Don’t be a sitting target for health fads

THERE is nothing that matters more to this newspaper than the health of our readers, so we hope that while you are perusing these words you are not in repose as we have all just been warned that sitting down is bad for us.

Yes, it is official…ish: the British Journal of Sports Medicine tells us that keeping one’s posterior almost permanently on the sofa will counteract the benefits of healthy exercise.

And what are we supposed to do? According to Jane DeVille-Almond, of the National Obesity Forum, employers should encourage workers to take regular breaks and small exercises.

So stand up and walk around while following this stunningly original advice and turn to page 25 where we report that sales of organic baby food are soaring.

According to The Grocer magazine, the likes of risotto and sweet potato with pumpkin are being swept off the shelves by health-conscious parents. Good news for baby and our children’s health? No, actually. Experts say that there is no nutritional advantage to consuming organic baby foods.

There is a lesson for us in these two stories. We should exercise a bit more (but we all know that) and feed our babies good, old-fashioned wholesome food, which does not have to be organic. In short, we should not take these latest health fads sitting down.