Want to feel better, have more energy and even add years to your life? Just exercise.

The health benefits of regular exercise and physical activity are hard to ignore. Everyone benefits from exercise, regardless of age, sex or physical ability.

Need more convincing to get moving? Check out these seven ways exercise can lead to a happier, healthier you.

1. Exercise controls weight

Exercise can help prevent excess weight gain or help maintain weight loss. When you engage in physical activity, you burn calories. The more intense the activity, the more calories you burn.

Regular trips to the gym are great, but don’t worry if you can’t find a large chunk of time to exercise every day. To reap the benefits of exercise, just get more active throughout your day — take the stairs instead of the elevator or rev up your household chores. Consistency is key.

2. Exercise combats health conditions and diseases

Worried about heart disease? Hoping to prevent high blood pressure? No matter what your current weight, being active boosts high-density lipoprotein (HDL), or “good,” cholesterol and decreases unhealthy triglycerides. This one-two punch keeps your blood flowing smoothly, which decreases your risk of cardiovascular diseases.

Regular exercise helps prevent or manage a wide range of health problems and concerns, including stroke, metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, depression, a number of types of cancer, arthritis and falls.

3. Exercise improves mood

Need an emotional lift? Or need to blow off some steam after a stressful day? A gym session or brisk 30-minute walk can help. Physical activity stimulates various brain chemicals that may leave you feeling happier and more relaxed.

You may also feel better about your appearance and yourself when you exercise regularly, which can boost your confidence and improve your self-esteem.

4. Exercise boosts energy

Winded by grocery shopping or household chores? Regular physical activity can improve your muscle strength and boost your endurance.

Exercise delivers oxygen and nutrients to your tissues and helps your cardiovascular system work more efficiently. And when your heart and lung health improve, you have more energy to tackle daily chores.

5. Exercise promotes better sleep

Struggling to snooze? Regular physical activity can help you fall asleep faster and deepen your sleep. Just don’t exercise too close to bedtime, or you may be too energized to hit the hay.

6. Exercise puts the spark back into your sex life

Do you feel too tired or too out of shape to enjoy physical intimacy? Regular physical activity can improve energy levels and physical appearance, which may boost your sex life.

But there’s even more to it than that. Regular physical activity may enhance arousal for women. And men who exercise regularly are less likely to have problems with erectile dysfunction than are men who don’t exercise.

http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/fitness/in-depth/exercise/art-20048389

Today R U OK? is launching the Conversation Convoy, a six week journey around Australia which kicks off in Uluru, aiming to give more people the confidence to support those who are struggling, whilst raising awareness of support services across the country.

The tour begins on 1 August and will cover 14,000 km visiting over 20 communities in regional, remote and metropolitan locations, finishing in Cairns on R U OK?Day, 14 September.

The Conversation Convoy will build on the question “are you ok?” by reinforcing the 4 Steps to a conversation, empowering Australians to ask, listen, encourage action and check in.

Thanks to the Audi Foundation, the four yellow SUV’s each represent one of the conversation steps and will roll into each location and be a major part of a series of community-based events. The activities will help people of any age, learn the steps in a fun and interactive way.

High profile ambassadors will be joining different legs of the trip including Ben Lee, Khan Porter, Commando Steve, Daniel Conn, Steven Oliver, Travis Collins and Jodhi Meares.

The Conversation Convoy initiative comes off the back of a recent national omnibus survey conducted by Colmar Brunton which revealed one in three people don’t feel comfortable asking the question, “are you ok?”

For those of us who don’t feel comfortable, the leading reasons include:

“I don’t know what to say”

“I wouldn’t want to make it worse”

“I’m worried they might get angry”

“I’m not an expert”

“It’s none of my business”

R U OK? CEO Brendan Maher said the results highlight the need to further empower those who aren’t comfortable asking someone who may be struggling and give people a road-map to start what could be a life-changing conversation.

“We sought expert advice to develop a four step strategy to guide people through a sometimes difficult conversation.

