I was listening to The Jeremy Vine Show the other day and there was a very interesting and heated discussion about obesity in the UK. Recently it has been something very much on my mind.

Overweight lady on the beach

It all started when I heard about Susanne Eman, the 52 stone American mother, and her quest to reach 115 stone to become the world’s heaviest ever person. In a strange parallel the UK has moved up the obesity rankings to have the largest rate of obesity in Europe and in world terms now lies second only to the USA

The issue has raised its head again this week after a series of papers in the medical journal The Lancet looking at the current worldwide obesity “pandemic”. Researchers predict that if the current trend continues, up to 48% of men and 43% of women in the UK could be obese by 2030, adding an additional £1.9-2 billion per year in medical costs for obesity-related diseases. What is to my mind more worrying is that, according to the article in The Lancet no country has so far been able to control the obesity “pandemic”. Continue reading →

Share this:

Hello on a very rainy Friday; maybe not the best start to a Bank Holiday as regards the weather but then this is England! Talking of which did you ever see the film “Rain Man” with Tom Cruise meeting his autistic brother. Today I wanted to say a little about the theme of autism which is a theme that, as an educationslist, I personally find very interesting.

What exactly is autism?

Autism is a lifelong developmental disability that affects how a person communicates with, and relates to, other people. It also affects how they make sense of the world around them.

Autism is a spectrum condition, and this means that, while all people with autism experience certain difficulties, their condition will affect them in different ways. Some people with autism are able to live relatively independent lives but others may have accompanying learning disabilities and need a lifetime of specialist support. People with autism may also experience over- or under-sensitivity to sounds, touch, tastes, smells, light or colours. Continue reading →

Share this:

Today I am going to write a little about Tiger Woods. He is one of the most controversial sportsmen of the day, but it is amazing to think that he is among the top golfers of all time and in 2010 with an estimated income of $90.5 million he was the highest paid professional athlete in the world. Isn’t it amazing that you can get all that money and fame just by hitting a ball around a field!

He was born Eldrick Tont “Tiger Woods” on 30 December 1975 and he would focus on winning by studying and memorising Jack Nicholas’ score cards. He has many honours including:
• 14 professional major golf championships
• 71 PGA events
• 16 World Golf championships
He was also the youngest and fastest player to win 50 tournaments on tour. Continue reading →

Share this: