News: Sunbaking. Just don't do it.

Fewer teens are sun baking

This just in from the Cancer Council – teenagers are rejecting the idea of tanned bodies. A new study from the anti-skin cancer campaigners found 45% of teenagers want a tan, which is down from 60% in 2003/2004. And only 12% of participants said they thought tanned people were healthier people. Could the sun safety message finally be getting through?

Heinz slams Coles and Woolies ‘home brand’ efforts

One of the world’s largest food manufacturers has slammed Coles and Woolworths for overwhelming the market with ‘private label’ goods – in other words, squeezing out the competition with a monopoly. The home brands are more often cheaper and increasingly stocked exclusively at the supermarkets. Heinz says it has been forced to shut one factory in Australia and downsize two more because of shrinking margins at the hands of Coles and Woolies.

Everyone gets an Oprah!

And she’s leaving the studio. The talk show Queen, who amassed a fortune in the billions of dollars after dominating daytime television for decades, is returning to cable (on the Oprah Winfrey Network, OWN) with a one-on-one interview show aimed at ‘celebrities, news-makers, thought leaders and real life families’. It’ll be on location, in their homes. The show, featuring guests like Deepak Chopra, George Lucas, Tony Robbins and Sean Penn, will premiere in prime time in the States on January 1. Are you an Oprah fan, excited she’s back chatting to people again?

Tobacco giant to sue Australian Government

With the final seal in place for the Federal Government’s new plain cigarette packaging laws, tobacco giant Phillip Morris has launched proceedings to sue the Federal Government. It says the Government has no right to infringe on its trademarks by removing the last brand identifying features from packets. Phillip Morris wants a suspension of the legislation, due to begin in December 2012, and compensation for any losses which it says will rise into the billions of dollars. The Government says it is on ‘strong legal ground’.

Australia will stay in Afghanistan beyond 2014

The transition to an Afghan-controlled security force will begin in 2014, but Australian troops will likely remain in support roles and possibly even on the frontline, the Prime Minister said yesterday. She was joined in support by Opposition Leader Tony Abbott when she said Australians should not leave behind a ‘security vacuum’. “Whether there is still a counter-terrorism role for the Australian Defence Force, in concert with the US and other international partners, will depend both on the security situation and on our discussions with our international partners. The Government will keep under consideration a continued Australian Special Forces presence in Afghanistan beyond 2014.” News.com.au reported: “She told Parliament the Taliban has not been defeated but there had been progress on the ground. School enrolments are up from around one million to over seven million today, including over two and a half million girls. Basic health services once reached 10 per cent of the population but now reach around 85 per cent. Almost 10,000 km of rural roads have been rehabilitated, employing hundreds of thousands of local workers and building critical infrastructure. The economy has grown an average of 11 per cent a year since 2002.”

Should school girls be ‘separated’ from boys during exercise?

The release of the NSW Schools Physical Activity and Nutrition Survey found that girls were less active than boys and needed to try and array of different exercise routines – particularly in primary school – like yoga, Zumba or pilates to boost their fitness. Turns out that maybe cricket and touch football isn’t cutting it. Or is that over-simplifying things? Dr Louise Hardy, senior research fellow at the University of Sydney’s Physical Activity, Nutrition and Obesity Research Group said primary schools also needed dedicated sports teachers. The survey of 8000 students from 101 schools found the obesity rate had remained steady around 22 per cent. What’s the sport and fitness program like where you went to school, or what was it like when you did?