Do all of those tips we get to stop piling on the pounds over Christmas really work? Photo / 123RF
Do all of those tips we get to stop piling on the pounds over Christmas really work? Photo / 123RF
With endless airings of Snoopy's Christmas and Santa Baby comes the usual dose of holiday weight-loss tips from lifestyle columnists and wellness bloggers.
Do these low-intensity interventions actually make a difference?
Health researchers say yes.
On average, people gain a small amount of weight each year – between 400g and1kg – and holidays like Christmas are responsible for most of it.
Studies have also shown that weight gained during holiday periods is subsequently not fully lost.
Researchers at the UK's University of Birmingham tested how effective Christmas interventions were by recruiting 272 mostly female, mostly white adults with a range of weight categories and aged an average 44 years.
One group received tips on managing their weight and a list of physical activity calorie equivalents of popular festive foods and drinks, while the other just received a leaflet and no dietary advice.
The results showed that on average, participants in the comparison group gained some weight over Christmas but participants in the intervention group did not.
After adjusting for potentially influential factors, follow up weight was lower in the intervention group than the control group: a mean difference of minus 0.49kg between groups.
Although the difference in weight was marginally smaller than expected, it was still important, say the researchers, as any weight gain prevented will have a positive impact on health.
Crosswords might not be stopping your mental decline
When it comes to keeping our brain ticking over, the well-known "use it or lose it" claim has been widely accepted by health experts.
Yet researchers at the UK's Aberdeen Royal Infirmary have just found regularly doing problem solving activities throughout your lifetime does not prevent mental decline in later life.
However, they say don't cross the shiny new chess board or bumper puzzle book off the Christmas list just yet, as the results suggest that regularly engaging in intellectual activities boosts mental ability throughout life and provides a "higher cognitive point" from which to decline.
Previous studies have suggested that mental ability can be maintained or improved by exercising the mind in brain teasers such as Sudoku and crossword puzzles.
Regularly doing problem solving activities throughout your lifetime does not prevent mental decline in later life. Photo / 123RF
They also suggest that reading from an early age, playing board games and playing musical instruments at least twice a week is linked with reduced risk of dementia.
Multi-tasking danger? The eyes have it
Right now, there's also a good chance you'll be multi-tasking your way through a stack of work you have to somehow clear by Christmas.
While there have been plenty of studies looking at the physical toll of our rising demands on productivity, few have taken into account a person's state of mind.
Now US researchers have found a person's eyes might offer a good warning sign to caring bosses.
Using a simulated oil and gas refinery plant control room, they watched the participants react to unexpected changes, such as alarms, while simultaneously watching the performance of gauges on two monitors.
During the scenario's simple tasks, the participants' eye searching behaviours were more predictable.
Yet, as the tasks became more complex and unexpected changes occurred, their eye behaviours became more erratic.
"When you're tired, you often make a mistake," said Jung Hyup Kim, an assistant professor at the University of Missouri.
"So, if we can monitor a worker's mental wellbeing, then we can hopefully prevent future mistakes from happening."
Chooks: our feathery time-capsules
Here's something to think about the next time you chuck a half-eaten drumstick in the rubbish.
Farmed chickens are now unable to survive without humans and the researchers say they symbolise humans impact on the Earth. Photo / 123RF
Millions of years from now, chicken bones could be the key fossil evidence that shows the impact of humans on the planet.
International researchers say if we "count our chickens" we would find more than 21 billion chooks around the world - three for every person on the planet, and far more than any wild bird species.
The researchers say human-driven changes in breeding, diet and farming have at least doubled the body size of the domestic chook and increased its weight fivefold since medieval times.
Farmed chickens are now unable to survive without humans and the researchers say they symbolise humans impact on the Earth.
