【推荐2】Healthy eating may offer young children an unexpected gift—it might help them become better readers.

Researchers in Finland found students' reading skills improved more between first grade and third grade if they didn't eat a lot of sugary foods or red meat, and if their diet consisted mainly of vegetables, berries and other fruits, as well as fish, whole grains and unsaturated(不饱和的) fats.

The researchers observed 161 Finnish students. They were between the ages of 6 and 8(first grade to third grade). The researchers reviewed the children's diets and their reading ability using food diaries and standardized reading tests. A healthier diet was associated with better reading skills by third grade, regardless of how well the students could read in first grade, the researchers said.

“Another significant observation is that the associations of diet quality with reading skills were also independent of many other factors, such as socioeconomic status, physical activity, body fat and physical fitness,” said Eero Haapala, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Eastern Finland and the University of Jyvaskyla.

Does that mean parents of picky eaters should be concerned about their child’s reading abilities? Not necessarily. Although this study found an association between the foods young children ate and their reading skills, it didn't prove cause-and-effect. Still, the researchers said parents, schools, governments and corporations all have an opportunity to enhance academic performance in schools by making healthy foods more available to children.

【推荐2】If you were born after 2008 in New Zealand, you’ll never ever be allowed to buy a pack of cigarettes there. In new legislation (立法) expected to take hold next year, no cigarettes or tobacco products will be available for people to purchase legally in the country. That means anyone who is 14 as of today will never be allowed to buy them in New Zealand. The four-year Smokefree Aotearoa 2025 Action Plan hopes to reduce rates of smoking for older people while completely banning sales for the younger population.

Associate health minister Dr. Ayesha Verall, who announced the government’s plan, said the country is concentrating on a “smoke-free generation” with this legislation. “We want to make sure young people never start smoking so we will make it an offense to sell or supply smoked tobacco products to new population of youth.” said Verall in a statement.

The move comes as New Zealand’s health ministry pursues a large-scale crackdown (打压) on tobacco in the country. In April 2021, the country’s parliament announced its goal of being smoke free by 2025, arming to slowly reduce phase out, then entirely cut the prosper of smoking. There are already existing barriers to tobacco products in New Zealand, including high taxes and plain packaging on cigarettes.

“Clinical studies have shown that dramatically reducing nicotine levels in cigarettes makes at far easier for people to quit.” said Verall in parliament. “So the action plan will see New Zealand transition to low-nicotine cigarettes. This is a major change but it is based on clinical research and it is realistic, because with vapes (电子烟) widely available, there is a far less harmful option available for smokers who are addicted to nicotine. While vapes were introduced as a way to reduce cigarette consumption, they remain harmful according to research Vapes are also particularly appealing to young people, who have long been the target people for the product.

【推荐3】If you’ve ever started an exercise with good faith and enthusiasm, only to be met with disappointment as the scale goes past the weight you started with, you may have had a question: Why does exercise make me gain weight?     1     Any post-workout weight gain is most likely the combination of a few factors.

While exercise plays a role in weight control, the other side of the coin is food intake.     2     At this time it’s worthwhile to review the quantity and quality of the food you’re eating. Their post-exercise weight gain could be explained by what and how much you’re eating.

    3     If you’re not used to a good workout and then exercise a lot, you could end up making your muscle fibers suffer microtears (微撕裂). It’s the reason why your muscles ache the next day, but over time it leads to muscle growth. However, these microtears can cause swelling (肿胀).     4     In effect, this increased water can be another explanation for after-exercise weight gain.

The other potential explanation comes down to the amount of blood. When you do aerobic exercise, there may be an increase in blood volume, which is essentially an increase in aerobic capacity. Aerobic capacity is a measurement of the maximum amount of oxygen your body can consume while exercising. Muscles need oxygen supplied by blood.     5    

What all of this means is that people who have started to work out properly shouldn’t be discouraged from continuing, even if they gain a little weight.