White Ribbon Australia strongly advocates for the provision of paid domestic violence leave in modern awards. The White Ribbon Workplace Accreditation Program is a key primary prevention initiative that is driving evidenced positive social and cultural workplace change. In meeting requirements under the Workplace Accreditation Program organisations must evidence provision for domestic violence leave.

This is vital because most women experiencing intimate partner violence are in paid work[1]. Whether happening in a person’s private or professional life, violence against women impacts on women’s health, safety, productivity and capacity to do their work[2]. Paid domestic violence leave supports women experiencing violence and can be an economic and social lifeline for women leaving a violent relationship.

We support the ongoing campaign, led by the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), to grant paid domestic violence leave to all workers. This position was ratified by the White Ribbon Australia Board at its meeting on 30 July 2015. We are disappointed that the Fair Work Commission did not approve this plan in its decision handed down earlier this month. However, in approving unpaid domestic violence leave for modern awards, the Fair Work Commission has taken the first step. We commend the ACTU for the success of their campaign to date and will continue to advocate for the social and economic value of paid domestic violence leave for all workers.

[1] McFerran, L (2011) Safe at Home Safe at Work? National Domestic Violence and the Workplace survey, Centre for Gender Related Violence Studies, UNSW p.11

[2] Murray, S. & Powell, A. (2008). Working it out: Domestic violence issues and the workplace. Sydney, Australia: Australian Domestic and Family Violence Clearinghouse. Retrieved from: http://bit.ly/1sfroKv p.4

https://www.whiteribbon.org.au/2017/07/17/white-ribbons-position-paid-domestic-violence-leave/

Scientists have thought for years that happiness may have a real effect on physical health, but a comprehensive new review makes the case stronger than ever.

The review, published in Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being, examines the effects of “subjective well-being”—a measure of how people evaluate their own lives—on various aspects of physical health. The topic has been studied extensively; the paper references more than 20 previous literature reviews and more than 150 individual studies.

These studies have confirmed, with “almost no doubt,” that happiness really can influence health, says lead author Edward Diener, professor of social psychology at the University of Utah. They’ve also put forth several theories of how this might happen. For one, happy people likely take better care of themselves and choose healthy behaviors—like exercising, eating well and getting adequate sleep—over unhealthy ones.

There’s also evidence that happiness can have beneficial effects on the cardiovascular and immune systems, influence hormones and inflammation levels and speed wound healing. It’s even been linked to longer telomeres, protein caps on the end of chromosomes that get shorter with age. Although there are only a few studies on this topic and more research is needed, “the findings are promising in offering a direct tie from psychological well-being to aging and health at the cellular level,” the authors wrote.

The review does point out that in many of these studies, it’s possible that better health could lead to improved emotional states, rather than the other way around. Since most studies on this topic are observational, it’s possible that other variables (that were not or could not be controlled for) are to blame for changes in both happiness and health.

But overall, the authors wrote, the evidence is strong enough to say that subjective well-being can influence health and longevity, “at least in some instances.” The question now, they say, is why happiness seems to be linked to health for some people, but not for others.

“It’s just like cigarettes: We don’t know why some people live to 100 even though they smoke, while others die of cancer at 50 and never smoked a day in their life,” says Diener. “Being happy certainly isn’t a guarantee that you’re going to be healthy, and it’s true that some studies haven’t found an effect.”

One such study, a 2015 analysis of one million women, found that happiness had no effect on mortality rates once the authors controlled for people’s self-reported health. That research—and the frenzy of media coverage it received—was one reason Diener wanted to defend the effects of happiness with such a thorough review. (As for the prior study’s conclusion, Diener takes issue with its methods. “How healthy people feel is influenced heavily by happiness,” he says. “It’s really difficult to control for one without getting rid of the effects of the other.”)

Diener hopes that his research can convince doctors to start monitoring positive emotions—and not just negative ones—during routine physicals, just as they do with questions about exercise, smoking and alcohol use. But even if they do, he says, the medical community will need guidance on how to intervene or where to refer patients who report low levels of happiness.

