Blame unhealthy food habits for heart ailments

Readers says children should avoid junk food. Other topics: teacher licensing, United Airlines, petting zoos

Readers say children must be encouraged to eat healthy food. iStockphoto

Sugar may be the reason for heart attacks among the youth (UAE patients 'as young as 28' having heart attacks, April 13). Stop consuming carbohydrates such as breads and grains, and consume healthy fats, allowing your pancreas to calm, your liver to free itself of fatty deposits and release ketones that change the body's composition from using sugars and carbs as instant fuel and instead use fats as fuel.

Zero sugar, zero or low carb, moderate protein and fibrous diets will save you.

Troy Patrick, US

With fast food outlets at every corner, what do you expect? There should have long ago been a limit to this. Taxing them wouldn’t solve the problem.

You need to restrict them and make it harder to find junk food and make it easier for healthy-food sellers to set up shop.

Moaz Bhutta, Dubai

Questions over teacher licensing

Tying teacher licences to schools is asking for a bureaucratic nightmare (Teachers from certain countries to be fast-tracked through UAE's new education licensing scheme, April 12). In the countries where teacher licensing exists, once you have the qualification you can take it to any school.

The authorities who deal with teacher authorisation at present take long enough to process paperwork.

What will be even more interesting will be to see who pays for the licence: the teacher or the school? If the school pays for it, they may have to stick with a teacher who is not suited to its culture – and no two schools are the same, believe me – because they have paid out once and don’t want to have to do so again. I have seen many teachers struggle in one school and thrive in another. It has nothing to do with their qualifications.

Once teachers all have to have the licence, will the next step be a national pay scale? How can a teacher in one school be paid Dh2,500 per month when their teachers must pass the same qualification as one paid Dh15,000? Won’t this licence force the issue of equity?

Judith Finnemore, Al Ain

United is getting what it deserves

United Airlines is having bad luck (United Airlines stung by bad luck, April 16)? No. The airline is getting a comeuppance that has been building for at least a generation.

It’s clear that United continues to employ old-school communications that do not factor in the amplification of social media.

While The Los Angeles Times exposed a full-fare first-class passenger threatened with handcuffs if he didn’t give up his seat for someone “more important”, The Economist exposed United for bumping more passengers than any other large American airline.

Elan Fabbri, Dubai

Petting zoos are not a good idea

I refer to your article Petting zoos are gaining popularity in the UAE, but are they ethical? (April 15).

I have seen petting zoos here, where the animals are chased by children and no one says or does anything.

What is the point if children are not being educated? Just holding the animals isn’t enough to foster compassion.

Sangeetha Bhaskaran, Dubai

Educational and guided interaction with animals is positive. But what they are doing with petting zoos is wrong.

Wiltrud Matthes, Dubai

Petting zoos are vile and should be banned.

Here the animals are kept for human entertainment. Some children treat the animals appallingly.

Emma Schlegel, Dubai