Michael Thorn is CEO of the Foundation for Alcohol Research and [...]

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