Happiness research may have implications for the general public, as well. “People are doing a lot of things to stay healthy; they’re jogging, riding their bikes, eating fruits and vegetables,” he says. “We want to remind people that there’s one more thing you need to work on that can also have a big effect on your physical and emotional well being.”

While there’s plenty of advice out there for reducing stress and anxiety, Diener says that achieving real happiness goes beyond that. “Learning to enjoy your work, being more grateful and having really positive relationships are important, too,” he says.

http://time.com/4866693/happiness-improves-health/

Throughout most of Year 11 and 12, I was in the thick of senior school and dealing with the pressures being a teenager and adult-like responsibilities. It was around this time I began suffering from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and intense anxiety. This was the first time I had experienced a mental health condition, and it’s a time of my life that I will never, ever  forget.

I like to think that I have come a long way  mentally from where I was a few years ago. It took a while, but I’m finally in a routine I feel comfortable with, and know works for me.

There are a lot of misconceptions out there about major depressive disorder (MDD). Some think that depressed people merely need a change of heart, choosing to think happy thoughts instead of sad ones. Others think that depression results from chemical imbalances in the brain, not entirely untrue. However, MDD has a complexity well beyond these ideas, pushing scientists to find more innovative ways for treating depression.

Software Treatment

Recently, one group of researchers decided to try a treatment with a new angle. Their method, called the Emotional Faces Memory Task (EFMT), was developed by two researchers from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

To test this method, the researchers asked patients to identify emotions in a series of faces. At each face, the patients also pointed out all previous faces that gave them the same emotion. For ease of use, doctors can give the treatment through an app on a patient engagement platform that has a clinically proven efficacy, called the Click Neurobehavioral Intervention.

While it sounds simple, EFMT aims to balance the hyperactive amygdala with the prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain that makes decisions about incoming information.

During the testing phase, patients using EFMT actually reduced their symptoms by over 40 percent! The control group’s symptoms had only reduced 15 percent, giving little doubt to researchers about the new method’s effectiveness. According to lead researcher Dr. Brian Iacoviello, this treatment works just as well as drug therapy and provides a much safer, unobtrusive route for the treatment.

The Science of Depression

Understanding depression starts with the underlying causes and physical reactions that scientists have observed over the years. Depression holds so much complexity because millions of chemical messages control a person’s mood. While they may not understand every nuance of a specific case, researchers can observe the physical changes.

First, you should understand that your body controls emotions through the brain. In people with depression, the condition directly affects the amygdala, thalamus, and hippocampus regions.

According to Harvard Medical School, researchers now believe that nerve cell generation and function play an important role in MDD. In animal studies, researchers have seen that antidepressants do cause nerve cell growth and improve nerve connections. That fact means that researchers are likely on the right track.

Another observation involves the amygdala, the portion of the brain associated with emotions. Here, scientists have discovered that depressed people have a hyperactivity in this region. This hyperactivity means that they dwell and act on emotions more often than is healthy.

In essence, they do not regulate their emotions well. These new studies are demonstrating and pushing the need for improved methods of treating depression.

Common Treatments for Depression

Outside of this new software treatment, people with depression can use a few other methods. Most require close oversight from a doctor and do include risks and varying levels of efficiency. In alternative treatments, people often respond differently to each kind and may need high determination to find the right one.

Antidepressants

Many people with clinical depression use medication to manage their emotions. The downside to antidepressants, however, is that they target and boost the chemical messages in the brain.

Eventually, this process may improve nerve function and mood, but it can take several weeks. In addition, the medicine can have mild to severe side effects and may even increase suicidal thoughts in some people.

Psychotherapy

Otherwise known as psychological counseling, patients can go to a mental health professional to talk through their emotions. In this option, the professional can help patients get through the root cause of their depression. They can learn to control their emotions. Again, people will respond differently based on their willingness and level of depression.

So far, people commonly use antidepressants and counseling to get through severe depression. These methods can have varying levels of efficiency and safety and don’t always address the root physical causes. While some people do try alternative and lifestyle treatments like taking supplements, these methods need more proven research. Depression sufferers need treatment now that helps them balance and control their emotions. Thanks to the innovative research from Mount Sinai, these people may soon have another path for treating their depression.

