Editorial
Welcome to the October 2007 edition of the HealthInsite newsletter, and a special welcome to any new subscribers! This edition will focus on breaking news, including the launch of a breast cancer risk calculator that not only helps women to assess their risk of developing breast cancer, but also informs them of lifestyle changes that they can make to mitigate this risk.
Earlier this month, National Nutrition Week and Carers Week were held and this edition will also canvass the purpose of these two significant events on the national health calendar. Last week was Children's Week which is an annual worldwide event that celebrates the right of children to enjoy childhood and to recognise their rights, skills and abilities. 'A Caring World Shares' was the theme for the week, and provides us with a timely reminder that we all share a responsibility to promote and support the health, learning, development, and wellbeing of all children.
News Items
Online Breast Cancer Risk Calculator Launched
The interactive tool is designed for women aged 20 years and over. It asks a series of questions about a woman.s age, family history of breast and ovarian cancer, genetic factors, height, weight, alcohol intake, menstrual and reproductive history, and previous breast conditions to calculate her risk of developing breast cancer compared to another woman of her age.
The calculator is part of a National Breast Cancer Centre mini-site about breast cancer risk factors that rates the importance of and provides information about the different risk factors, dispels the myths and clarifies the different ways risk can be explained.
National Nutrition Week - "Falling in Love with Food"
Nutrition Week is a National campaign conducted annually by Nutrition Australia, and was held last week (14-20 October). The aim of National Nutrition Week is to raise the awareness of the importance of healthy eating for optimal health in the community.
The Nutrition Week activities this year focussed on preparing and sharing, with an emphasis on appreciating the value of taking time to enjoy meals together. Nutrition Australia also encouraged schools and workplaces to promote the importance of lunch.
The Nutrition Australia website includes kits of materials for schools, and workplaces, with information on Home Packed Lunch, Healthy Takeaway, Recipes and posters.
Carers Week
Carers Week is a national event that was also held last week (14 - 20 October) across Australia to promote and raise awareness of the valuable role that carers play in our community, and to generate discussion about carer issues.
Carers Week provides an opportunity for carers to come together, support one another, and share ideas and information. Carers Australia estimates that there are 2.6 million Australians who provide unpaid care and support to a family member or friend with a disability, mental illness, chronic condition, or who are frail.
HealthInsite has a Carers topic page with information for and about carers.
Chocolate craving when depressed
A study by the Black Dog Institute published in the October 2007 issue of the British Journal of Psychiatry has found a link between chocolate craving and personality.
It found that people who rate highly on personality styles of irritability, rejection sensitivity, anxious worrying, self-criticism, and self-focus crave chocolate and use it to sooth their anxiety.
The researchers found that for people who engage in .comfort eating. or .emotional eating., eating chocolate has no real or lasting psychological benefit and can lead to mood worsening. Others crave chocolate when in a .dysphoric. (anxious, stressed, depressed) state and say it helps their mood.
The Black Dog Institute is an approved Health Insite information partner and has a media release and a fact sheet with more information about the study and about the association between personality, chocolate craving and its effects on mood.
|
 |
|
 |
Your Feedback |
Some HealthInsite Facts and Figures...
HealthInsite now has 1,034 topic pages and over 15,300 approved resources from Information Partners.
On average, HealthInsite receives over 8,000 visitors every day. In August, however, a new record was set when over 14,500 Australians visited the site every day for a week!
In the year to date, over 1.6 million people have visited HealthInsite searching for reliable information on health and wellbeing, and over 15 million pages have been served.
As mentioned in the September edition of the newsletter, we have been working closely with our Information Partners to ensure that their sites continue to meet our rigorous quality standards.
These partnerships are critical to HealthInsite being able to provide up-to-date, high quality evidence-based information, and we are always looking to welcome new partners into the fold that can supplement and complement the comprehensive resources available to users.
We are keen to continuously improve the service delivered by HealthInsite for all Australians. An important part of this improvement process is responding to your feedback, and so we encourage you to continue to share your thoughts and ideas through: healthinsite.feedback@health.gov.au
|
|
|
|
|
