Viewing all items in Resource Category: Looking at You

Next time you are at the school gate, have a look at the children coming out.  How many are overweight?  Recent data from Public Health England (PHE) has found that one in ten children are classed as obese when they start primary school, and one in five of them is obese by the time they...

Congratulations! You are using many fewer plastic bags. On average, you now use about 19 a year – as opposed to 140 a year. The number of disposable carrier bags issued by the seven biggest supermarket chains has declined by 86 per cent since the charge was introduced in 2015, according to statistics from the...

How do you spell popular names for boys and girls?  This argument has rumbled on for years. Now a recent YouGov poll has asked the public, and some results point to a swing back to preferring more traditional spellings. Joe 87 per cent; Jo 4 per cent John 79pc; Jon 9pc Mark 78pc; Marc 9pc...

Quilting is making a big comeback, attracting people from all walks of life.  As one quilter explains: ‘In a fast-paced world where we live attached to screen, it’s refreshing to step away and focus on something like quilting.  It takes precision and focus, which can sometimes be just what’s needed to take yourself away from...

Social media and video games are harming our young people’s minds.  They are being so bombarded with instant gratification that, like young children, they need to have ‘something every moment to distract them.’ So says Baroness Greenfield, a senior research fellow at Oxford University.  She refers to studies at Harvard and Princeton which found that...

We all know about the sandwich generation – those of us who are caught in between trying to support our children in buying a home, and also in supporting our parents who need social care. But now there is a new generation – the club-sandwichers.  They are those of us whose money is now going...

Many women start businesses in order to help society in some way, rather than to simply make money. According to recent research, 66 per cent of women said they had started a business to contribute to society, compared with just 39 per cent of men. The study led by Aston University in Birmingham found that:...

Whatever their age, the first day of a new school year can be a source of anxiety for children (and us!) Here’s how to prepare for it: Make sure you rehearse the routine in advance. Be aware of how long the journey takes at that time in the morning, and of any potential hold-ups on...

Looking at You   What does the law say about food? What an apple might do for you How to avoid the tooth fairy Happiness is… Keep your brain healthy Don’t fight ‘book block’ Confiding in mum and dad? Best way to clean your house What happened to basic lavatory training? Universities can mistake ‘loneliness...

Here’s some good news:  an apple a day could help keep diabetes at bay, according to new health guidelines. Yoghurt, cheese and regular cups of tea or coffee are among other food and drinks that could also help ward off the condition.  But keep an eye on the meat and potatoes – they may actually...

Don’t feel guilty about giving up on a novel.  If you don’t enjoy it, simply abandon it. That’s the advice of the Reading Agency, a literary charity which recently surveyed our novel reading habits.  It found that more than 20 per cent of us refuse to give up on a book once we have started...

The most efficient way to clean your house is to tackle it chore by chore, not room by room. Dusting, vacuuming, and tidying room by room wastes time, according to the Good Housekeeping Institute (GHI).  Instead, once the duster is out, go over the whole house with it.  Follow the same procedure with the vacuum...