This article first appeared on AskDrManny.com.

Dr. Manny Alvarez serves as Fox News Channel’s senior managing health editor. He also serves as chairman of the department of obstetrics/gynecology and reproductive science at Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey. Click here for more information on Dr. Manny’s work with Hackensack University Medical Center. Visit AskDrManny.com for more.

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2017/07/10/new-path-for-treating-depression.html

Screen time for school-age children

Screen time for school-age children is about choosing quality programs and apps and developing healthy screen habits.

Child development experts also recommend limiting children’s daily screen time. Screen time limits can help lower the risks of screen time for your child, which include physical, developmental, safety and other risks.

For children aged six years and older, the most recent guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) say that there should be consistent limits on the time they spend on electronic media and the types of media they use. It’s also important to make sure that screen time doesn’t take the place of sleep and activities like physical play, reading, creative play like drawing, and social time with family and friends.

When you help your child combine good-quality media choices with healthy screen habits and screen time limits, she’ll be set up to make the most of screen time now and in the future.

Why screen time quality is important

Screens are a part of life for most children aged 6-11 years.

If you’re thinking about whether your child should watch YouTube or play on a tablet, here’s a key question to ask: is this program, video or app good quality? Good-quality media can support your child’s learning, especially if it ties in with his interests, sparks his imagination or ties into something he’s learning at school.

For example, a seven-year-old can get a lot out of spending 30 minutes creating an animation on a screen. This develops her problem-solving skills as she maps out the events in the storyline. It’s much better than if she spends 30 minutes watching online animations that advertise and sell toys.

Choosing good-quality apps and games for school-age children

Good-quality apps or games for school-age children:

• encourage creativity – for example, by encouraging children to draw or create content like video clips, animations or comics
• encourage problem-solving – for example, by taking children through the possible results of virtual science experiments
• help develop communication skills – for example, by helping children learn other languages
• help develop social skills – for example, by encouraging children to take turns in games.

Other practical things to think about include:

• age range – it’s a good idea to check that the age range for an app or game matches your child’s age
• advertising – be wary of apps that feature movie characters or popular products, because these apps are often designed to promote movies and products
• privacy settings – check the terms and conditions to see whether and how apps collect data and make sure you’re comfortable with what data will be collected, and what it will be used for.

Choosing good-quality TV programs, movies and videos for school-age children

Good-quality TV programs, movies and videos for school-age children:

• have positive messages about relationships, family and life – avoid those that make violence or bad attitudes look good
• inspire new off-screen play ideas for children once they’ve finished watching
• have good stories, like those that involve characters treating each other fairly – avoid programs that are just about selling promotional toys, apps and gear
• are age appropriate – for example, the themes of some movies are too mature for school-age children.

Healthy screen time habits for school-age children

Developing healthy screen time habits is an important part of making the most of screen time. If your child keeps working on healthy screen time habits in the primary school years, these habits will help him make better choices about how to use his free time when he’s older.

Here’s how you can reinforce these habits with your school-age child.

Role-modelling healthy screen time habits

Your child learns screen time habits from you. This means you can model healthy screen habits by using screens in the way you want your child to use them – for example, by switching your phone off during dinner, or turning the TV off when you’ve finished watching a program.

You can also set a good example by not always using technology to keep your child entertained in situations like long car journeys or while waiting at the hairdressers. Try mixing it up with things like playing ‘I spy’ or drawing. When you know you’re going to be in these situations, you could try packing an activity bag with puzzles, books, drawing materials and so on.

Playing on a device in boring situations will usually distract your child, but it can mean your child misses an opportunity to learn social skills like how to act in public, or how to manage boredom in creative ways. It can also mean your child ends up relying too much on technology for something to do.

Teaching your child about quality screen time

Together with your child, you can talk about whether the videos or apps your child wants to watch or play are good quality and safe for her. As your child gets older encourage her to tell you why she thinks an app is good quality when she asks you to install it.

