Health news: Sunday lunch ‘a thing of the past’

A family Sunday lunch could soon be a thing of the past as three-fifths of families admit they no longer prepare and eat a meal with their families on Sundays, a poll suggests.

And all but 90 of the 2000 parents questioned for healthy living campaign Change4Life said they use pre-prepared foods, such as chicken nuggets, chips or pizza, when cooking meals for their children.

STUDENTS TACKLE SMOKING

Edinburgh College students have put their creativity to good use by creating a DVD which will be used as an educational tool for high schools and youth agencies. The DVD which contains a series of short films highlighting tobacco issues from the students’ perspectives is being unveiled at Edinburgh University on March 20.

The project came about thanks to a partnership between Edinburgh College’s Creative Industries Department and NHS Lothian.

INSOMNIA LINKED TO HEART FAILURE

People who find it hard to sleep may have an increased chance of developing heart failure, a study has shown.

Three symptoms of insomnia more than tripled the risk in a group of 54,279 people aged 20 to 89.

Scientists stress that they have only found an association and cannot be sure there is a causal link, but they suspect insomnia may trigger stress responses that affect the heart.