It’s always satisfying when you come across a term or phrase which encapsulates something in a way that's surprising and yet makes total sense. In modern times, it also helps that concepts are only as long as a Twitter post; the shorter and more succinct the better so our over-stimulated attention spans can grasp it.
Read MoreUnless sedentary habits change, this generation of children could end up with hip fractures in their 40s and 50s instead of their 70s.
Falls in the 40-plus age group have increased 20% from the previous generation, so it seems likely this figure will only increase for the coming generation who’ve spent the majority of their childhood sedentary and with low bone density.
A deep dive into safetyism, its origins and what it means to live in a highly unnatural ‘safety-first’ culture.
Read MoreWellness banking the newest idea to encourage people to spend responsibly all the while improving their physical health. To benefit from wellness banking you must share more personal data with your bank than ever before and allow it to track your movement, exercise routine and diet; the more you’re willing to share, the more rewards you’ll receive.
‘The healthier you get, the more we’re able to offer you. It’s a virtuous circle that’s good for you, good for us, and good for society.’
Read MoreModern life has come to resemble that of the adult sea squirt; thinking is prioritised, movement is downgraded and human experience can be experienced entirely though a screen. In this year-long experiment of inactivity and inertia (cheerily marketed as ‘lockdown’), will we pay the price for neglecting a fundamental part of our nature?
Read MoreThe Royal Society for Public Health has called for the introduction of ‘activity equivalent’ calorie labelling and have suggested packaging containing information on how much physical activity it takes to burn off the calories. Many of the public health interventions are focused on the individual taking full responsibility for their health, however it must be noted that the environment around us has a huge impact on the decisions we make.
Read MoreHealthwashing harnesses dubious claims such as ‘natural’ or ‘clean’ and turns them into extremely powerful marketing terms, selling you a lifestyle or a vision of who you could be if you bought their products. The words chosen are deliberately misleading and even meaningless, used because they are unregulated - it’s worth remembering that the front of a product’s packaging is pure marketing only.
Read MoreNever have we had so much data and information about our health. Our wearable devices tell us all kinds of information about ourselves we could only dream of knowing in the pre-smartphone stone age. We measure our heart rate and track our steps - but does any of this information translate to changing our behaviour?
Read MoreFalls aren’t something that ‘just happen’ because you’re getting older and they’re not ‘inevitable’; they are preventable. With the fall rate in the 40-plus age group up by as much as 20% on the previous generation, researchers speculate it could be due to our increasingly sedentary lifestyles making us less steady on our feet and poor nutrition throughout our life.
Read MoreCan we stay as sharp as a pin mentally if we never go outside, move around and keep our body in good shape? Likewise, if we focus entirely on what we look like, to the detriment of cultivating our mind, are we in balance? Movement is a key factor to maintain both the mind and body in a healthy state.
Read MoreWe have grown to expect medicalised solutions to ageing be they through pills, surgery or new scientific breakthroughs which promise to confer health, longevity or even eliminate death altogether. Aubrey de Grey, cofounder of the SENS Research Foundation, proclaims the first human being to live to the age of 1,000 has already been born. If ageing is seen as a disease, it reframes it into a treatable condition, facilitating therapeutic interventions and preventative strategies.
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