And if you sometimes play or watch with your child, you can remind him to think about what’s on the screen rather than just passively watching. For example, you can ask questions like:

• ‘How do you play this game?’ and ‘What happens when you move there?’
• ‘What would happen if you did what that character did?’
• ‘Why do you think this app has in-app purchases?’
• ‘What’s the point of this YouTube video?’ and ‘Why is the person showing that product?’.

Balancing screen time with other activities

Screen time can be a fun experience for your child. But it’s important to balance screen time with other activities that are essential for your child’s development. These include physically active play, creative play like solving puzzles and drawing, and conversation with family and friends.

You can help your child find this balance by working together on some family rules about technology use. You could talk about who the rules apply to and whether they’re fair to everyone in the family. Rules might cover:

• limits on screen time that take into account family events and routines – for example, your child might have more screen time on the weekend, or extra time to video-chat with a grandparent who’s travelling overseas
• areas where your child can use devices – for example, you might decide they can be used only in family rooms and not in bedrooms or the car
• times when devices can and can’t be used – for example, you might have a family rule that mealtimes are free of TV, computers and phones, or that there’s no screen time until your child has finished chores or homework.

It can help to create a family media plan for everyone in the family. Your plan could cover things like screen-free areas in your house, screen-free times, and programs and apps that are OK for your child to use.

You can also encourage your child to do some physical activity outside or look for entertainment options that don’t involve screens – for example, board or card games.

Managing screen time

One of the best ways to manage screen time is to encourage your child to make choices about her screen time within your family’s agreed limits. This gives your child the chance to put her healthy screen habits into practice.

You can help your child by looking together at how much screen time your child needs for school-related tasks and how much he can spend on things like watching YouTube, or playing apps and video games. It’s also good for your child to think about when he’ll spend time connecting with family and friends, playing sport and doing other off-screen things.

You’ll probably also need to remind your child when screen time is about to finish. Let your child know the time is nearly up and encourage her to use the remaining time to save what she’s doing.

Sometimes your child might break the rules you’ve agreed. For example, your child might take the tablet to his bedroom when you’ve agreed he can use it only in the family room, or he might spend longer on the computer than you’ve agreed. You can plan some consequences for these situations. For example, you might agree with your child that the consequence for breaking the screen time rules is no screen time for a day.

Another way to deal with this is by helping your child to develop strategies that stop her from breaking the rules – for example, she could set a timer that lets her know when screen time is over.

Monitoring screen time

It’s best to avoid using surveillance apps that let you secretly monitor your child’s online activity because this sends the message that you don’t trust your child. It’s better to talk openly about your own screen time use and encourage your child to do the same.

This helps you understand what your child gets out of screen time.

http://raisingchildren.net.au/articles/screen_time_6-11_years.html/context/481

That’s the assessment from investment bank HSBC Australia, which is forecasting a gradual cooldown from next year, rather than an abrupt end to the nation’s run of stellar home price growth.

According to HSBC, Australia swapped a mining boom for a housing boom with a surge in new homebuilding helping to boost the economy at the right time.

“The housing construction boom has helped to fill the growth gap left by falling mining investment,” HSBC chief economist Paul Bloxham said yesterday.

“It has also helped to reduce a housing undersupply that had accumulated — not many houses were built during the mining boom,” he said.

Despite property prices climbing by about 50 per cent nationally over the past five years, HSBC said this growth was based on traditional supply and demand factors.

“Just because prices and housing debt have risen does not necessarily mean that there is a bubble. The key question is whether the rise is in line with fundamentals.”

Prices have risen very little in areas where demand has been weak, while in high-­demand areas — such as the nation’s two biggest capital cities — prices have risen significantly, which supports the analysis of a boom, not a bubble, Mr Bloxham said.

Since mid-2012, prices have risen 6 per cent in Perth, 11 per cent in Adelaide and 21 per cent in Brisbane. These areas felt the brunt of the mining ­retreat and demand has been low, Mr Bloxham said.

“In contrast, Melbourne and Sydney prices have risen 60 per cent and 80 per cent. In addition to low interest rates, demand for housing has been supported by migration and foreign investment, factors which have been strongest in Sydney and Melbourne.

“These fundamental factors largely explain the price boom and, as a result, we do not judge it to be a bubble.”

HSBC’s analysis says there is presently a shortage of about 100,000 homes in Australia.

However, HSBC has warned of a slowdown in price rises next year as new construction adds more houses, and as foreign buyers back off from recent strong activity.

“We expect these markets to cool in 2018 as we forecast supply to gradually catch up to demand, continued tight prudential settings, a pullback in the foreign bid and the Reserve Bank to lift its cash rate from early 2018.”

Instead of price rises of ­between 8 per cent and 10 per cent forecast for this year, the investment bank expects rises across the national market of between 3 per cent and 6 per cent in 2018.

Mr Bloxham also warned about the price gap between houses and apartments.

Apartment prices were ­expected to fall because of the large volumes just built and planned to be built, particularly Melbourne and Brisbane.

“As a result unit prices have fallen in these markets, while detached house prices have continued to rise.”

The Melbourne detached housing market is expected to continue to have solid price growth in the year ahead, ­although apartment prices are expected to fall because of oversupply.

In Sydney, both detached homes and apartments are forecast to show “solid growth” because of greater undersupply in that market and continued strong migration.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/business/housing-bubble-fearspop-with-price-rises-set-to-taper-not-burst-says-hsbc/news-story/fcb85e7a5b5a67984bb008b1d3ae0277

Karina Barrymore, Herald Sun

Fathers who get increasingly involved in raising their children may be helping to lower the youngsters’ risk of obesity, a new studysuggests.

Researchers examined how often fathers participated in parenting activities such as caregiving, making meals and playing outside, and how much they participated in decisions related to nutrition, health and discipline when the children were 2 and 4 years old.

Children were 30 percent less likely to be obese at age 4 if their fathers had increased their parenting time in the preceding two years than were those whose dads did not.

Each additional daily caregiving task that fathers handled — such as help with getting dressed, baths, brushing teeth and bedtime routines — was associated with an additional reduction in their child’s odds of becoming obese, the study found.

“It is possible that when fathers are more involved, the total amount of time both parents dedicate to child caregiving increases — it’s not just the mother providing care but the father as well,” said lead study author Michelle Wong of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

“When both parents are more involved, the quality of care might also increase,” Wong said by email.

About 9 percent of U.S. kids age 2 to 5 are obese, as are about 18 percent of those age 6 to 11, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Researchers examined data from a nationally representative group of about 10,700 children born in 2001. All of the fathers lived at home with their kids in two-parent households but were not the primary caregivers. On average, fathers worked about 46 hours a week and mothers worked about 18 hours a week.

From ages 2 to 4, the proportion of children who were overweight decreased from about 14 percent to 8 percent. Over that same period, the proportion of kids who were obese declined from about 6 percent to 4 percent.

About one-quarter of fathers increased the time they put into caregiving tasks and play time during the study period, while 30 to 40 percent decreased the amount of time they spent on these activities.

Even though some fathers got more involved in decision-making during the study, this didn’t appear to influence kids’ odds of obesity.

The study wasn’t designed to prove whether or how fathers’ involvement with kids directly affects odds of obesity.

Other limitations of the study include its reliance on fathers to accurately recall and report how much they did with their children, the authors note in the journal Obesity. Because the study included only two-parent households, the findings also might not apply to children living with only one caregiver.

“So, this study is telling us that when both parents are in the home, and regardless of how many hours each works outside the home, when fathers are more involved in caregiving responsibilities, children are less likely to be obese,” Julie Lumeng, a University of Michigan researcher who wasn’t involved in the study, said by email.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/when-fathers-are-more-involved-kids-obesity-rates-may-go-down/2017/06/23/53bc97c6-56b1-11e7-a204-ad706461fa4f_story.html?utm_term=.4c52794dddad